Low Income Students: A Case Study

The United States stands fourth among developed nations for education spending in the primary and secondary levels, over $12,000 annually on every student, 5.2% of GDP in total. (Larock 13). Despite this large investment towards educating children, U.S. children are just fourteenth in the world in terms of academic performance (“Which Countries Have the Best Schools?”). In order to improve the subpar educational status, the United States must implement a two-part cost-effective solution to assist the lowest-performing districts and students, which will increase the success of low-income students to match the level of high income students, and raise the overall average performance of American students. For the elementary grades, new curriculum …show more content…
According to the American Federation of Teachers, “...the future success of all students hinges upon their ability to become proficient readers” (Moats 7). Schools must place greater importance in reading and develop new curriculum to emphasize reading comprehension and vocabulary. This curriculum should include increasing time for reading during school, providing early intervention for students who are falling behind, and encouraging reading for enjoyment outside of school. However, the new reading curriculum should be mainly implemented at lower income schools, as 80% of low income fourth graders scored below Proficient on the National Assessments of Educational Progress reading exam, significantly higher than the 49% of moderate to high income fourth graders who scored below proficient (“2015 KIDS COUNT Data Book”). Improving reading curriculum in low income schools will close the disparity in reading ability between low and high income students with a significantly lower cost than implementing the curriculum at all schools. The enhanced reading curriculum will allow low income students to thrive in higher level courses and attain a greater level of success in postsecondary education and