Figure 8 developed and delivered an all-day poverty training to teachers in the David Douglas School District in Portland, Oregon.

The challenges

David Douglas is a district that has been severely impacted by poverty in the past decade. The percentage of students on free and reduced lunch – one of the ways of measuring the impact of poverty in schools - is extremely high – over 75%. The challenges to the district range from decreased school performance, truancy, a lack of parental involvement, a high dropout rate, and an increased mobility among families. Teachers and counselors often feel beleaguered and overwhelmed by not knowing what to do to help the students with whom they work. The problem was compounded by the fact that many teachers lacked a basic understanding of poverty as a cultural phenomenon, and stereotypes were common.

The solution

We designed a day of training that was built around giving teachers a body of information about poverty issues, then spent the rest of the day looking at possible approaches to help students achieve in school regardless of the socio-economic factors in their lives. We began with a focus on the personal/classroom level, then discussed the issue at a building level, then looked at things that could be done at the district level.

The results

Teachers were obviously deeply concerned about this issue and the impact that it has on student achievement. We had each participant write a personal action plan so they could take something practical from the session into their daily interactions with students. Even though the enormity of the problem and the fact that it stems from problems completely outside of their control, the teachers felt that they had learned things and developed a plan that would enable them to have a positive impact on their students.