Learning in Classrooms

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Berk
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Writing Center ◽  
Life Science ◽  
Writing Centers ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Typical Day ◽  
Reading Center

A visitor entering Tamara’s combined kindergarten/first-grade classroom is likely to be struck by its atmosphere of calm purposefulness, given that so much is happening at once. On a typical day, twenty-two 5- to 7-year-olds are busy working on diverse activities throughout the room. At ten o’clock one Tuesday, several children were in the writing center—one preparing a thank you note and four others collaborating on making a list of the names of everyone in the class. In the reading center, five children were browsing the shelves or reading books, in pairs and individually. At a table next to shelves filled with math materials, four children worked in pairs on a problem requiring them to choose items from a restaurant menu without exceeding their budget. Yet another pair was immersed in an interactive computer activity about plants as sources of foods. Tamara was seated at a table, reading and discussing a story with a cluster of six children. The children in Tamara’s class come from a variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. About three-fourths live in the middle-income neighborhood surrounding the school, located in a midsize Midwestern city. The rest are bussed from a housing project for low-income families several miles away. Two children have reading disabilities, and one has a speech and language delay. Several times a week, a learning disabilities teacher and a speech therapist come to the classroom to assist these children. Tamara’s students present great variations in experiences, knowledge, and academic skills. She uses this diversity to enrich their learning. The classroom is organized into seven clearly defined activity centers. The largest is the reading center, which doubles as a class meeting area. Others are the writing center, the math center, the life science center, the physical science center, the art center, and the imaginative play/extended project center. Computers can be found in the life science and writing centers. All centers are brimming with materials—on shelves and in boxes and baskets, clearly labeled and within children’s easy reach. And each center contains a table to serve as a comfortable workspace for collaborative and individual pursuits.

scholarly journals Impact of Medical Debt on the Financial Welfare of Middle- and Low-Income Families across China

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 4597 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiajing Li ◽  
Chen Jiao ◽  
Stephen Nicholas ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Gong Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Concentration Index ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Medical Insurance ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Medical Debt ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background: Medical debt is a persistent global issue and a crucial and effective indicator of long-term family medical financial burden. This paper fills a research gap on the incidence and causes of medical debt in Chinese low- and middle-income households. Method: Data were obtained from the 2015 China Household Finance Survey, with medical debt measured as borrowings from families, friends and third parties. Tobit regression models were used to analyze the data. The concentration index was employed to measure the extent of socioeconomic inequality in medical debt incidence. Results: We found that 2.42% of middle-income families had medical debt, averaging US$6278.25, or 0.56 times average household yearly income and 3.92% of low-income families had medical debts averaging US$5419.88, which was equivalent to 2.49 times average household yearly income. The concentration index for low and middle-income families’ medical debt was significantly pro-poor. Medical debt impoverished about 10% of all non-poverty households and pushed poverty households deeper into poverty. While catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) was the single most important factor in medical debt, age, education, and health status of householder, hospitalization and types of medical insurance were also significant factors determining medical debt. Conclusions: Using a narrow definition of medical debt, the incidence of medical debt in Chinese low- and middle-income households was relatively low. But, once medical debt happened, it imposed a long-term financial burden on medical indebted families, tipping many low and middle-income households into poverty and imposing on households several years of debt repayments. Further studies need to use broader definitions of medical debt to better assess the long-term financial impact of medical debt on Chinese families. Policy makers need to modify China’s basic medical insurance schemes to manage out-of-pocket, medical debt and CHE and to take account of pre-existing medical debt.

scholarly journals Do Rising Top Income Shares Affect the Incomes or Earnings of Low and Middle-Income Families?

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey P. Thompson ◽  
Elias Leight
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract This paper uses US state panel data to explore the relationship between the share of income received by affluent households and the level of income and earnings received by low and middle-income families. A rising top share of income can potentially lead to increases in the incomes of low and middle-income families if economic growth is sufficiently responsive to increases in inequality. A substantial literature on the impacts of inequality on economic growth exists, but has failed to achieve consensus, with various studies finding positive impacts, negative impacts, and no impacts on growth from increased levels of income inequality. This paper departs from that literature by exploring the effect of inequality on the standard of living of middle-income and low-income families. In the context of rising inequality, increased overall growth is not necessarily a suitable proxy for overall standard of living, since growth patterns are not uniform for the entire income distribution. The results of this study indicate that increases in the top share of income (particularly the top one percent) are associated with declines in the actual incomes (and earnings) of middle income families, but have no clear impact on families at the bottom of the income distribution.

scholarly journals A Risk Assessment of Aflatoxin M1 Exposure in Low and Mid-Income Dairy Consumers in Kenya

Toxins ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Ahlberg ◽  
Delia Grace ◽  
Gideon Kiarie ◽  
Yumi Kirino ◽  
Johanna Lindahl
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Risk ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Aflatoxin M1 ◽  
Informal Markets ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Worst Case ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Risk Of Cancer

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1), a human carcinogen, is found in milk products and may have potentially severe health impacts on milk consumers. We assessed the risk of cancer and stunting as a result of AFM1 consumption in Nairobi, Kenya, using worst case assumptions of toxicity and data from previous studies. Almost all (99.5%) milk was contaminated with AFM1. Cancer risk caused by AFM1 was lower among consumers purchasing from formal markets (0.003 cases per 100,000) than for low-income consumers (0.006 cases per 100,000) purchasing from informal markets. Overall cancer risk (0.004 cases per 100,000) from AFM1 alone was low. Stunting is multifactorial, but assuming only AFM1 consumption was the determinant, consumption of milk contaminated with AFM1 levels found in this study could contribute to 2.1% of children below three years in middle-income families, and 2.4% in low-income families, being stunted. Overall, 2.7% of children could hypothetically be stunted due to AFM1 exposure from milk. Based on our results AFM1 levels found in milk could contribute to an average of −0.340 height for age z-score reduction in growth. The exposure to AFM1 from milk is 46 ng/day on average, but children bear higher exposure of 3.5 ng/kg bodyweight (bw)/day compared to adults, at 0.8 ng/kg bw/day. Our paper shows that concern over aflatoxins in milk in Nairobi is disproportionate if only risk of cancer is considered, but that the effect on stunting children might be much more significant from a public health perspective; however, there is still insufficient data on the health effects of AFM1.

Emotion knowledge in economically disadvantaged children: Self-regulatory antecedents and relations to social difficulties and withdrawal

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID SCHULTZ ◽  
CARROLL E. IZARD ◽  
BRIAN P. ACKERMAN ◽  
ERIC A. YOUNGSTROM
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Social Withdrawal ◽  
Behavioral Control ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Verbal Ability ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Emotion Knowledge ◽  
Children's Emotion ◽  
Low Income Families

We examined the relations of verbal ability and self-regulation in preschool to emotion knowledge in first grade, and concurrent relations between emotion knowledge and indexes of social functioning in 143 children from low-income families. After controlling for children's verbal ability in preschool, teacher reports of attentional control and caregiver reports of behavioral control in preschool predicted children's emotion expression knowledge and emotion situation knowledge 2 years later. After controlling for verbal ability and attentional and behavioral control, children's emotion knowledge predicted concurrent teacher-reported social problems and social withdrawal. Results suggest that low levels of emotion knowledge co-occur with many important aspects of children's early social adaptation.

scholarly journals Utilizing Technology during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 94-98
Author(s):  
Daryn Joy Go ◽  
Natalee Hung ◽  
Hannah Ferrolino ◽  
Kendall Wilson ◽  
Mia Choi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Spiritual Needs ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Field Report ◽  
Development Ngos

National lockdowns and social distancing measures enforced in response to COVID-19 have forced many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) serving in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to suspend their operations. While low-income families continue to suffer from hunger and poverty, community quarantine restrictions additionally isolated them from town centers where healthcare, education, food, supplies, and livelihood opportunities are usually accessed. International Care Ministries (ICM) is a Philippine-based NGO that runs a poverty-alleviation program targeted towards extreme low-income households. As we re-evaluated how we may continue to effectively minister and serve our communities despite lockdown measures, we identified two priorities: (1) to serve people’s physical needs by providing food and access to healthcare, and (2) to serve people’s spiritual needs through spiritual feeding and community. In this field report, we describe how ICM was able to identify and use social network platforms as an alternative to continue both service delivery and spiritual feeding remotely. We hope this example may encourage other development NGOs to persevere as we all continue to seek ways to adapt to these extraordinary and seemingly ever-changing circumstances.

STUDIES IN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-247
Author(s):  
Kannarkat P. Verghese ◽  
Roland B. Scott ◽  
Gertrude Teixeira ◽  
Angella D. Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
North American ◽  
Head Circumference ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Stem Length ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Physical Measurements ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
The City

Physical measurements were obtained from 2,632 healthy North American Negro children of low income families. Their ages ranged from 3 months to 17 years. Comparison with similar studies revealed the height and weight of the Negro children to be similar to those of North American Caucasian children. However, the head circumference and stem length were found to be consistently smaller than Caucasian children. At 1 year of age the weight, head, and chest circumferences of Negro infants of this study were significantly smaller than the same measurements previously reported for infants of the same race from middle income families in the city. Comparison is also made with studies on Negro children in West Africa and Jamaica.

scholarly journals Optimizing prefabricated construction techniques in UAE as a solution to shortage of middle-income housing

2018 ◽  
Vol 221 ◽  
pp. 01006
Author(s):  
Mohamed Elkaftangui ◽  
Mohamed Basem
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Land Values ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Construction Costs ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Capital Costs ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Low Income Families

Housing is a major subject in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, JLL, the world’s leading real estate investment and advisory firm, highlights the social and economic impact of a marked shortfall in the required supply of middle-income housing, suggesting that significant efforts are needed to address the current imbalance. For an equal standard and life style in UAE and KSA, the gap of sale and rent prices raises many questions. The middle-income sector of the market represent almost 40 percent of all households in the UAE. Several factors that have contributed to the current shortage of affordable housing, high land values, High capital costs for associated infrastructure development, low adoption of prefabricated construction techniques have contributed to higher construction costs, lower financial returns, making such developments less attractive for developers, limited access to suitable finance for low income families, due to generally immature mortgage markets. Resolving the shortage of middle-income housing requires a concentrated effort involving government agencies, private developers and other stakeholders. This Study will investigate the UAE Housing market to propose solutions for a better progress of the precast sector and focusing on the promotion of sustainable and industrial approaches to construction.

Universal Basic Income in the United States and Advanced Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 929-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Hoynes ◽  
Jesse Rothstein
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Transfer Programs ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Low Income Families

We discuss the potential role of universal basic incomes (UBIs) in advanced countries. A feature of advanced economies that distinguishes them from developing countries is the existence of well-developed, if often incomplete, safety nets. We develop a framework for describing transfer programs that is flexible enough to encompass most existing programs as well as UBIs, and we use this framework to compare various UBIs to the existing constellation of programs in the United States. A UBI would direct much larger shares of transfers to childless, nonelderly, nondisabled households than existing programs, and much more to middle-income rather than poor households. A UBI large enough to increase transfers to low-income families would be enormously expensive. We review the labor supply literature for evidence on the likely impacts of a UBI. We argue that the ongoing UBI pilot studies will do little to resolve the major outstanding questions.

Transporting Pedagogy: Implementing the Project Approach in Two First-Grade Classrooms

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 530-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy B. Hertzog
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
School Context ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Comfort Level ◽  
Classroom Observations ◽  
Early Childhood Classroom ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Project Approach ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
The Project Approach

This study explores how a project-based approach, based on gifted education pedagogy, was implemented in a public school program where the majority of students were from low-income families. The 2 first-grade teachers in this study were able to change their teaching practices to include more strategies commonly found in gifted programs such as brainstorming, creating surveys, and collecting data. The teachers also indicated a greater comfort level with a child-centered and project-based approach to curricular units over the course of the study. In addition, classroom observations indicated students were better behaved when engaged in project and small-group activities, as seen in classroom observations. This paper also highlights several challenges to implementing project-based approaches in the early childhood classroom. Teachers in this study perceived barriers to implementing the project approach that they had been taught in their professional development course. They felt constraints from their school context, as well as from their own beliefs and assumptions about their students. They often had difficulty assuming the role of facilitator and releasing control of learning to the students. However, as the teachers in this study implemented the new approaches, they were able to overcome many of the internal and external limitations that they expressed prior to beginning the units. This study has practical implications for reform initiatives related to the identification of strengths and talents in students who are typically underserved in gifted programs.

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