What We Want to Learn

Here are some things we are hoping to find out about poverty in schools:

• How to get services (tier 2 or 3) or provide services to families in poverty?
• What are some protective factors and how can we introduce them to families in poverty?
• What are the statistics of homeless children in the Chicagoland area?
• What kind of services can be provided at the universal level in schools and in the community?
• How can we prevent children from low income or impoverished families from struggling in school? And how do we connect parents and families to these services early on?
• What are the exact statistics regarding children from poverty and school success?
• What are the differences in services needed between low income families within low income communities versus low income families within higher income communities?

What We Already Know

Here are some things that we already know about children in poverty:

• Poverty exists everywhere, not just in urban communities


• Poverty is associated with increased academic risks, increased mental health risks, increased substance abuse, increased deliquency, and increased school drop out rates


• Children in poverty enter school with a significantly lower amount of language/vocabulary and prior knowledge/exposure to academic experiences. This contributes to a difficult entry into the academic culture