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Bridging the Culture and Poverty Gap in Education

Bridging the Culture and Poverty Gap in Education examines topics in culture and adverse childhood experiences and presents specific activities and programs to ensure higher student achievement. Students will learn how to implement a comprehensive set of instructional strategies and motivational tools to positively impact student learning.

Course Name: Bridging the Culture and Poverty Gap in Education
Course Number: EDUC 716G	Semester Credits: 3

Course Description

Is the glass half full or half empty? A brain susceptible to adverse environmental effects, such as poverty and adverse childhood experiences, is equally vulnerable to the positive impact of a rich, fully balanced learning environment and caring relationships. Be a part of the movement that builds students’ resilience, self-esteem, and character as schools improve the academic achievements and life readiness of students of poverty and different cultures. This revolutionary concept is a proven strategy that desires to reach every student. In the end, it is a win-win for students, schools, and the future of America.

Students will learn how to implement a comprehensive set of instructional strategies and motivational tools to significantly impact student learning when adverse childhood experiences and poverty come into play. This comprehensive framework is conveyed in a concise, reader-friendly format that walks educators through the philosophies, research, and strategies behind this approach. Focus is also placed on a whole-staff approach to wellness to meet the needs of students with adverse childhood experiences.

Goals

• Understand and appreciate the role of culture and poverty in the classroom, and learn how to translate this knowledge into specific activities and effective strategies to ensure higher student achievement.
• Absorb information about the brain’s desire to learn with particular attention to students of diverse populations and poverty.
• Benefit from current research and information regarding working effectively with different student populations to ensure higher student achievement in today’s diverse classroom.
• Learn techniques so that we no longer talk about change while maintaining a philosophy of excuses.
• Understand what poverty is and how it affects students in school, including information about the importance of these students’ resiliency.
• Learn how schools can support their staff to create a trauma-informed learning environment.
• Educators will learn how to care for themselves in order to effectively care for their students.
• Gain insight into how teachers can build on students’ prior knowledge and help forge new connections, particularly those from poverty and diverse cultures.
• Learn how to effectively teach procedural and declarative knowledge and prepare students for high-stakes tests.
• Gain an appreciation for the effective methods of how to engage the resources necessary to make change happen within today’s diverse classrooms.
• Benefit from the knowledge that shines a spotlight on how to enrich the minds and lives of all students, no matter their economic status or cultural backgrounds.

Course Contents

• Culture and Poverty
• Motivation from Within
• Resiliency – Why It Matters
• Teaching Declarative Knowledge
• Teaching Procedural Knowledge (or Process)
• The Role of Leadership in the Poverty School
• Closing the Achievement Gaps
• ACEs and the New Normal
• The Effects of Trauma on the Brain
• Teaching Behaviors, Differentiating, Interventions, Changing Pedagogy
• Transformationist Actions

Evidence of Learning Outcomes

Upon completing Bridging the Culture and Poverty Gap in Education, you will have a demonstrated knowledge of how to understand, appreciate, motivate, and communicate with, students of poverty and/or different cultures.  The vital information and proven techniques will help you to close the poverty and culture gap to ensure that you are reaching every student in today’s diverse classrooms, thereby benefiting the student, their family, the school, and society in general.

How to Register

Bridging the Culture and Poverty Gap in Education can be completed in either an online or via emailed PDF format. It is open for anyone to register at any time during an open semester. After completion, students receive graduate, non-degree semester credit on official transcripts from the University of La Verne, an accredited university in La Verne, California. 

Registration is fast and straightforward and can be done online or over the phone. Courses are offered on a rolling basis during three standard semesters, and you can begin whenever you are ready! The registration dates are:

• Fall: September 1 - January 31
• Spring: February 1 - May 31
• Summer: June 1 - August 31