Education News: Poverty Hurts, Showing Up Helps

Two interesting education stories yesterday:

• Eric Westervelt, Unrelenting Poverty Leads To 'Desperation' In Philly Schools, NPR, Nov. 21, 2013. 
• Claudia Rowe, 2 Seattle middle schools focus on attendance, see scores climb, Seattle Times, Nov. 21, 2013. The schools that are emphasizing attendance also provide tutors.

Neither point is all that surprising, really, if you think about it.

• Poverty: Do you think children can learn well if they don't have good nutrition, health care, support, housing, stability, and pencils? Answer: no.
• Attendance: Do you think kids who miss a lot of school might get behind, get discouraged, and drop out? Answer: Yes. The amazing thing here is how it was possible to turn it around in just a couple of years by adding caring adults who encouraged the kids and helped them when they had trouble with their work.