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The federal poverty level is $24,600 for a family of four. This equates to 22% of all children (15 million children) are considered in poverty. Just to cover basic expenses for a family of four you would need to have a salary of $45,000. This means that nearly 50% of our children are living in poverty. Half of those kids receive no government assistance because their parents earned more than $24,600 that year. Many times students in the poverty have lower achievement rate unless extra help is provided.
Poverty and Education
1. Low supervision at home
2.Trouble doing homework
3.Not enough food or sleep
4. School is not a main focus
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), that poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s well-being.
Resources:
"Poverty's Impact on Education." American Graduate. Available at

http://americangraduate.org/dropout-factors/poverty
MONEY Scholastic available at
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3750588

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Many students, parents and teachers see No Child Left Behind as a detriment to the public education environment today. Although the current Trump Administration is working to reform NCLB policies, the focus in education on both the national and state level continues to be on the testing process. Student test scores are now being used by a number of states as a way to evaluate teacher performance, putting even more pressure on faculty in schools to “teach to the tests.”
The Common Core State Standards Initiative has changed the course of education in the United States.

In 2004, a New Jersey study found that teachers were using a wide variety of test preparation methods that involved repeating procedures and asking probing questions to improve understanding.

More recently, in a 2012 study, declining instructional quality was correlated with the rise of high-stakes testing, particularly in the weeks leading up to the test. It was discovered that teachers didn’t present challenging problems as often nor did they prompt students to conceptually understand solutions.

Resources:

Shapiro, T. Rees. "Fairfax schools chief cls for $96 million in budget cuts; proposal increases class sizes." The Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2014. Available at

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/fairfax-schools-chief-calls-for-96-million-in-budget-cuts-proposal-increases-class-sizes/2014/01/09/8447ac78-796a-11e3-b1c5-739e63e9c9a7_story.html
The National Education Association, available at

www.nea.org
Dillon, Sam. “Obama Calls for Major Change in Education Law.” The New York Times. March 14, 2010. Available at

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/education/14child.html?pagewanted=1

Khadaroo, Stacy Teicher. “No Child Left Behind: Obama overhaul takes flak from both parties.” The Christian Science Monitor. March 18, 2010. Available at

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0318/No-Child-Left-Behind-Obama-overhaul-takes-flak-from-both-parties

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No Child Left Behind(NCLB)

Poverty (School Climate)

Classroom Size

Technology

Family factors

Bullying

Parent Involvement

Student Health

Student attitude and behaviors

Funding

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Many areas of the country are facing classrooms that are literally busting out at the seams. When money gets tight, classroom numbers are often impacted. Yet, most teachers agree that they cannot effectively teach every student in a classroom, if the class size exceeds about 30. Their statements are backed up by research. Class size matters cites a study performed by the Tennessee Star that found classes of 15-17 students in grades K-3 provided both long and short-term benefits to both the students and the teachers in those classrooms. Minority students, those living in poverty and male students appeared to benefit from smaller classroom sizes the most.
Resources:
Self, Jamie, “SC Board of Education Cool to Plan to Allow Larger Classes.” The State, 9 October 2013. Available at

http://www.thestate.com/2013/10/09/3029483/sc-board-of-education-cool-to.html

"Class Size Reduction Research." Class Size Matters RSS. Available at

http://www.classsizematters.org/research-and-links/

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Computers, tablets, smartphones and ebooks allow fast, easy and inexpensive access to information resources. These resources can engage the user through interactivity and make it easy to process, analyze and share information of all kinds. Despite the benefits that can arise from integrating technology and computers into the classroom, there is also evidence from several studies there are significant negative effects from technology in the classroom.

Cost: Equipping a classroom with computers or supplying the entire student body with laptops is a significant cost for any school district.

Limited Learning: Students may be more enthusiastic about studying a subject if they are preparing a PowerPoint presentation or a video clip instead of a written essay. However, they might spend more time and effort on the presentation than researching the subject, and complete the project knowing very little about the subject.

Student Distraction: The technology-enabled classroom offers access to information, but it also offers many more distractions. Games on devices, text messaging, email and websites all compete for students' attention, taking that attention away from the subject on which they are supposed to be focusing.

Resources:
Yau, Ray. “Technology in K-12 Public Schools: What are the Equity Issues?” Equity Review, Fall/Winter 1999, available at

http://maec.org/techrev.html

“Technology Literacy Challenge Fund,” U.S. Department of Education, n.d., available at

www.ed.gov/Technology.

Reid, Paul. “How to Start a Parent-Funded Laptop Program,” Digital Chalkie, March 13, 2008, available at

http://www.digitalchalkie.com/2008/03/13/how-to-start-a-parent-funded-laptop-program-webcast/

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Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., and the same poor eating habits that led to the obesity problem may also be contributing to lower student achievement. Obesity also increases a student’s risk for other conditions, like diabetes and high blood pressure, which could result in higher absenteeism and more academic issues.
Few experts would argue the fact that childhood obesity is a problem of epidemic proportions today. According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention the percentage of youth considered obese tripled between 1980 and 2004. Today, 19% of children between the ages of 6 and 11, as well as 17% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19, are classified as obese. That translates to about 25 million children in this country who are at greater risk of what was once considered adult health issues, such as high cholesterol, hypertension and lifestyle-related diabetes.
Resources:

"Let's Move." Healthy Schools. Available at

https://letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/healthy-schools