Conference "Shines a Light" on the Effects of Poverty on Teaching and Learning

KEENE, N.H. 3/24/06 - New Hampshire has the highest per capita income in the United States, but the income disparity between towns within a 50-mile radius of the Keene State College campus can be huge. According to a 2004 N.H. Dept. of Education report, 21 percent of the students in the Monadnock Region schools are eligible for free or reduced lunch (a common measure of poverty) - nearly three times higher than the number of people living below the federal poverty line in Cheshire County (8 percent), and statewide (6.5 percent). Many of these children and families are clustered in low-income towns where public schools struggle to educate the neediest and most complex children. Neighboring communities may see little poverty and have trouble understanding the issues surrounding children living in generational poverty. The effects of poverty on teaching and learning are the focus of a two-day conference that will be held in the Lloyd .P. Young Student Center at Keene State College from 3:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, April 7, and from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 8. All events are free and open to the public. The conference is sponsored by the Campus Commission on Diversity and Multiculturalism and the Principals Residency Network. Roundtables, workshops, and seminars will be held on topics including how socioeconomic issues influence teachers, using student activism as a tool to create educational equality, how to increase parental involvement in low-income homes, the relationship between trauma and homelessness, the role of social workers in the schools, and how employers can better understand the impact of poverty on job seekers. Three keynote speakers will address the conference. For information please contact Tom McGuire at tmcguire@keene.edu or 603-358-2304, or visit www.keene.edu/ps/poverty.cfm.

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