KEYNOTE or BREAKOUT: Interventions to Eliminate the Poverty Achievement Gap

Do you have students from low SES backgrounds? Poverty has long been associated with lower achievement in schools. However, new discoveries from neuroscience research have revealed interventions that mitigate or eradicate the effects

of low SES on achievement. This information is critical, especially for early childhood teachers. Since the brain is still highly plastic in many ways until around ages 18-25, it is imperative to be aware of how and why poverty affects achievement and what practices are best.

In this new presentation, you will

? See for yourself via brain images how the brains of children from poverty are different

o What regions differ

o What skills/behaviors are affected by those regions

o How multiple pathways are affected

? Discover what in the poverty environment creates these brain changes

? Learn which cognitive skills are most affected by these brain differences

? Discover what is a better predictor of school success than SES

? Discover the behavior in first grade that predicts 17 years later achievement, income, criminality, and drug use

? Discover what interventions have been shown to enable low SES to equal or surpass high SES who did not get the intervention

? Learn the commonalities of programs that have enhanced cognitive functions

? Acquire strategies from preK-college to address that behavior and change outcomes

This presentation can be a brief keynote or an extended workshop that includes additional information, such as how the brain learns and how to access multiple pathways to enhance instruction.