By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — It has been known for a long time that income and student achievement are related, and District 80 is working to overcome the achievement gap.

“Low income students have a whole set of barriers to overcome,” Superint-endent Dr. Kevin Settle said. “Our (academic achievement) numbers for low income students have dramatically improved, but it’s not good enough.”

Settle said Illinois Standards Achievement Test results from last year show that a lower percentage of low income students are meeting and exceeding standards than those from non-low income families. In conducting research, Settle said only eight other school districts in the state resemble District 80 in the number of low income students and total student population, and only one other school district in the state resembles the district in number of low income students, number of African American students and total number of students — Rantoul.

“When comparing ourselves with Rantoul, the numbers are almost identical for achievement,” Settle said. “We now know that we are following a trend, but that’s not good enough. We have to specifically address the needs of those students.”

According to information from the district, 47.7 percent of the low income third grade students are meeting or exceeding state standards in reading, while 87.1 percent of the third graders who are not low income are meeting or exceeding in reading; 65.4 percent of the low income third grade students are meeting or exceeding in math, while 93.5 percent of the third graders who are not low income are meeting or exceeding standards.

In fourth grade, the percentage of low income students meeting or exceeding in reading is at 55.4 percent while 81.1 percent of the non-low income students are meeting or exceeding; 71.9 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in math, compared to 100 percent of the non-low income students.

In fifth grade, 41.3 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in reading, compared to 74.3 percent of the non-low income students; 52.3 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in math compared to 77.1 percent of the non-low income students.

In sixth grade, 63.6 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in reading, compared to 85.7 percent of the non-low income students; 66.1 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in math, compared to 94.3 percent of the non-low income students.

In seventh grade, 57 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in reading, compared to 90 percent of the non-low income students; 66 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in math, compared to 94 percent of the non-low income students.

In eighth grade, 69.6 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in reading, compared to 90.4 percent of the non-low income students; 66.7 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in math, compared to 88.5 percent of the non-low income students.

Overall at District 80 — all grades, all subjects — 60.3 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding standards, while 88 percent of the students who are not from low income families are meeting or exceeding standards. Overall reading scores show that 55.8 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding in reading and 84.8 percent of the students who are not from low income families are meeting or exceeding in reading. Likewise, in math, 64.7 percent of the low income students are meeting or exceeding standards compared to 91.2 percent of the students who are not from a low income family.

District 80 Assistant Superintendent Dr. Tyler Brown said staff are trained on the effects of poverty on student learning. In addition, several grants have been used to help with some of the issues that impact learning of low income students, including the Afterschool Program, which was expanded this year to serve 400 students.

“A lot of our students in the Afterschool Program are at risk educationally and many in the low income category,” Brown said. “An hour-and-a-half of the two hour program are spent on academics. They roughly meet 177 days a year, which is an extra 255 hours of instruction ... which amounts to 42 1/2 extra days of instruction for them.”

In addition to the added instruction time, those in the Afterschool program get a full dinner, educational enrichment activities, recreation provided by the YMCA and transportation home.

Brown said many people have a misconception of the low income families in the district.

“Contrary to popular belief, the overwhelming majority of poverty parents are working — more than 80 percent,” Brown said. “They are working multiple jobs which requires the parents be away from home. ... That means there is a lack of a parent in the home many times, and that isn’t bad, they have to work to provide for their kids. But, they can’t be in two places at once.”

Brown said the language skills are the largest barrier to low income students in their education.

“The average student from a poverty household will have 400 to 800 words in their vocabulary when they enter school,” Brown explained. “The student who comes from a middle-class income home comes with 3,500 to 5,000 words in their vocabulary. It’s a huge difference. ... If they are coming into school with 400 words, and their middle class peers have 3,500 to 5,000, it will take extra time for them to catch up. But, they are gaining the same amount of words each week, plus, the middle income students are picking up extra words in their homes. The gap isn’t narrowing, it’s widening, or rather, it’s not gaining at the same rate.”

But education is the key to helping all students succeed, and Brown said especially for those students coming from low income homes and poverty.

“Research shows there are four things that can get you out of poverty and education and relationships are the key to all four,” Brown said. “The four ways to get out of poverty are that they have a special talent or skill, such as the NBA basketball player for example; they have been instilled with a goal and they believe they can achieve that goal; they have a relationship with someone who can mentor them; and the fourth way is that it becomes too painful to stay. Education is the key. We educate and when we do, we better have a relationship with those kids to provide that quality education.”