Students from lower performing schools in poorer communities experience an achievement gap with their more affluent neighbors. This is demonstrated in exams and standardized tests, and ultimately a higher dropout rate for those children living in poverty. Often, this achievement gap can be drawn along racial lines, as upwards of a third of minorities are in the lowest socioeconomic bracket.
Children raised in poverty are often compromised from the womb, when factors such as malnutrition affect the developing child's cognitive skills and learning ability. Poorer families are less likely to seek medical care in the event of illness, which impacts the student's attendance. They face poorer diets high in fats and sugars, even through the school, which hinders their ability to learn by affecting their focus and energy. They can also become moodier and harder to manage, and malnutrition for any sustained length of time can actually affect the brain and how the child handles stress and emotional responses.
Inventor Charles Kettering said, "High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation." If poorer communities are expected to perform below their more affluent peers, these children are not encouraged to compete in grades or accomplishments. Parents tend to be disengaged from the process, which discourages the students from higher achievement. Lower performing schools experience a higher turnover rate for their educators, who leave the job after a year or two. These schools are also used as a "training ground" for untested teachers, who spend their first, formative years as an educator in poorer communities.
Children and adolescents from poorer communities face life-changing choices earlier than their more prepared peers. These neighborhoods experience higher crime rates, which impact the overall safety of the students who attend school there. Priorities simply shift away from academic achievement. Teen pregnancy and drug use derail the educational pursuit of these students, who may have already been conditioned to believe that school is an exercise in futility. This perpetuates the conditions of poverty in these communities, and ultimately impacts generation after generation in these poorer public schools.