Isaac Hayes, Kathy Bates, Elvis Presley. These are familiar entertainers who are from Memphis and graduated from schools in Shelby County. Today Memphis might be known for barbeque and blues, but it’s also known for an impoverished population and poor schools.
And one propels the other, research shows.
Shelby County School District is the largest school district in the state of Tennessee, and the 22nd largest in the country. However, almost 27 percent of Memphians live below the poverty line, and Memphis has the second-highest poverty rate among cities with more than one million people.
“Poverty has very negative effects on education and academic performance,” said Dr. Elena Delavega, a poverty specialist and University of Memphis professor.
Delavega said that, when children are hungry, it distracts them from their academic performance. Moreover, a lack of resources in impoverished homes means children lack technology that could help them perform better academically.
This map from Neighborhood Scout, the real estate data site, shows of best and worst neighborhoods for education in Memphis. The lighter-colored boxes represent neighborhoods with poorer-performing schools, and the darker-blue boxes represent neighborhoods where the schools perform better academically. The ZIP Codes in Memphis with the highest poverty rates align with the lighter boxes on the map.
Here is a table with the poorest zip codes and their poverty rates.
“Parental education levels are also important factors,” said Delavega.
In Memphis, only about 24 percent of adults 25 years old and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher education, and about 83 percent of adults 25 years old and older have graduated high school.
“Kids can’t do homework or even care for school if no one around them outside of school is helping them or pushing them,” said Sir Gregory Thornton, the athletic director and physical education teacher at Lester Prep Academy.
Lester Prep Academy is located in Binghampton community, one of the ZIP Codes listed above where there is poorer academic performance. Thornton said that looking at the statistics and test scores of students, “the poorer or lower the economic status typically the lower the test scores.”
“I have a few students getting raised by grandmothers and a few students practically raising themselves,” said Thornton. “They are leaving school and going to homes where they might be at home by themselves for days at a time.”
Thornton said that many of his students tell him that they are being raised without a father and are living in “broken homes surrounded by drugs.”
In a study Delavega did for the University of Memphis, she said, “single motherhood is a strong predictor of poverty. In Memphis, 47 percent of all female-headed households are poor.”
The solution to poor academic performance, Delavega said, is to invest more money in schools.
“While it appears that money is equally distributed, the number of quality instructors in each school is quite different,” said Delavega. “Wealthier schools have many more highly qualified teachers.”
And one propels the other, research shows.
Shelby County School District is the largest school district in the state of Tennessee, and the 22nd largest in the country. However, almost 27 percent of Memphians live below the poverty line, and Memphis has the second-highest poverty rate among cities with more than one million people.
“Poverty has very negative effects on education and academic performance,” said Dr. Elena Delavega, a poverty specialist and University of Memphis professor.
Delavega said that, when children are hungry, it distracts them from their academic performance. Moreover, a lack of resources in impoverished homes means children lack technology that could help them perform better academically.
This map from Neighborhood Scout, the real estate data site, shows of best and worst neighborhoods for education in Memphis. The lighter-colored boxes represent neighborhoods with poorer-performing schools, and the darker-blue boxes represent neighborhoods where the schools perform better academically. The ZIP Codes in Memphis with the highest poverty rates align with the lighter boxes on the map.
Here is a table with the poorest zip codes and their poverty rates.
“Parental education levels are also important factors,” said Delavega.
In Memphis, only about 24 percent of adults 25 years old and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher education, and about 83 percent of adults 25 years old and older have graduated high school.
“Kids can’t do homework or even care for school if no one around them outside of school is helping them or pushing them,” said Sir Gregory Thornton, the athletic director and physical education teacher at Lester Prep Academy.
Lester Prep Academy is located in Binghampton community, one of the ZIP Codes listed above where there is poorer academic performance. Thornton said that looking at the statistics and test scores of students, “the poorer or lower the economic status typically the lower the test scores.”
“I have a few students getting raised by grandmothers and a few students practically raising themselves,” said Thornton. “They are leaving school and going to homes where they might be at home by themselves for days at a time.”
Thornton said that many of his students tell him that they are being raised without a father and are living in “broken homes surrounded by drugs.”
In a study Delavega did for the University of Memphis, she said, “single motherhood is a strong predictor of poverty. In Memphis, 47 percent of all female-headed households are poor.”
The solution to poor academic performance, Delavega said, is to invest more money in schools.
“While it appears that money is equally distributed, the number of quality instructors in each school is quite different,” said Delavega. “Wealthier schools have many more highly qualified teachers.”