Low-Income Students

An illustration of a man standing on top of a large division symbol. There are a couple of coins on each of the circular parts of the division symbol and the man is holding a briefcase in one hand and looking through a magnifying glass with the other hand.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Funding Public Schools by the Numbers: How Enrollment, Funding, and More Changed in 2024
K-12 enrollment is dropping, funding is lagging economic growth, and other takeaways from newly available data.
Mark Lieberman, December 20, 2024
4 min read
Cafeteria workers serve student lunches at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif. on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students regardless of their family's income.
Cafeteria workers serve lunches at Firebaugh High School in Lynwood, Calif., on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Demand for school lunches has increased after California guaranteed free meals to all students regardless of their family's income. A federal school lunch provision that makes it easier for public schools to provide universal free meals may be a target for elimination in President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming term if some conservative activists and lawmakers get their way.
Richard Vogel/AP
Federal How Trump Could Roll Back Access to Free School Lunches
Project 2025 and a GOP budget proposal call for axing a federal rule that allows public schools to serve free meals to all students.
Evie Blad, November 26, 2024
5 min read
Image of a bullseye, darts, and money.
Laura Baker/Education Week with DigitalVision Vectors
Budget & Finance ‘Money Matters. Now What?’: How Districts Get More Funding for Poor Students
Targeting more funding to students who are most in need has a measurable effect on their academic performance, according to new research.
Mark Lieberman, October 14, 2024
7 min read
Paper cut outs of people with one not included in the chain. On a blue background.
E+/Getty
Student Well-Being What the Research Says More Children Are Living in Poverty. What This Means for Schools
New Census data show children are increasingly vulnerable.
Sarah D. Sparks, September 12, 2024
2 min read
Illustration of a big business man's hand holding a magnet attracting money from a line up of diverse peoples' wallets.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management When Schools Charge for Meals and Field Trips, Parents Often Pay Transaction Fees
Paying bills online is easy, but comes at a significant cost for low-income families in particular, a new federal report shows.
Mark Lieberman, July 30, 2024
5 min read
Teaching Video Some Topics Are Hard to Teach. A Teacher's Guide to Tackling One of Them
This guide for teachers is designed to create an understanding around the issues of poverty, and provide classroom lessons on the topic.
Lauren Santucci, July 1, 2024
2:56
Susan Maffe, director of Food and Nutrition Services for Meriden Public Schools, hands a hot dog and vegetable packs to Saviyon Cole, 6 of Meriden, Conn., during the Local Food Taste Tests and Free Summer Meals event at the Meriden Green, Tuesday, July 19, 2022.
Susan Maffe, the director of food and nutrition services for the Meriden district in Connecticut, hands a hot dog and vegetable packs to Saviyon Cole, 6, during a local event July 19, 2022. Due to change in federal rules, students are now required to eat school meals on site, regardless of the weather.
Dave Zajac/AP
Student Well-Being Why Free Meal Programs Are Having a Tough Time Feeding Kids This Summer
Federally sponsored summer meal programs require children to eat on site, but what happens in a heat wave?
Annie Goldman, June 27, 2024
5 min read
Students at Mount Vernon Library in Raleigh, N.C., pose with free books after their book fair. School librarian Julia Stivers started the free book fair eight years ago, in an effort to make the traditional book fair more equitable. Alternative versions of book fairs have been cropping up as a way to help students' build their own personal library, without the costs associated with traditional book fair models.
Students at Mount Vernon Library in Raleigh, N.C., pose with free books after their book fair. School librarian Julia Stivers started the free book fair eight years ago, in an effort to make the traditional book fair more equitable. Alternative versions of book fairs have been cropping up as a way to help students' build their own personal library, without the costs associated with traditional book fair models.
Courtesy of Julia Stivers
Equity & Diversity School Librarians Are Creating Free Book Fairs. Here's How
School librarians are turning to free book fairs in an effort to get more books to children in poverty.
Brooke Schultz, June 24, 2024
9 min read
Photo of book fair.
iStock
Equity & Diversity Download Want to Start Your Own Free Book Fair? Here's How You Can Get Started
Book fairs may shut out families in poverty. Here's how some school librarians are making free versions.
Brooke Schultz & Gina Tomko, June 24, 2024
1 min read
Teeanage students doing a test in the classroom
Researchers at New York University and the University of Houston recommend educators break down English-learner data by various sociological factors.
E+ / Getty
English Learners The Complex Factors Affecting English-Learner Graduation Rates
A new study disaggregated New York City graduation rates to find how various factors impact English learners' graduation rates.
Ileana Najarro, May 8, 2024
3 min read
Parents take photos of their children during a Black History Month program at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Parents take photos of their children during a Black History Month program at Stevenson Elementary School in Southfield, Mich., on Feb. 28, 2024.
Samuel Trotter for Education Week
Families & the Community How a School Made Parents Central to Its Turnaround
A strategy to constantly bring parents into the school has been central to rising achievement at a Detroit-area elementary school.
Libby Stanford, April 25, 2024
16 min read
Third graders have lunch outdoors at Highland Elementary School in Columbus, Kan., on Oct. 17, 2022.
Third graders have lunch outdoors at Highland Elementary School in Columbus, Kan., on Oct. 17, 2022.
Charlie Riedel/AP
Student Well-Being The Surprising Connection Between Universal School Meals and Student Discipline
Giving all students free school meals can help nurture a positive school climate by eliminating the stigma around poverty.
Arianna Prothero, April 12, 2024
6 min read
Glitch stylized photo of a white woman with a hood over her head.
iStock/Getty
Student Achievement What the Research Says Next NAEP to Take Deeper Look at Poverty's Connection to Students' Achievement
Researchers say the new measure could yield a more accurate reading of how family income affects students' test scores.
Sarah D. Sparks, February 26, 2024
5 min read
Group of Students in IT Class
iStock
Privacy & Security A New Digital Divide? Low-Income Students See More Ads in the Tech Their Schools Use
Students from the lowest-income families are the most likely to attend schools that do not systematically vet their education technology.
Arianna Prothero, February 14, 2024
4 min read