Will The Real Expert on Poverty Please Stand Up?

I attended the Hillsborough County School Board meeting on November 3, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. The first hour and a half of the meeting was comprised of routine voting that all passed unanimously, recognition of student achievements, and a bunch of promotions of school district employees. The meeting really got going when the board opened up the floor for audience comments.

Several people spoke on their various grievances. However, the topic that caught my attention pertained to the Ruby Payne training being used in Hillsborough County schools since 2000.

This training is meant to educate teachers in the county about children from poverty and their families. Although I think the training has good intentions, it has been accused of classism, racism, and stereotyping. The creator, Ruby Payne, gives lectures about her methods all over the country for payment by these various school boards. Her company aha! Process, Inc. publishes all her materials and facilitates her seminars. She has a Ph.D. and has been a educator most of her life either as a teacher or administrator. I read some of her curriculum for myself and I can see why the citizens who attended the school board meeting were upset about some of the concepts

You can read Ruby Payne’s Framework for Understanding Poverty for yourself, but I’ll give you the highlights. She uses “case studies” or examples to illustrate different situations that children in poverty face. Teachers are then trained on how to handle these situations. The main theme running throughout the training is that children and parents from low-socioeconomic backgrounds cannot communicate well and will resort to violence before dialogue.

Marilyn Williams introduced herself to the board as a “ ‘poor parent’ economically speaking”. She feels this is a “very serious issue” . She’s concerned that if these young teachers are taught to treat poor students and parents as if they are incapable of communicating then she will be set up to treat them in a stereotypical, classicist way. She politely insisted that if teachers are taught that she would rather fight than talk even before she shows up to the school, then she will get no where trying to talk about her child’s schooling.

Williams main argument is that Ruby Payne is not a real authority on poverty. Her books are self-published, so none of her publications are peer reviewed. Her own book cites her reserach to be based on "observations", none of which are recorded, of her husband's family that came from generational poverty. She has no real research to back up her theories, they are simply opinion. And she has every right to that opinion, but she is not qualified to train Hillsborough County teachers (and teachers across the nation) about her unfounded theories. In addition, in the nine years the training has been in effect in Hillsborough there has been no empirical evidence that the training works. There are no records that the number of referrals or suspensions have gone down. No increased numbers in graduation.

When I spoke with Ms. Williams after the meeting she said, “I see education as the best opportunity for a level playing field…I’m just now beginning to believe that’s not true.” According to her, we send more kids from 33619 and 33610 zip codes to jail than any other. She sees the way these teachers are being trained as perpetuating the track from the “schoolhouse to the jailhouse” for these kids.

Williams is part of an advocacy organization called ANCHOR. Their acronym explains their mission.

Advocating
Neighborhoods
Children and Families to
Heighten
Opportunities and
Resources

This group works to help people in their community become advocates for their children in the schools and encourage parent involvement. Williams was followed in the audience comments by Cherryl Witt, another member of ANCHOR and a retired educator. She, too, is appalled by the nature of Ruby Payne training. When I spoke with her after the meeting she said, “They think I’m going away and I ain’t going no where. I’ve been doing this for two years.” She agrees with Williams about the lack of peer review and evidence on whether Ruby Payne’s training is effective or harmful to students. Both women offered to talk to me anytime about the subject.

I was able to catch up with School Board Member and Vice Chair, Susan Valdes after the meeting to find out her thoughts on Ruby Payne and these women’s comments during the meeting. Mrs. Valdes immediately responded, “I don’t like Ruby Payne training either.” As a woman who grew up poor she identified with these women and their children. She told me, “I grew up poor and I don’t stand on no corner selling my body, I’m a school board member for the eighth largest school district in America.”

It’s possible that Valdes could become the first female Hispanic school board chair, at the November 17 reorganization meeting. This might give her the power to sway the board into making changes to the Ruby Payne training or doing away with it all together.






I only hope that there can be a resolution to this issue. Because while the school board drags its feet on a decision, teachers are being improperly trained to the disadvantage of already disadvantaged children.



Suggeseted sources:


Here's a 14 year old from Raleigh who simply reads from her book and shuts Ruby Payne down!