Preschoolers Sense That More Attention is Paid to Middle-Class Kids

Exactly right! If your child is secure, their confidence grows. I guess you don't have to be rich to be the bad guy anymore, just middle-class, I'm truly frightened.

I teach on the middle school level. This study was done with young
children. I agree that the "entitled" ones get more attention when
they get older, as well as those with misbehaviors. It seems that
those who can't communicate effectively in the classroom from a young age find ways to get attention in other ways (i.e. learned
helplessness and misbehaving). Perhaps lower-income families need to be encouraged to get support for their children earlier and take advantage of early intervention programs so they can be prepared in school from day one. There's nothing wrong with rewarding students who communicate well with positive attention. The ones who don't need to be shown how, to be set up for success.

Teachga, you go!! When I read this article I wanted to SCREAM! I am so, so sick of the minority and challenged kids getting all the attention. I am ready to leave this country and go somewhere where I am the minority so my child will get more attention. No matter what he does it is never good enough. He must get 100% in order to get half the praise a minority student gets for a C or B. Keep on keeping it honest teachga.

I do NOT agree with this article. 'Taught kindergarten & elem. ed. for more than 15 years and the squeaky wheel gets the oil whether it's low income or not. Many times the lower income students require more face time due to the need for additional reinforcement. With the middle class students who've been given more "training" it allows for more instructional time and less behavior modification. Better teacher training is needed. Preschool teachers are very important but often require less education.

ShortiRox, Unfortunately, vinsmom is speaking the truth. The minorities, or any child with any type of problem get all the school's attention. Schools are trying to make data look good. Increases in tests score for low income and minorities are necessary for schools to make Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), which translates into money, so administrators demand that the teachers' time be spent with those groups of kids. Helping a high achieving child reach their potential or increase their test scores gets the school system nothing. The students that do the work, follow rules, and get good grades are this country's true child left behind. Until we speak the truth about what goes on in schools, we can't fix it. So much of the junk we hear about educating our children comes from some kid doing their dissertation research and posting stuff their egg head professors want to hear.

Kara, that was the biggest flaw I saw in the story. Middle class and working class are the same but in the middle of the story they said upper middle class so who knows what they are trying to say here. As a preschool teacher with an Early Childhood Edcuation degree I would say that the child that speaks out or acts out the most gets the most attention. We have to work to "see" some of the students that might fly under the radar because they are quiet or very skilled at following along without help.

There are several ways a teacher knows a child's family income, but that doesn't change the way of instruction. Most of the time, it's from the family or the child themselves. The school also has data on who receives free and reduced lunch. Unfortunately, so many people lie on their free lunch applications, that we will never know the true number, so that data is really no good. Lots of folks think their children are being "mistreated" when their child is required simply to follow the rules of the school. Don't Be Stupid, your tone towards teachers is what your own children will pick up. Your words indicate that you don't respect teachers, so neither will they. Children who get that message don't follow any rules because they think the teacher is enforcing rules for some reason other than keeping the school functioning as effectively and efficiently as possilbe. Children who think that way are so busy looking for a reason that they are asked to do what they don't want to do, that they miss out on instruction, and often times run off the good teachers who can get a job elsewhere. This job is too hard and requires too much personal sacrifice to be there for the wrong reasons.

I'd bet that those migrant worker's kids could find the punctuation and shift keys on a keyboard.

Heather: I think you are so right. Most of the time its the kids that aren't catching on due to parents chosing not to become involved on the homefront. If statistics were shown I think they would show low income children, for the most part, come from parents that do not go over homework with the children and really aren't that interested in their children keeping up and getting ahead. Don't forget - many low income families have generations of welfare checks and people using the system and this will be passed onto future generations so they figure why encourage the children to excel.

There should be no money spent on children that do not know English. English is our main language in this country and the sooner people coming in from other countries learn this the better we will be.