Student Achievement, Poverty and “Toxic Stress”
by Robert PondiscioJanuary 4th, 2012
It’s a safe bet that not many teachers are avid readers of the medical journal Pediatrics. But a report that appeared in the publication last week deserves to be read and understood deeply by everyone in education. It has the potential to transform the way we think and speak about children who grow up in poverty–and education as a means of addressing its worst effects.
The report links “toxic stress” in early childhood to a host of bad life outcomes including poor mental and physical health, and cognitive impairment. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in an accompanying policy statement, calls on its members to “catalyze
