Advocacy Plan for Students of Poverty

Problem:

Inconsistent literacy learning expectations is contributing to the perpetuation of the literacy 

achievement gap between students with differing socioeconomic backgrounds nationwide. These 

inconsistent expectations are not always present because of a conscious decision on the teachers 

part. Many educators may in fact believe that they are helping students who they know are 

struggling with the obstacles characteristic of poverty.  It is my belief that we need to ensure all 

teachers understand that this in fact hurting students, rather than helping them. The truth of the matter 

is, students living in poverty do have significant barriers to becoming successful readers and writers. 

However, lowering expectations of these students is not the appropriate way to combat this issue. That 

being said, we need to make sure we equip both teachers and students with the right tools and materials 

in order for students to effectively access the curriculum. Lowering the bar is not the way to help these 

students, providing appropriate supports and effective instruction that takes their specific needs into 

consideration is. As alluded to above, these inconsistent expectations are preventing students from 

having equal opportunities for attainment of higher education degrees, future careers, and being overall 

literate citizens who are capable of contributing to the 21st century globally competitive economy. A 

new district wide vision, professional development, and a special committee will be required in order to

address this issue and to be able to begin reducing the achievement gap.

Problem: Inconsistent literacy learning expectations from schools and teachers are contributing to achievement gaps in learning for students of poverty. 


Goals and Objectives:

The overall goal of this advocacy plan is to convince the local school board that having high

expectations for all learners is an integral part of equitable literacy education for all. These high 

expectations are particularly important for our literacy educators, but as reading and writing are 

components of every subject, these consistently high expectations also need to be mirrored by every 

teacher. This advocacy plan will be introduced at the next school board meeting, where I will ask for 

their support after making a presentation of the advocacy plan. Each member of the school board will 

be sent a copy of the presentation and vision plan, and will be asked to come prepared to the next school

board meeting with either follow-up questions or overall remarks on the presentation.

Goal #1- Provide professional development and training to help teachers

    a. Recognize which students, if any, they have lowered expectations for

    b. Discuss similarities and differences among students of varying socioeconomic backgrounds.

    c. Identify ways they can help students of poverty while maintaining consistently high expectations 

       for all students.

Goal #2- District will formally adopt a mission statement or motto that reflects the importance and expectation of consistent literacy learning expectations from all students in the district.

Goal #3- Support implementation of a new committee that is specifically designed to help in creating and implementing goals one and two. This support will come in the form of time, money, and staffing.  

Target Audience:

The school board (and specifically the district superintendent), will be the primary audience members of

this advocacy plan. In order for consistent high literacy learning expectations for all students to be 

uniformly implemented and consistently upheld, the vision and introduction of a professional 

development requirement needs to come from the top. The school board also understands the role that 

state testing plays in funding for the district, and the potential benefits of significantly higher average 

high stakes test scores throughout the district. While principals, teachers, and other instructional staff 

are important audience members for this issue, they are not in the position to enact change unless they 

are supported by district leadership. Therefore, these stakeholders are the secondary audiences of this plan.

Primary Audience: School board (and specifically superintendent)

Secondary Audiences: Site level leadership (principals, counselors, instructional coaches, etc), all classroom teachers (all subjects), and other school staff. Parents and the greater community are also audience members. 

Primary Message:

Significant discrepancies in achievement continue to exist among socioeconomic classes despite years 

of federal and state legislation being enacted to attempt to address the achievement gap, therefore 

something else needs to be done. Decreasing the achievement gaps in literacy learning will have 

significant positive impacts on many levels; district, school, and individual students\/families. Students 

will be better prepared to enter the workforce and become productive members of society, therefore the 

cycle of  benefits from the increased expectations will come full circle when those individuals have

children of their own. Professional development and a vision plan and/or motto that is implemented 

from the higher levels of administration is required to begin addressing these achievement gap issues, 

therefore time and monetary resources will be necessary.

Primary Message: All students are capable of learning- maintaining high expectations for all learners is the best way for this school district to prepare our students for our globally competitive economy and for being productive citizens. 

Strategies:

An invitation will be delivered to local school board members, district level administration, principals, 

and teachers to observe in designated classrooms throughout the district that have had previous success 

in implementing high expectations for all learners. Personalized letters from students expressing how 

they feel in regards to the expectations they feel are placed on them will be shared with all school board

members. Assuming that support from the school board is acquired, an additional time to meet with 

the superintendent will be required to discuss current strengths and weaknesses district wide in regards

to consistent expectations in classrooms among all grade levels. A committee will then be formed, 

which will be responsible for helping with district wide implementation once the final plan has been 

developed. The committee will be made up of at least one teacher leader from each school site. I will 

ask the team to submit a plan, including a proposed budget, within two months for review by the

committee as a whole. I will keep the superintendent informed of the work going on at individual 

school sites and will also also request their support in acquiring/locating resources to implement the 

plan. It is also suggested that the school districts social media accounts and websites reflect the

new vision of consistent high expectations for all students. 

Strategies for implementation include:

1. Invitation given to both primary and secondary audiences to view specific classrooms throughout the district, that the special committee has previously agreed upon, that have successfully implemented consistent and equal literacy learning expectations for all students.

2. Personalized letters from students regarding how they view perceive expectations from their teachers. 

3. Monthly or bi-monthly meetings of the special committee

4. School board meetings (the board will be updated at least quarterly). 

5. District social media and web presence. 

Monitoring Success:

As part of the plan, I will ask the newly formed committee to help identify both qualitative and

quantitative ways to monitor the implementation and success of the plan. I will also work with

school principals once the plan is further developed, in order to set specific expectations on type and 

frequency of data collection. Data will be presented quarterly at school board meetings, and any 

adjustments needed will be introduced and voted on during these meetings as well. 

Possible Ideas for Data Collection:

1. Schoolwide STAR testing trends

2. School report card from state department

3. Graduation statistics from the high schools in the district

4. Quarterly assessments given by classroom teachers and/or reading specialist/instructional coach.