New Teachers Face a Support Gap Based on Income Levels

By: Shane Rooney

A major problem in today’s society is the differentiation in the education received by students due to their income level. The article “The Support Gap: New Teachers’ Early Experiences in High-Income and Low-Income Schools,” written by education professors of prestigious universities, discusses how poor support for new teachers causes negative outcomes for low-income students.  Two studies were conducted and outlined in this article based on surveys of randomly selected first-year and second-year teachers. The studies proved “that a “support gap” exists: new teachers in low-income schools receive significantly less assistance in the key areas of hiring, mentoring, and curriculum than their counterparts working in schools with high- income students (Johnson).” The support gap translates into an increase in the achievement gap between high-income and low-income students, meaning low-income students have a lesser educational performance than higher-income level students do. This is due to the inability to attract new highly-skilled teachers and retain them. The next two posts will outline how the support gap effects education in low-income schools.

Works Cited

Johnson, Susan Moore, Susan M. Kardos, David Kauffman,
            Edward Liu, and Morgan L. Donaldson. "The
            Support Gap: New Teachers’ Early Experiences in 

            High-Income and Low-Income Schools." Education
            Policy Analysis Archives, 29 Oct. 2004. Web.
            25 Feb. 2011.