65.Livingconditionscancausechildrenfromculturallydifferentbackgroundstoexperienceacademicdifficultiesandto
bereferredtospecialeducation.Discusstwomajorcontributorstothedevelopmentofachild’slearningproblem.
ANSWER: Itisimportanttonotethatthestudyofcultureandassociatedvariables,suchaspoverty
andmigrancy,iscomplicatedwhenoneattemptstoidentifysimplecausalrelationships
(e.g.,depressionoccursmorefrequentlyinpeopleofcertainethnicbackgrounds,which
maybeduetopoverty,notculture).Inmanycasesthestudyofraceandculture
involvescomplexandinteractingvariablesthatdefycertainsimplecausative
conclusions.Aschildrendevelopduringtheimportantearlyyears,livinginan
impoverishedenvironmentplacesthemfurtheratriskduetofactorssuchas
malnutrition,thepresenceoftoxicagents(e.g.,lead),andgenerallyinsufficientparental
care.Theconditionsofpovertyoftencontributetopooracademicperformance,place
childreninat-risksituations,andgeneratespecialeducationreferrals.Forexample,there
islessaccesstoadequatehealthcareandparticularlyprenatalcare,amongcultural
minorities,whichcanpresentat-riskcircumstances.Conditionsofpovertyarefound
moreofteninpopulationshavingmulticulturaleducationneedsandareassociatedwith
homelessnessandacademicrisk.
Migrancypresentsaseriousdifficultyinthatitinterruptsthecontinuityofschoolingand
hasanimpactonlearning,teacherandpeerrelationships,andgeneralacademic
progress.Childrenfrommigrantfamilieshavelimitedcontinuityandconsiderable
inconsistencyineducationalprogramming.Theyoftenhavelimitedaccesstoservices
duetotheirshort-termenrollmentsortheschool’slimitedcapabilitiestodeliverservices.
REFERENCES: Bloom’s:Understanding
LEARNINGOBJECTIVES:HESC.HARD.17.05.03-Describepopulationtrendsamongculturallyandlinguistically