A cautionary note from our colleague at Shepherd University.

 >>> "Doug Horner" <[log in to unmask]> 2/8/2008 2:40 PM >>>
The profession needs to be very careful concerning the utilization of
this "method".  The professional literature and press has a number of
serious criticisms that need to be considered when applying this flawed
and victim blaming approach.  Consider the following from the Washington
Post:
Author's Poverty Views Disputed Yet Utilized
Materials Have Guided Va., Md. Teachers

By Ian Shapira
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 15, 2007; A01



According to Ruby K. Payne, a consultant to school systems locally and
nationwide, teachers should know a few things about poor people.

The Texas-based author says in her book "A Framework for Understanding
Poverty": Parents in poverty typically discipline children by beating or
verbally chastising them; poor mothers may turn to sex for money and
favors; poor students laugh when they get in trouble at school; and
low-income parents tend to "beat around the bush" during parent-teacher
conferences, instead of getting to the point.

In the past several years, at least five school systems in the
Washington area have turned to Payne's lessons, books and workshops.

But many academics say her works are riddled with unverifiable
assertions. At the American Educational Research Association's annual
conference in Chicago last week, professors from the University of Texas
at Austin delivered a report on Payne that argued that more than 600 of
her descriptions of poverty in "Framework" cannot be proved true.

"She claims there is a single culture of poverty that people live in.
It's an idea that's been discredited since at least the 1960s," said
report co-author Randy Bomer.

It's unclear how much public money has been spent on Payne regionwide.
Howard County dispatched about 300 teachers in 2003 to a two-day Payne
seminar and has continued to send math and reading teachers to her for
training. Montgomery County also has sent teachers to Payne workshops in
recent years; Prince George's County Superintendent John E. Deasy
distributed one of Payne's books to some of his staff this year; and
Frederick County sent about 250 teachers to a multi-day training session
three years ago.

In one case, Prince William County schools recently spent more than
$320,000 for Payne and her aides to train hundreds of staff members. Now
Prince William officials are reconsidering the value of Payne's advice.

The officials say Payne is well meaning, but they are put off by her
blunt generalizations about life in poverty and worry about her standing
among academics.

"She seems to be always stereotyping," Natialy Walker, Prince William's
professional development supervisor, said during a staff meeting about
Payne last month. "If only we could get away from all the labels and
move beyond that."

Still, in their nonstop quest to raise test scores of students from
low-income families, schools everywhere are searching for expertise from
such consultants as Payne. The mission has become more urgent under the
federal No Child Left Behind law.

Frederick's director of professional development, Ann Hummer, said
administrators are aware that Payne's workshops are controversial. But
she called them refreshing. "People who are in high-needs schools, they
were like, 'Yeah, we see this.' "

Payne, 56, said that she speaks to about 40,000 educators a year and
that she has sold more than 1 million copies of her self-published
"Framework." She estimated that she and others with her company, Aha!
Process Inc., have worked with staff from 70 to 80 percent of the
nation's school districts over the past decade. She declined to reveal
the company's annual revenue.

Payne's backers contend that teachers who can grasp the realities of
impoverished households -- whatever those might be -- are better
positioned to help students in those situations succeed.

Critics say that that approach demeans low-income families and that
there are better ways to raise scores -- among them, intensifying
coursework, lowering teacher-student ratios and ensuring that
experienced teachers do not leave low-income schools for those with
wealthier students.

Payne, a former teacher and administrator in Texas and Illinois who has
worked with low-income students, says her characterizations of poverty
come from her professional experience and from spending time with the
low-income family of her ex-husband.

"I ask the critics this question: Have you ever taught poor kids? The
answer every time is, 'No,' " Payne said. "So how do they know [my
descriptions of poverty] are not true?"

Another consultant, Glenn E. Singleton, based in San Francisco, contends
that race influences achievement more than poverty. Singleton, who is
black, coaches teachers on cultural sensitivity.

"Why is Ruby Payne popular?" he asked. "It's a safe place to go. When
you've determined kids are poor, there's nothing you as a teacher can do
about that. When you deal with race, it's about how we perpetuate racism
and how that gets in the way of higher student performance."

Payne said she doesn't focus on race in part because of her skin color.
"The real issue is that I am white, and there's a huge belief out there
that if you're white, you can't talk about poverty and race," she said.

To establish Payne's credentials, her company has conducted research
that attempts to show that the author-consultant has helped boost scores
on state standardized exams. The study, drawing on data from five
states, found that 63 percent of the students in classes with "high
fidelity" to Payne's tenets had greater growth on their math exam scores
over a two-year period than students who were in "low-fidelity" classes.
On reading exams, 78 percent of students in Payne-influenced classes had
greater growth.

Critics say these findings have not been reviewed by independent
experts.

In Prince William, Payne has influenced many educators. Principal Joanne
Alvey of Marumsco Hills Elementary -- where nearly 70 percent of
students are economically disadvantaged -- credits Payne's work among
many factors that helped her school recently meet the academic standards
of No Child Left Behind.

Alvey said she bought some of Payne's literature for her staff even
before school officials sent the teachers for countywide training.

"We talk in Ruby Payne terms all the time. What's really important is
the teacher having a relationship with the children. Children in poverty
tend not to work for grades, but they work for the teacher," Alvey said.
"Another thing I discovered is how they address adults. Children of
poverty don't generally know how to do that. We have to teach them
that."

Rita E. Goss, principal of Dumfries Elementary, where about 65 percent
of students are economically disadvantaged, said Payne's work has helped
her and her staff understand what goes on in low-income homes and why
some students misbehave in class.

"She talks in her book about generational poverty, like background noise
and the TV always being on, how it's always important to show their
personality and to entertain and tell stories," Goss said. "You may
assume that kids have certain knowledge of the rules and how to adapt to
[school] but, in fact, they really don't."

But debate about Payne is growing in Prince William. "I don't know the
last time Ruby Payne stepped outside the Ruby Payne atmosphere," said
Pam Bumstead, a seventh-grade language arts teacher at Potomac Middle
School. "We have kids whose parents are alcoholics, kids whose parents
are in jail and kids whose parents who live in McMansions, and those
three different kids can come to school with the same problems."

Victor Martin, the county's supervisor of multicultural education, is
trying to determine what to do with Payne's materials. As he led
administrators last month in a discussion of her work, Martin wondered
aloud about Payne's "hidden rules" of poverty.

He took issue with one conclusion in the "Framework" book: "The noise
level is high (the TV is always on and everyone may talk at once)."

"As a person that comes from poverty myself, I look at these 'hidden
rules'," Martin said. He paused. "The noise level in my home wasn't
high. My dad worked shift work, and if he was sleeping and if you had TV
on -- there [would be] no entertainment."

Martin asked: "How is that information being filtered? Like, 'Well, that
child is loud because he's poor'?"

Douglas C. Horner, Ph.D
Professor and Social Work Program Director
Shepherd University
PO Box 3210
315 White Hall 
Shepherdstown, WV. 25443
304-876-5334
FAX 304-876-5193 

-----Original Message-----
From: Social Work Professional Continuing Education
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jacki Englehardt
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 1:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask] 
Subject: Ruby Payne: Framework for Understanding Poverty Trainings


There is a statewide Cadre that is trained in providing the Ruby Payne:
Framework for Understanding Poverty sessions.  If you are interested in
having a session in your community, contact Jack Wiseman who works
directly for Kay Goodwin, Secretary of Ed and Arts.  His phone number is
558-2440 or his email is [log in to unmask]  He coordinates the
statewide Cadre.  He will contact trainers that are in your area and see
who is available.  

(Thank you Kerri Wade, Extension Agent for Kanahwa County for the info!)