Can Teachers expectations influence the school performance of their pupils?

It is widely accepted that social beliefs and judgements influence how people feel and how they behave (Myers, Abell, Kolstad & Sani, 2010).  It is through the study of social belief and judgements that the question of teachers expectations, influencing pupil performance has been researched since the 1940's.  There are two main focus areas to this question;  why a teacher has these expectations and who these expectations may or may not, effect. In this essay, these two areas will be discussed, and evidence will be provided for this argument. A summary will then conclude this discussion. 

The reasoning behind expectations is not always logical. Consequently, expectations can be incorrect.  Attractiveness of a child is evidenced as a factor in this field. Results from a study regarding attractiveness found that attractive children were afforded significantly favourable treatment than children classed as unattractive (Langlois, Kalakanis, Rubenstein, Larson, Hallam, & Smoot, 2000).  Mathematics ability was used in a study by Robinson-Cimpian, Lubienski, Ganley and  Copur-Gencturk, (2014) to evaluate what factors influence teacher expectations.  The focus of this study was gender. Data was taken from the Early childhood longitudinal study ECLS and perceptions of boys and girls mathematical aptitude were evaluated.  It was found that Boys are afforded a higher expectation in mathematics than girls.  Furthermore, Madon, Jussim, & Eccles, (1997) discuss the conceptual model with the following as reasons for expectations, previous grades, previous test scores, motivation, self-esteem, attractiveness, demographics, personality and home life.

Langlois, Ritter, Roggman and Vaughn (1991) argue that expectations of teachers do influence pupils performance because of teacher interactions and facial expressions. Myers et al., (2010) state that when a teacher has higher expectations of a pupil they look, smile, nod and interact with that pupil more. In contrast to this, a videotaped experiment recorded various teachers discussing something.  Ten seconds of the discussion was played back to viewers, with or without audio. Consequently, viewers showed an expectancy detection effect as they recognised, by the teachers facial expression, whether it was a good or poor student being discussed (Babad, Bernieri, & Rosenthal, 1991).  In a study completed by (Montague & Walker-Andrews, 2001), it was evidenced that infants understand the emotion expressed in the face. Furthermore, they often match their emotions to other people's emotions based on the facial expressions.  It is, therefore, supported that children of pre-school upwards can in-fact calculate what expectations the teacher has for them and other pupils.

The self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP),  (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968) also support that expectations do influence performance. The Pygmalion in the classroom study is a good example of SFP and has stood the test of time.  Rosenthal (1968) stated that "the self-fulfilling prophecy was in evidence primarily at [younger years] the lower grade levels. This prophecy has since been re-examined in several contexts now giving it much more depth. Madon & Jussim (1997) studied naturally occurring SFP to examine whether positive or negative expectations produced more powerful SFP.  Their research model assumed that the teacher expectations would influence performance. With this in mind, they investigated, using different contexts as follows; do high or low expectations produce more powerful SFP; do expectations that match targets self-conception...provide a more powerful SFP; are targets of low self-concept more susceptible to SFP; Are low achievers more susceptible to SFP?  The key question they were asking overall, was which expectation, and in which situation made the biggest influence on performance. Their study found that low achievers were much more vulnerable to SFP.  Although this cannot be generalised, the SFP is supported within the low achievers group.

Bohlmann & Weinstein (2013) created a more advanced study, putting the classroom into the context. Other contexts were evaluated however the key focus was on highly differentiated classrooms and low differentiated classrooms.  They took teacher ratings of students and self-reported student ratings.  It was found that in 'highly differentiated' classrooms the low achiever, student rating matched the teacher expectation, however in 'low differentiated' classes it was not significant.  It was also found that in 'highly differentiated' classrooms Teacher expectation did match the pupils actual performance in mathematics although, again, it did not occur as often in 'low differentiated' classroom environments.  In support of the SFP, Again, the low achievers are highly influenced by teacher expectations, suffice to add that this is only in high differentiated environments.

Moreover, a longitudinal study also supports that low achievers are influenced.  Using Reading, writing and verbal communication abilities as a tool to evaluate the influence of expectations, data was taken from ten sites within the National Institute of Child Care and Human Development (NICHD).  The meta-analysis demonstrated that academic achievement in high school is influenced by teachers, high or low, misinterpretations (expectations) in first grade. These teachers expectations of abilities were found to influence students. Consequently,  vulnerable pupils, including pupils from low-status backgrounds, low achievers and minority students, for up to ten years (Sorhagen, 2013). Sorhagen did, however, state that parents expectations may also play a part in performance.

To conclude, when looking at reasoning behind teacher expectations, these study's imply that factors out with the student's control recurrently influence these misjudgements. Therefore, leading to these expectations. Reasoning behind teacher expectations needs to be included and evaluated when investigating this area as they do support sorhagens' statement regarding teacher expectations being misinterpretations. Furthermore student performance results, must take into account outside factors such as environment, self-esteem, ability, academic level, age, and parent expectations (Langlois et al., 2000;  Robinson-Cimpian et al., 2014; Madon & Jussim, 1997). Only then can it be clarified if the sole responsibility for performance is influenced by teacher expectation.

In saying this, It is however abundantly clear that Teachers expectations do have an influence on student performance. This does, however, seem highly focused around more vulnerable pupils such as minority groups, low-income pupils and younger children. It is also extremely visible when looking at the results from these studies; that low achievers are impacted greatly in many of these studies.

 References

Babad, E., Bernieri, F., & Rosenthal, R. (1991). Students as Judges of Teachers' Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior. American Educational Research Journal, 28(1), 211-234.

Bohlmann, N., & Weinstein, R. (2013). Classroom context, teacher expectations, and cognitive level: Predicting children's math ability judgments. Journal Of Applied Developmental Psychology, 34(6), 288-298.

Langlois, J., Ritter, J., Roggman, L., & Vaughn, L. (1991). Facial diversity and infant preferences for attractive faces. Developmental Psychology, 27(1), 79-84.

Langlois, J., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A., Larson, A., Hallam, M., & Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126(3), 390-423.

Madon, S., Jussim, L., & Eccles, J. (1997). In search of the powerful self-fulfilling prophecy. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 72(4), 791-809.

Myers, D., Abell, J., Kolstad, A., & Sani, F. (2010). Attitudes and behaviour. Jacobs, N. Rotherham, J. (1st Ed) Social psychology (pp. 146-155). Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.

Robinson-Cimpian, J., Lubienski, S., Ganley, C., & Copur-Gencturk, Y. (2014). Teachers' perceptions of students' mathematics proficiency may exacerbate early gender gaps in achievement. Developmental Psychology, 50(4), 1262-1281.

Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. The Urban Review, 3(1), 16-20.

Sorhagen, N. (2013). Early teacher expectations disproportionately affect poor children's high school performance. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 465-477.

Montague, D., & Walker-Andrews, A. (2001). Peekaboo: A new look at infants' perception of emotion expressions. Developmental Psychology, 37(6), 826-838. 

An Insight into me

Who am I?

This last five years has not been the easiest five years of my life but it has taught me who I am and who to trust.

In the last five years both me and my man were made redundant after 15 years of  solid employment each. working,  We were unemployed for over a year and had to watch our debts just get higher and higher.  We then took on the permanent role of kinship carers for our niece, I went to college, My man finally managed to get a job and a good one at that and I managed to pass all my exams and get to university. Every summer is a financial nightmare as I cannot find work that fits around childcare so we make do with what we have from my mans wage.  So every year we manage to get the finances under control and then in summer it gets blown to pieces but we have worked hard and every year summer gets a little bit easier.

All of  three of us have gone through high emotions, heartbreak and just sheer frustration at getting one step forward and knocked ten steps back.  There has been underhandedness, family breakdowns and sheer non-acceptance of certain situations, to the point where the best thing to do was cut out the negativity altogether. There are also still ongoing meetings and hearings etc, that go along with being kinship carers.

On top of all this we are now having to move because we the landlord has decided to move back into this place, we have two months to find a deposit and a month advanced rent, removal costs etc etc and keep this family together... and so it all begins again.

There have been good things too however, My man has excelled so much so that he has achieved two promotions in the last year.  He absolutely loves his job! His employer is one of the best we have ever come across, putting focus on staff moral and supplying free fruit, soft drinks, tea coffee every day.  They organise a monthly presentation on business progress with food and drinks afterwards and anyone can go to this, they also organise a yearly away day for all the staff and everything is paid for so his work is great.

My niece is turning out to be the little genius when she puts her mind to it and we do our best to give her a full and interesting life.  She did kickboxing for nearly two years getting to yellow belt and now is looking to try out Judo.  She sings in the school choir and has achieved her goal of singing solo.  she loves history which is great because we are avid learners with books and books on everything from history to computer software.  She also plays football and basketball and does her own research on the internet in relation to history.  I also met one very good friend through my niece and her best friend who is also there to listen when I need to talk and understands how passionate I can be about different things.

Up until this point I can say that I have passed every assessment and exam I have taken over the last three years, I do my best to get the best marks possible and to date, I am sitting with A's and B's with one C sitting messing it all up (I suffer from OCPD so the C really irritates me) I am not counting my chickens however because each year does get harder.  Through college and university I met another really good friend who has been through many of these situations with me so already knows who I really am.

The people in my life that I expected help and support from where never really there when I needed them, never took the time to understand who I was, never accepted who I wanted to be which is probably why it took so long for me to go to college.  It seems they all had preconceptions of what and who I should be.  They were all wrong, I am me, my man is who he is and I would never dream of changing that because it's why I fell in love with him, and my niece is learning who she wants to be everyday and we will continue to allow her to make that decision for herself.

We are honest, we are hard working and we trust each other like we trust no-one else on this planet to get through each and every one of these hurdles.  Life keeps throwing these things at us and we keep facing them head on, I tend to charge in full steam ahead and just deal with the situation as soon as it happens, he is much calmer than me.  He slows me down a little and plays devils advocate a lot when I go charging into situations, so we are a complete balance.  We have practically no support in what we do except for one family member.  They are there to praise us when we achieve something or to tell us when we are wrong about something, but they are and always have been, there.

We don't expect hand outs or people to do things for us but just acknowledging what we do is all we ever asked.  We didn't ask for any of the situations that life threw at us but we don't run form them.  We deal with them.  Neither of us believe in shoving your head in the sand as that fixes nothing and neither of us is a great believer in the blame culture as that fixes nothing either.  We are two people that, like many, have gone through hell repeatedly only to come out stronger on the other side.  We have managed this because we fight for each other.  We believe we are doing the right thing, the honest thing and the best thing for this family.  We do this so as we can have a better future and we truly believe that one day this will happen but until then we will keep on fighting.  This is who I am.

Who is accountable for the rise in neglect?

I was checking all my various social media sites today and came across a post asking to share against child cruelty which I did.  Someone asked if it was abuse to leave a child on the street and I replied yes it was. I was then asked a question regarding this, which gave me food for thought.  I was asked who was to blame for this type of abuse and it was also stated that the ones that survived today would be raised in abuse and thus turn out to be tomorrows problem.  

This saddened me that this is what is thought of about children in care today.  I will admit that not all children respond to their new carers well, however I will also admit that not all carers are adept at caring for a child that has been through so much at such a young age.  I will start at the beginning however and try to restore some faith that the children in care today can be your leaders of tomorrow with the right help.

My response to the question  “was it child abuse to abandon a child on the street”  was not based on personal feeling, I am passionate about the subject and as such have read through as many laws and legislations as I can to understand it.  My response was thus based on the following legislations and laws.  Cruelty to Children Act 1889 and 1904 alongside the Children and Young person’s act 1933 including all up to and including 2014.  As well as these I also based my response on the definition of child abuse from the UN convention paraphrased below.  The UN convention it states  “Key child protection articles in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are Articles 9 (family separation), 10 (family reunification across borders), 11 (illicit transfer of children), 16(right to privacy, honour and reputation), 19 (protection from violence, injury, abuse, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation), 20 (alternative care), 21 (adoption), 22 (refugee children), 23(disabled children), 24 (harmful practices), 25 (periodic review of alternative care), 32 (economic exploitation), 34 (sexual abuse and exploitation), 35 (abduction, sale or trafficking of children) , 36 (other forms of exploitation), 37 (juvenile justice and protection from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), 38 (protection in armed conflict), 39 (recovery and reintegration) and 40 (children in conflict with the law).  This is also available on their website in more detail below” (Unicef, 1992)  

All of the above acts would consider the abandoned child as neglected which causes numerous other forms of maltreatment in the process.  Although I do also see this as a form of neglect and thus child abuse I cannot honestly answer or respond to the question asked in a few lines.  The situation is much more complex.

I have to admit that I was not expecting the response that I received “I was asked who was to blame for this type of abuse and it was also stated that the ones that survived today would be raised in abuse and thus turn out to be tomorrows problem”.   I genuinely worry that this is the standard thought process about children in care today.  Many of these children have been emotionally scarred because of stresses and trauma in early childhood and it takes a particular type of person to take a child in and care for them.  I have known several kinship and foster carers and all have their strengths and they treat the children they care for with respect and understanding.  They work closely with professionals to try and resolve some of the mental issues caused in early childhood.   From all of the children I know or have met, none of them look, to me, as though they will be tomorrows problems.  Actually, it is quite the opposite, I see children being rebuilt, children understanding a lot more than they should and children who will continue to grow stronger as their carers continue to understand and remain dedicated to helping them. 

These children, I believe, will grow up to be team leaders and managers, supervisors and inspirations.  The logic behind this thought is that these children have dealt with stress ten times more dangerous to them than making a snap decision on the shop floor.  These children are the most logical answer to our stagnant economics and failing businesses.  Not only can they deal with stress, but they will remember how all they wanted when they were younger was to be listened to or to be treated fairly or not to be scared.  Given the right care, they can be the person that listens, treats people with dignity and doesn't choose to frighten their staff but rather, motivates them by using loyalty and dedication. 

When asked who is to blame however, this takes deeper thought.  In our time now, I could look to the government starving its population enough for a young girl to abandon her baby because she just does not see a way to make ends meet.  It could be that sex education carried out by schools isn't a big enough deterrent as serious issues like HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases are just briefly touched on because of adult embarrassment of the issues. It could be that the parents didn't follow up on the sex education to highlight the important factors such as STD’s, pregnancy and what motherhood is all about.  It could be culture, the girl may be disowned if she dishonours the family with a child out of marriage.  It could be that the girl is too ashamed of her situation and she just wants it forgotten and no one else to know about it (many girls have been known to go through pregnancy unnoticed, birth the baby and abandon it without anyone knowing).  In these cases we must stand back and look at the girls situation, what made her so desperate in that situation.  Can we blame the people around her, the state, or do we blame her for being scared of the consequences.  I am aware there are girls that abandon their baby for more selfish reasons but these are minimal compared to the girls that are terrified of the consequences from the people around them.  Can we realistically blame the people around her however? 

I feel that there is a lack of education out there about motherhood, responsibility, living with the consequences or even the help they can get if they knew where to look and that’s how we can lessen the amount of abandoned babies, as well as lessen other forms of cruelty and maltreatment such as neglect.  There is a rise in tolerance of various forms of neglect as they are now seen as normal, such as seeing your friend leave her baby in the baby walker all day, this is neglect and can damage limb development but so many youngsters do not know this and think it’s ok.  A good understanding of child development and their own expected life changes is required in schools and at home but it is not forthcoming as we stand and let governments dictate what we can and cannot teach, what we can and cannot learn so in this scenario, we are all to blame, because we do not fight to change things any more.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1889/44/contents/enacted

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/23-24/12

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/8/contents/enacted

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/cruelty_to_a_child/

http://www.unicef.org.uk/UNICEFs-Work/Our-mission/UN-Convention/

I thought it was an exaggeration but this is the Conservatives’ handbook!

It’s not the sort of book I normally would read but after reading 1984, I am keen to read his other works now too.  I had heard so much about George Orwell’s’ book 1984 and so many people telling me how the government of today were using it as an instruction manual, I just had to read it and judge for myself.  

I can say there is not much that I cannot relate to in some way or other, the two way TV screens that watch your every move and hear your every word, well our internet resembles that factor of the government spy network of its citizens.  The fake war that never ends and the reasons behind it (of this I will not say too much, as it is a piece of realization that should only be given by Orwell himself) but there have been several wars as of late that have been wrought with allegations of being illegal but the reasoning behind these wars is very convenient, to add to this there is further food for thought in Orwell’s revelation of this.  

The proles in Orwell’s book are left to their own devices, classed as natural inferiors, they are very poor and not educated enough to let them see what was going on, so as they would never revolt. They resemble the 99%, the proletariat of today. The way I describe stratification of our very own education system in a previous article is very frightening to consider, when you look at Orwell’s fictional world and how it resembles our world so very closely.  There were also no medical facilities for the proles that were mentioned either, much like our own NHS being dismantled right now. 

There is also the daily two minute hate sessions that are held.  The population of the outer party are brainwashed to hate one man, ‘Big Brothers’ opposition.  Under our government, the population is being turned on the poor, the conservatives opposition, very much like the German population of 1933 when Hitler took over as chancellor.  The government in Orwell’s tale control the media and news to a degree not thought possible, they change the news on a daily basis to match what they want the population to know.  Our own government also controls the media and can control what we do and do not see.  Any of these resemblances can be found in governments acts passed by our very own government on the government website and yet day by day people are drawn into Orwell’s vision unconsciously.

One final haunting thought that this book leaves you with are the great purges at the start of the reign of ‘Big Brother’, you cannot help but remember the purge of World War Two but this was based on the purge caused by Stalin when he had 11 million people slaughtered in cold blood.  Although our government is not as obvious as this, we are now sitting at an estimated death rate of around 20, 000 elderly and disabled since 2010.  After reading this book I can, with a clear mind state that I believe our own UK government and possibly even the US are using this as their handbook.  George Orwell is a great visionary, but I pray this vision comes to a halt before it becomes as blatant as his fictional vision.

I will say that I will have to read the book again as I soaked up every chapter so fast, I am sure I missed more resemblances and for those that have not read it yet I would recommend this as a really good read.  I understand that this, however, is a book of fiction based on some very real background history that the author experienced, the Spanish Civil War under the oppression of Franco and Russian Communism during the years of Lenin/Stalin. He decided to write some fictional novels about his experience, which are good reads on their own, however when added to today’s predicaments add a haunting note to his tale. 

For anyone wanting to delve further into todays policies I have put the link below:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

Mars One update

As I follow this project with interest, I find it curious that although the Mars one expedition only requires 4 people and have accepted thousands of applicants from very normal backgrounds with no specific requirements but now asks for the following ready for their preparation expedition being based in the Canadian Arctic:

Firstly they ask for volunteers to compile a team of six members when the original expedition only accounts for a 4 man team.  Secondly the original expedition asks for  no special requirements. No science skills, no engineering skills and anyone could apply.  On this expedition  however "Applicants will need to pass a physical exam and must be cleared by their personal physician to participate. Applicants must be non-smokers ... Dedication to the cause of human Mars exploration is an absolute must, as conditions are likely to be very difficult and the job will be very trying...one field support person will also participate in the expedition in and out of simulation role. This person should have excellent field mechanic and wilderness skills." cited from http://www.marssociety.org/home/press/announcements/ma365-call-for-volunteers

This new expedition seems to focus on how the team will work together however they are already overlooking the differences in the terrain and psychological aspects of these two very different teams on two very different missions.

Firstly the team being brought together for the Canadian Arctic expedition have been through university to gain the qualifications on geology, engineering, and the various other skills they are looking for.  Already, this gives this team a psychological advantage as their cognitive abilities are able to deal with academic pressures with more efficiency meaning they will be able to deal with pressure with more ease.  Secondly, this team will be in contact with a remote team whenever they need support which means that psychologically they are not alone with only three other companions to support them.  

When you look at the circumstances for the Mars one team, they have access to a remote team however it is highly unlikely that communication will be instantaneous due to the distance between Earth and Mars.  This leaves the team with no instant support, no cognitive ability to deal with complex engineering issues or scientific issues and only each other for support on a constant basis. 

My worry here is that the two teams are not really testing psychological impact or group work; although the terrain is apparently very similar to the terrain in Mars, the situation each team is being placed in is far from similar.  To measure anything in the preparation expedition will not show any true significant correlations between these variables and leave the project totally unprepared for the launch of Mars One. 

Because the children are Scotlands' future.

I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about the 'No Campaign' as quite frankly every time I read something about the 'No campaign' I become frustrated at the lack of evidence they supply in order to support their statements.

I have however done a lot of reading about the 'Yes campaign'  who have supplied a fully detailed manifesto of what the plans are and how they will achieve them.  The 'Yes campaign have made no promises of a bed of roses or a magic fix to our current situation in Scotland, they have however outlined a clear plan of action and within the manifesto and you can see the evidence to support their idea's.

Throughout this whole campaign the 'Yes campaign' has talked about solutions and reminded us that nothing will change if we remain together, they have pointed out key area's where things could get worse if we don't vote yes and this is all fine.  On the other side however, the 'No campaign' continues to throw scare tactics at us, threats at us and generally treat us as stupid.  They have even been caught on record, several times, saying we are not educated enough to make this type of decision.

Throughout all of this; I, being Scottish and too uneducated to make this type of decision,  have been watching what is going on behind the smoke screen being created by the no campaign.

Did you know that organisations and charities who slander our current government can now be punished? Did you also know that there are plans to cut out TV licences and bus passes for pensioners if the Tory's get back in in the next election.
Did you know that food banks are on the rise and that there are 15,000 children in care in Scotland with a further 3.5 million children living in poverty. the Tory's blame this on the unemployed however as of this month there are 2.34 million unemployed.
Do you remember the two men who won their case regarding workfare and yet its crept back in again....

The new plans by Ian Duncan Smith are linked below and are bleak to say the least for anyone unemployed. the new plans target unemployed once again cutting even more benefits and causing even more child poverty. You can see there is a difference of  1.16 million between child poverty and unemployment and yes there are often more than one child in a family but you cannot tell me that there are not working families living in poverty as I am one of them.  My man works full time and I am a student but we still find that financially it is a never-ending struggle to pay for child care, buy clothes, shoes, winter coats, summer clothes and shoes, and deal with birthdays and Christmas too.  The children that are being driven towards poverty are from working families now as the families relying on benefits to keep them fed are already suffering and have been for quite some time.  We will start to see a drop however as the definition of children living in poverty is reworded and therefore certain children will no longer be counted !

More and more children will end up without breakfast, without lunch and without the proper clothes to wear in winter because of this.  This will only lead to ill health as each child becomes older costing more on the NHS ...but wait, they are selling that off in parts too aren't they.  How long will it be before we have no welfare state?

I for one, do not want a child growing up in a country were the government use a blame culture to divert attention from what's really going on.  I do not want a child growing up in a country where a government cannot be trusted because they pass laws where you are not allowed to say your piece.  I am also extremely aware of how Hitler got around the Reichstag (the German equivalent to our houses of parliament) and how Cameron is getting around are straying dangerously close to misusing the houses of parliament  to get his own way.   I am also very aware that the Labour leader and the Liberal democrat leader have seemed to dissolved into thin air, why is this, what game is Cameron playing that would shut the opposition up just like that.  In some cases the opposition are even backing Tory policy, why?

Quite frankly all of this scares me more than any 'No campaign' junk thrown at us. There are too many closed doors, too many quiet 'opposition' leaders and a growing amount of authoritarian attitudes being taken by the people that are suppose to look after the States citizens.

Cameron is leading the way into a hard core dictatorship and it terrifies me to the core when I think of what the children of Scotland will suffer if we stay together.  I have put links below if you want to look at the evidence I have supplied. Like I said at the beginning I do not pretend to know everything but I do know that for an uneducated Scot who is not programmed to make a political decision I totally defy this uneducated slander by stating that I am quite capable of voting and I will be there on September the 18th later this year to do so.

The choice on which way to vote it totally yours but please do vote.  I will vote but not for me...the future belongs to today's  children and we owe them sanctuary from a dangerous dictator so I for one will be voting yes to save Scotland children from a future of hell.



References used for this article 

http://www.snp.org/

http://www.scotreferendum.com/

http://www.cpag.org.uk/child-poverty-facts-and-figures

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26255696

http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/our_projects/child_poverty/child_poverty_what_is_poverty/child_poverty_statistics_facts.htm

http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/more-workfare-more-sanctions-iain-duncan-smiths-brutal-and-barmy-plan-to-end-child-poverty/

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/celebrity-hairstylist-nicky-clarke-scots-3188406

http://www.bbc.scotlandshire.co.uk/index.php/city-news/676-scots-not-genetically-programmed-to-make-political-decisions-reveals-astonished-lamont.html

http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2014/feb/westminster-fiddling-figures-child-poverty

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/dictator.htm
Quote taken form above website:  "For Adolf Hitler, the goal of a legally established dictatorship was now within reach. On March 15, 1933, a cabinet meeting was held during which Hitler and Göring discussed how to obstruct what was left of the democratic process to get an Enabling Act passed by the Reichstag. This law would hand over the constitutional functions of the Reichstag to Hitler, including the power to make laws, control the budget and approve treaties with foreign governments."