Studies suggest that socioeconomic status is a strong predictor of academic achievement. This theoretical paper proposes that despite the fact that low-socioeconomic status represents a risk factor that seems to undermine attentional skills and thus academic achievement, emerging evidence suggests the potential of new approaches, interventions and cognitive training programs to reverse the negative effects of poverty. The evidence presented in this paper may be of particular interest for teachers because it provides a larger scope to better understand the implications of socioeconomic status on learning and school achievement. This paper intends to make teachers aware that today more than ever they count on important knowledge and valuable resources like cognitive training intervention programs to help students. These intervention programs correct dysfunctional attention bringing hope to socially disadvantaged students who struggle in school.

Evidence suggests that school-age Latino immigrants from low socioeconomic backgrounds are at risk of multiple victimization with serious implications for their mental health and academic competence. This theory-oriented paper proposes that the overlapping of certain characteristics in the status of immigrant have been somehow overlooked or not properly addressed when dealing with immigrants' academic underachievement in Spain. Further, it considers Latino immigrant students susceptible to suffer more than one form of violence and describes how the acculturation process and social inequality clash with the host country's values. All this seem to exert too much stress on the family, bringing about patterns of victimization of children and youth that hinder competence in several domains. The inclusion in this paper of some American and Canadian neuroscience studies on attentional deficits are relevant to understand immigrants that struggle in Spanish schools. Finally, it discusses the pernicious effects of poly-victimization and the potential benefits of prevention and intervention programs. factores como son el proceso de adaptación a una nueva cultura y la desventaja económica ejercen mucho estrés en la familia dando lugar a situaciones de maltrato hacia los niños y adolescentes, afectando considerablemente la competencia del individuo en varias áreas. La inclusión en esta investigación de algunos estudios de la neurociencia de países como los Estados Unidos y Canadá sobre deficiencias en la atención de los niños, se hace necesaria para así entender mejor la crítica situación que sufren muchos inmigrantes en los centros educativos españoles. Finalmente, además de discutir sobre los efectos perniciosos de la polivictimización, se habla del beneficio potencial que tienen los programas de prevención e intervención. Keywords

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The present study speculates that histories of multiple victimization during childhood and adolescence are more prevalent among low-income adult immigrants than among low-income adult nonimmigrants. Method: a total sample of 53 individuals (N=53) completed the JVQ-Adult Retrospective Victimization. Results: a t test showed no significant differences between the immigrant group (M=3.34) and the non-immigrant group (M=3.00), (t(51)=.310, df=51, p=.758), and results from a Mann-Whitney U either (U=186.500, Z=-.276, p=.783). Conclusion: no significant differences were found between immigrants and non-immigrants. Nevertheless, it raises concerns about other studies from public and private organizations revealing high rates of inter-partner violence and child maltreatment among the immigrant population in Spain.