Abstract
All across our country, we can find high-poverty high-achieving schools
(Carter, 2000; Chenoweth, 2009). These “pockets of hope” (de los Reyes &
Gozemba, 2002) come in many forms, but there are simply not enough of
them. Despite school restructuring and a myriad of reform efforts, the failure
rate of students, disproportionately low-income students of color, continues to
rise (Anyon, 2005; Kozol, 1994; Oakes & Lipton, 2007; Orfield, 2004; Orfield
& Kornhaber, 2001). In far too many places, teachers are not equipped to
deal with the challenges of this generation; high-risk youth fall through the
cracks, drop out, or are pushed out, leaving their futures dim and their choices
narrow. But there is hope; despite restrictive mandates, several researchers
confirm that supportive student-teacher relationships can alter a teenager’s
life trajectory (e.g., Conchas, 2001; Darling-Hammond, 1999; Lee, 1999;
Michie, 2004). This is powerful. Classrooms can be one of the safety nets
that can keep students alive and learning. In fact, the average child spends
approximately 16,380 hours in school, assuming 12 years of 180 7-hour days.
Some students spend more hours with their teachers than with their parents.
So, given that about a third of a child’s development happens in the schoolhouse, what are the most effective tactics teachers can use to support student
achievement?