CB>I think you have hit pretty close to an answer. Home life for the
CB>vast  majority of our students is not very good. Most are below
CB>poverty level and  their situations are pretty desperate.
CB>Unemployment runs 12% or higher in  this area and it is pretty
CB>constant. Many parents lack language skills and  the knowledge that
CB>would help their children succeed.  
 DT> So how do schools respond to this?  I have wondered 
 DT> that if poverty is a
 DT> factor in low school performance (generally) then 
 DT> if we could raise the 
 DT> economic level of poor families would that make a difference?  
I have worked in other low income neighborhoods where kids succeed at a much 
higher rate than ours do, I think that there was a vast difference in 
attitude at home towards education. So many of our parents see no value to 
education that our students often reflect that. 
 
We have summer school, a focus on reading, but there still needs to be a 
unified front from teachers in attitude towards reading and our students. We 
are working on getting our parents involved - slowly that is changing. When 
we have enough students that "make it" through school and are gainfully 
employed, I think the attitude will change.
--- Maximus 2.02
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