The following bits and pieces are excerpts from an article written by Bill Page, Author of “At-Risk Students.”

“At-Risk Students: Children expected to fail because teachers cannot motivate, control, teach, or interest using traditional teaching methods and pre-determined, grade level curriculum.”

“Students with a history of struggle and failure accept the inevitability of continued struggle and of ultimate failure. They do not respond as normally expected to class management strategies such as rewards, punishment, threats, grades, and flunking, however effectively teachers may use such strategies on other students. The at-risk students’ misbehavior, disruption, and lack of cooperation are a constant, daily hassle for everyone: administrators, teachers, other members of the class, and the misbehaving students themselves.

Not every student has caring parents, a home, adequate living conditions, extended family, friends, a scout troop, a religion, supervision, discipline, or enough to eat. School is the only experience that every student shares in common. For most of these children, their schooling and their teachers are the last best hope for finding acceptance, understanding, belonging, meaning, and anyone in their lives who cares. For teachers classroom interaction is a chance to salvage their ravaged lives and make a real difference in this crucial, formative time in a student’s development. Outside of family members, teachers are likely to be the most influential person in a kid’s life.

Nothing is more unfair than the equal treatment of un-equal students. A grossly unfair teaching and grading procedure is treating every student alike. Fairness in teaching lies in the equality of the goal not in equality of the procedures for reaching the goal. Giving all kids the same test after the same exposure, to the same material at the same time and scoring it all the same is blatantly unfair. All need to achieve the same educational objectives but not with the same level, beginning point, procedure, assignments, time, tests, grades, or progression. Students learn what they experience. If they live on a ranch, they learn about horses. If they live among people who use profanity, they use profanity – children learn what they live. At-risk students don’t know they are at-risk and don’t want to be at-risk. The question is, ‘What experiences might teachers offer to help students learn skills and behaviors that will lead to learning prerequisite material, developing a better attitude, and seeing themselves as capable?’

Teachers are not responsible for the mandates and policies that create so many of the problems for students at-risk, and they cannot implement reforms on their own behalf.  Teachers can, however, differentiate assignments (there are numerous books that tell how.) They can take immediate steps to improving teacher-student relationships in their own classrooms by empathizing with the student’s dilemma, understanding the causal factors of their misbehavior, and recognizing the defensive measures used by at-risk students to hide their problems, embarrassment, pain, and anguish.

Imagine the agonizing boredom of kids sitting through hour after hour, day after day having no involvement or interest, worrying that you might appear incompetent or stupid, and, thinking that school will never get any better, only worse. As a starting point, teachers can take responsibility for accepting and teaching all students including those most at risk, and they can use the responsibility, decisions, and options, within their purview, to:

• Adjust their teaching methods,
• Apply proven, more current, techniques,
• Develop new procedures,
• Utilize differentiation strategies,
• Increase student responsibility for learning,
• Examine existing attitudes,
• Encourage more student participation,
• Critique their teaching-learning interaction,
• Give students more input and opportunity,
• Communicate more meaningfully with the parents
• Utilize new brain-mind research
• Review and renew educational priorities,
• Recommit to student-centered learning,
• Conduct class meetings and discussions.
• Involve all students in the decision making.
• Utilize new technology,
• Use a team approach,
• Use pair-sharing & study buddies
• Use multi-modality learning,
• Use errors as help rather than evaluation.
• Offer reprieve and second opportunity
• Introduce authentic learning,
• Use production-driven activities,
• Create a community concept
• Use unit and project activities,
• Use hands-on activities,
• Use small group interaction.

Although many ridiculous, mindless, bureaucratic procedures are nightmares rigged against effectively teaching and helping at-risk students, the obvious, simple fact is this; students are compelled to come to our classes. They have no choice. Teachers are obliged to teach the required curriculum to all students assigned to them. There is no choice reasonable choice. There is no viable alternative on either side except for teachers to change the teaching-learning conditions. The kids cannot change what, when, or how they are taught. They just show up as required. The teachers’ job is to teach all students, who are accepted by the school and placed in their classes—no exceptions, no excuses.”

To read the full article and to read testimonials for Bill’s book, “At-Risk Students,” visit his website  http://www.at-riskstudents.com/