e long recognized as negatively affecting disadvantaged individuals and groups (Beringer & Englemann, 1996; Jencks, et al, 1972; Valenzuela, 1999). The report will also incorporate commentary generated by a series of three interviews conducted by this writer. A middle school principal, a classroom teacher, and a minority group student in an urban school were interviewed to obtain information on their unique perspectives on this important topic. Finally, the report will offer some recommendations for strategies that can be used to improve the academic achievement of at-risk children.
Many different theories have been proposed as to why members of minority groups continue to do less well than white students on standardized academic tests and other measures of achievement. There are those, such as Alex Kotlowitz (1992), who argue that the children of poverty, many of whom are African-American or Hispanic, are exposed to the social ills created by poverty (e.g., crime, inadequate health and nutritional care, poor parenting
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