Somehow, at his school, they all clicked. It's hard to say why it works in one place and not another. With school reform a national hot topic, educators are studying successful high-poverty schools to see what works. Successes remain the exception, not the rule. Any list of school test results, including those from the Colorado Student Assessment Program, still shakes out with most poor schools on the bottom.
Some common strategies are apparent, though, in all that research.
One study examined 366 high-poverty schools that were performing well. Another looked at nine successful urban schools serving mostly minority students. Schools need to help parents help their kids. Stratton Meadows Elementary in Harrison District 2 tries to work around any excuses. Parents with limited English skills can take free classes there.