Effective Teaching In High Poverty Schools

Abstract

My experiences as a teacher in a high-poverty elementary school led me to believe that the most critical ingredient in the academic success of at-risk students is effective teaching. When teaching standards that are mandated by the state cannot be changed, the techniques educators adopt in teaching must be innovative. The purpose of this study is to examine what effective educators of children from poverty do on a daily basis with the children they teach. This study examines three educators, teaching grades three, four, and five, during their math lessons over a three-day period. I interviewed each educator to understand their views on working with children from poverty and their teaching techniques. Furthermore, each educator was given a follow-up interview to clarify her previous interview and classroom observations. During the classroom observations of math lessons I looked for the following areas of effective teaching: differentiation of instruction, student engagement, questioning techniques, positive teacher-student relationships, and evidence that students were participating in a community of learners. As I reflect on my time as a teacher, I am convinced that I have been an effective educator of at risk children because; I have come to understand and realize that effective teachers have a variety of techniques in which they draw upon. I have taught fourth and fifth grades for seven years. The schools in which I have taught, poverty has been an integral part of the lives of many of my students. My experiences as a teacher in a high-poverty elementary school led me to believe that the most critical ingredient in the academic success of at-risk students is effective teaching.