Urban poor schools: conditions of overcrowding, high turover, limited resources, economic diferences

A mismatch exists between the background of most teachers and the students for whom they are responsible to

The greatest gap between their expectations for students and the reality in terms of resources, achievement and teacher quality

System that requires uniform conduct, treatment, and outcomes

Genuine learning takes place when the teacher is able to make education meaningful by having an awarness of the students' backgrounds

Desire to meet students' learning needs in a persona manner

Successful teachers believe that all children can learn; therefore they maintain high expectations for all students

When teachers lower expectations for students because of a belief that there is little can be done given to the students' environments, student achievement lags and school reform is not possible

Characteristics of successful teachers:
1. Being aware of their personal beliefs and knowing the background
2. Having a strong knowledge base about poor schools
3. Believing that all children can learn and knowing the environment is not an excuse for lowing expectation

Teachers can alleviate the impact by creating their own environment

Teachers require skills to deal with different problems such as inadequate materials, lack of time or obsessive concern with scores