Ruby Payne follows up with a book to help educators develop and find resources for students who are having difficulty with achievement or success in school. This book is titled Under-Resourced Learners: 8 Strategies to Boost Student Achievement. In this second book she outlines ways that educators can support those students who don’t have the help needed.
In her newest book, Ruby Payne identifies the under-resourced learner and offers strategies educators and schools can use to provide struggling students the support needed to succeed in school. An under-resourced student is one who does not have “the resources to address a particular situation or negotiate a particular environment” (p. 2). This can be a personal issue or a situational issue that hinders him/her from learning. The following strategies can help pave the way toward helping under-resourced students succeed in school:
1. Assess Resources of Individual Students to Determine Interventions
Evaluate and identify which of the nine areas a student might be under-resourced in: financial, language, emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, support systems, relationships or role models, and knowledge of hidden rules (p. 2-3).
Determine and utilize the student’s strongest resource and design interventions to support the student in under-resourced areas.
2. Build Relationships of Mutual Respect with Students
Maintain high expectations. Insist upon mutual respect.
Support students. For example, never allow a student to play alone at recess for more than a day or allow a student to eat lunch alone. Always “keep an eye open” towards building respectful and supportive relationships.
3. Teach Formal Register and Story Structure
Help students distinguish between casual register (how they talk with a friend) and formal register (the standard sentence syntax and word choice of work and school that utilizes complete sentences and specific word choice). Formal register is the language of money, and it is important for their success.
Teach story structure. Using graphic organizers help students see that stories transpire in a chronological order, unlike how stories are often told amongst their friends.
4. Teach Students to Negotiate the Abstract Representational World
Help students understand the world of paper and print. Students who have not grown up with paper in their world do not understand its significance but will need to live in it. Abstract items include: grades, clocks, calendars, road maps, social security number, daily to-do list, important documents, driver’s license, etc (p. 54).
Provide mental models (drawings, stories, analogies) to help students make the connection that mastery of these items lead to success.
5. Teach Appropriate Behaviors and Procedures
Identify and directly teach appropriate behaviors and responses.
Determine interventions for the 10% of the students that cause discipline issues.
Develop a written plan for procedures used in the classroom.
6. Keep Track of Every Student’s Learning
Use the 6-step process model as detailed by Payne in her book. Grid each individual student’s performance.
Determine what is to be taught in what time-frame and toward what results.
Teach using high-quality instruction.
Evaluate learning through the use of benchmarks, rubrics, and ten-question tests.
Determine interventions.
Devote professional time to carry out this process.
7. Build Relationships of Mutual Respect with Parents
Understand parents’ beliefs and attitudes have a significant impact on how the child acts and thinks. Genuinely listen to and guide them, being careful to avoid a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
Help parents get involved in their child’s education, recognizing that their involvement increases their child’s motivation to succeed.
8. Collaborate with the Community to Address Under-Resourced Situations
Identify resources, agencies, and support systems in your community that can be tapped into to assist with student needs. These may include United Way, local, state and federal agencies, Salvation Army, and local churches.
Prepare a resource file for special situations and step-by-step plans.
Familiarize the faculty and staff with specific procedures and available resources.
Can you identify under-resourced students in your school? For detailed information on how to help these students become successful learners, check out Payne’s book:
Payne, R. (2008). Under-Resourced Learners: 8 Strategies to Boost Student Achievement. Aha! Process, Inc: Highlands, TX. (ISBN 978-1-934583-00-5)