ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the connection between a lack of basic human needs (i.e., food, safety, shelter) and school underachievement. The accountability notion of “teaching to the test” is critiqued through an examination of government mandates. School/university partnerships are offered as a strategy to lessen the effects of poverty on academic achievement. The Residential Internship for St. John’s Educators (R.I.S.E.), in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, is used as a current example of such partnerships. The author suggests the curricular components of predictable books and the Language Experience Approach that can assist classroom teachers who work in underfunded schools.
