Creating Safe Havens for the Neediest Students
Dear Deborah,
I want to continue on the theme of how schools can work under the constraints they face to make a difference for the students they serve. Some of the educators I work with dismiss the success of schools like Brockton High School and Mission Hill because they claim such schools don't serve the neediest students; those that sociologist William Julius Wilson described as the "truly disadvantaged."
I know there is some truth to that assertion. I spend a great deal of time working with schools that serve what we might euphemistically describe as "high need" students. It's not simply that they may have learning disabilities or come from homes where English is not the language spoken. The learning challenges they face are compounded by an intractable combination of hardships such as a lack of stable housing or inadequate home support. Schools that serve large numbers of children with severe behavior problems that are rooted in a history of abuse and neglect, or children whose parents are in prison, or who are being raised by sick and tired
I want to continue on the theme of how schools can work under the constraints they face to make a difference for the students they serve. Some of the educators I work with dismiss the success of schools like Brockton High School and Mission Hill because they claim such schools don't serve the neediest students; those that sociologist William Julius Wilson described as the "truly disadvantaged."
I know there is some truth to that assertion. I spend a great deal of time working with schools that serve what we might euphemistically describe as "high need" students. It's not simply that they may have learning disabilities or come from homes where English is not the language spoken. The learning challenges they face are compounded by an intractable combination of hardships such as a lack of stable housing or inadequate home support. Schools that serve large numbers of children with severe behavior problems that are rooted in a history of abuse and neglect, or children whose parents are in prison, or who are being raised by sick and tired
