Some students are at risk for academic failure, and if they do fail, they are apt to be ill-equipped to become productive citizens in the adult world. With the typical characteristics of students at risk in mind, identify five strategies you might use to help such students succeed at school. For each one, describe what you would do in specific and concrete terms

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The response should describe, in specific and concrete terms, at least five different strategies. These might be based on the book's specific recommendations for students at risk or on its recommendations for motivating youngsters more generally, as follows:

Strategies for motivating students at risk:
- Show students how the curriculum is relevant to their personal needs and interests.
- Use students' strengths to promote high self-efficacy in certain domains.
- Provide extra support for academic success.
- Communicate optimism about students' chances for long-term success.
- Help students recognize that they are personally responsible for their classroom successes.
- Facilitate psychological attachment to the school (e.g., encourage participation in extracurricular activities).
- Involve students in school policy and management decisions.

General strategies for motivating students:
- Focus more on promoting intrinsic (rather than extrinsic) motivation (e.g., by piquing students' curiosity or getting them physically involved with a topic).
- Show students how others like themselves have been successful.
- Describe rules and give instructions in an informational (rather than controlling) manner.
- Encourage students to shoot for specific goals (especially short-term, concrete ones).
- Downplay the seriousness of failures.
- Communicate that you like and respect students.
- Incorporate social interaction into classroom lessons.
- Get students involved in large projects in which all must work toward the common good.
- Teach strategies that enable students to present themselves well to others.
- Use extrinsic reinforcers when necessary.
- Give praise in private if peers don't value high achievement.