The longer I am in teaching, the more I feel that the biggest factor in (the vast majority of) students’ academic success is their parents.  Although there have been instances where a teacher or other school faculty member has had the power to turn a kid around, I believe that the most fundamental element is the parent.
I was reading a book at the beach yesterday titled, “Do You Know Enough About Me to Teach Me?” that chronicles the perspectives and stories of four different urban students – some of whom are high achievers, some of whom are low achievers.   The book considers a kid who lives in a single-parent household, and whose mother works one job from 8am – 3pm and another job from 4pm – 11pm.  This child has no supervision when he comes home from school, and therefore no one to remind him to complete his homework…