Giving Compass' Take:

· Writing for Dallas News, Elizabeth Souder explains how the IDEA Public Schools group of charter schools uses respect to boost achievement among low-income students. Souder further explains that the key to success for low-income students is setting high expectations for them to achieve. 

· What challenges do low-income students face when attending school? How can teachers provide support for these students and encourage their success?

· Check out this article to learn about programs that work for low-income students.

As leaders in Texas and across the country wring their hands about lifting the educational performance of low-income children to state standards, the IDEA Public Schools group of charter schools has a deceptively simple and surprisingly successful solution: Respect. Respect the students' intellect and respect their needs.

The group operates charter schools in Austin, El Paso, the Valley, San Antonio and southern Louisiana, and it plans to schools in Fort Worth this year. The strategy is to build public charter schools in low-income neighborhoods where traditional public schools are struggling — 89 percent of the group's students come from low-income families. The result has been higher test scores than the state public school average, a B grade from the Texas Education Administration, and, according to IDEA, a 100 percent college acceptance rate for the past 12 years.

Read the full article about the key to education achievement by Elizabeth Souder at Dallas News.