Equal educational opportunity has been a passionate subject in educational arenas for the past 35 years. During this time, poor and middle income Americans hurried to colleges and universities around the country hoping to raise their standards of living and social class. The government began financial assistance and college preparatory programs to help these previously excluded citizens. Lower and middle class students quickly found themselves in a system of education designed for the wealthiest of Americans. Educational researchers soon began studying why underclass students were unable to navigate their way through the educational system. .
Today, educational researchers continue to study why underclass students are unable to navigate their way through the educational system. Although more is known about the factors related to lower and middle class students dropping out of school before reaching their educational aspirations, little has been accomplished to help these students succeed in school (Pianta & Walsh, 1998). Using 1996 data, Thomas Mortenson (1998) reported that 74 percent of students from the top quartile in family income completed the baccalaureate degree compared to only five percent of students from the bottom quartile. Further, Mortenson (2000) explained the strong, positive correlation between family income and ACT composite score. Students who estimated their yearly family income to be less than eighteen thousand dollars had a 18.4 composite score compared to a 23.4 for students whose family income was in excess of one hundred thousand dollars per year.
Lower graduation rates and achievement scores typify the at-risk student's educational attainment. Graduation rates and achievement scores are only a few of the factors that are used to define the term "at-risk". For decades educational researchers have studied at-risk students. The term at-risk student sometimes relates to external factors in the student's environment.