FEATURE ARTICLE: Only a handful of books have impacted my career as an educator, but none as much as Dr. Ruby Payne's, "A Framework for Understanding Poverty." Through reading and studying Dr. Payne's book, I came to find out that what I really needed to know was what my students were dealing with outside of school and how that was affecting their behaviors in college.

I teach at Big Sandy Community and Technical College in eastern Kentucky, working with developmental education students (transitional students) who do not have entry-level skills in reading, writing, and/or math. With each page that I read, I found myself thinking more and more about what my developmental education students say and do. Why they don't have any self-esteem or have any sense of responsibility toward their education. And why many times they don't even have any motivation to persist toward graduation. Payne's book helped me look at my students' behaviors through a different lens. As a result, I have completely changed my perspective and my pedagogy.

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Innovative Learner-Centered Strategies for Promoting Student Success and Retention Across the Curriculum published by Dr. Skip Downing