11/21/2019 11:54:44 AM— Today’s lecture: Socioeconomic status and its effects on student achievement. Toya Conston, a professor at the University of Houston College of Education, emphasizes to her class that disadvantaged students aren’t any less motivated; they just don’t have access to the same resources. To help end the inequities, Conston started a mentorship program called Ed Psych in Real Life. Students in her Introduction to Educational Psychology course get the chance to apply the lessons from class by serving as mentors to middle school students. More than 100 of Conston’s students this semester are mentoring eighth graders at Lawson Academy, a charter school neighboring UH. They meet with the mentees weekly for 45-minute sessions, helping the teenagers navigate schoolwork and social pressure.