Two experimental programs (diploma and skill training) for high school dropouts were based on the assumptions that positive interpersonal relationships and an initial emphasis on nonverbal learning were necessary to counteract the rejection and verbal weaknesses experienced by those from a poverty culture. The success or failure of a teacher in his relationship with students depended first on his ability to relate to them personally--his attempt to understand the reasons behind their problems, his willingness to listen and admit his own shortcomings, and his concern first for the students and secondly for subject matter. His success in subject matter presentation depended upon the degree to which his students could relate to the material and upon his own flexibility, dynamism, and willingness to expend more than minimum effort. All successful teaching generated an atmosphere of positive acceptance of the students. The diploma program succeeded where the skill training did not for reasons which included the attitude of the administrator and teachers, scheduling, and the value attached to a diploma. Schools or programs for the disadvantaged should include individualized instruction and flexible scheduling and encompass a teacher education program that breaks down middle-class thinking. (A 121-item reference list is included.) (LP)