Recent research by the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium has led to the development of a resiliency model that helps explain why some at-risk students actually do well in school. The recent investigations have determined that some students develop traits that enable them to be successful in school. The model suggests that four environmental factors come together to form a psychological support system that reinforces the personal traits that lead to resilience. This support system is composed of: (1) significant relationships with adults; (2) positive use of time; (3) motivation through encouragement and high expectations; and (4) acknowledgment through recognition and accomplishment. The support system enhances the development of personal traits such as self-efficacy, goal orientation, personal responsibility, optimism, internal expectations, and coping ability. The resiliency model can be operationalized in schools, beginning with awareness of the model and dissemination of its concepts. A school that decides to implement the four factors of the model must analyze its own performance and then identify the strategies that will bring about these objectives. There are no quick and easy answers to solving the problems of at-risk students, but putting the factors of the resiliency model into place provides a process schools can use to develop a favorable climate. (SLD)