The author argues that despite the conventional wisdom that schools cannot overcome the effects of socioeconomic status and race on academic achievement, there is a growing body of literature indicating that school climate and students' sense of control of their environment are strongly correlated with achievement. Five school-specific strategies have been suggested for changing the school climate by concentrating on the students' sense of futility: (1) use of academic team games; (2) effective reinforcement techniques; (3) improved test taking skills; (4) confronting low academic performance by convincing the student to take personal responsibility for achievement outcomes; and (5) confronting racism by focusing on individual responsibility for success. The author uses attribution theory as a framework to identify the underlying commonalities of these five strategies and integrate them into a theoretical framework. He suggests that motivation is a highly alterable, situation-specific learning variable, and that an understanding of the problem of achievement and motivation requires analysis at both the level of social system and at the individual level. (Author/MK)