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Book A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty

Download or read book A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-09-16 with total page 619 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America's future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children's ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty reviews the research on linkages between child poverty and child well-being, and analyzes the poverty-reducing effects of major assistance programs directed at children and families. This report also provides policy and program recommendations for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.

Book The Effect of Poverty on Children s Academic Performance

Download or read book The Effect of Poverty on Children s Academic Performance written by Ki-wŏn Kim and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Teaching with Poverty in Mind

Download or read book Teaching with Poverty in Mind written by Eric Jensen and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2009 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It, veteran educator and brain expert Eric Jensen takes an unflinching look at how poverty hurts children, families, and communities across the United States and demonstrates how schools can improve the academic achievement and life readiness of economically disadvantaged students. Jensen argues that although chronic exposure to poverty can result in detrimental changes to the brain, the brain's very ability to adapt from experience means that poor children can also experience emotional, social, and academic success. A brain that is susceptible to adverse environmental effects is equally susceptible to the positive effects of rich, balanced learning environments and caring relationships that build students' resilience, self-esteem, and character. Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, Teaching with Poverty in Mind reveals * What poverty is and how it affects students in school; * What drives change both at the macro level (within schools and districts) and at the micro level (inside a student's brain); * Effective strategies from those who have succeeded and ways to replicate those best practices at your own school; and * How to engage the resources necessary to make change happen. Too often, we talk about change while maintaining a culture of excuses. We can do better. Although no magic bullet can offset the grave challenges faced daily by disadvantaged children, this timely resource shines a spotlight on what matters most, providing an inspiring and practical guide for enriching the minds and lives of all your students.

Book Consequences of Growing Up Poor

Download or read book Consequences of Growing Up Poor written by Greg J. Duncan and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 1997-06-19 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One in five American children now live in families with incomes below the povertyline, and their prospects are not bright. Low income is statistically linked with a variety of poor outcomes for children, from low birth weight and poor nutrition in infancy to increased chances of academic failure, emotional distress, and unwed childbirth in adolescence. To address these problems it is not enough to know that money makes a difference; we need to understand how. Consequences of Growing Up Poor is an extensive and illuminating examination of the paths through which economic deprivation damages children at all stages of their development. In Consequences of Growing Up Poor, developmental psychologists, economists, and sociologists revisit a large body of studies to answer specific questions about how low income puts children at risk intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Many of their investigations demonstrate that although income clearly creates disadvantages, it does so selectively and in a wide variety of ways. Low-income preschoolers exhibit poorer cognitive and verbal skills because they are generally exposed to fewer toys, books, and other stimulating experiences in the home. Poor parents also tend to rely on home-based child care, where the quality and amount of attention children receive is inferior to that of professional facilities. In later years, conflict between economically stressed parents increases anxiety and weakens self-esteem in their teenaged children. Although they share economic hardships, the home lives of poor children are not homogenous. Consequences of Growing Up Poor investigates whether such family conditions as the marital status, education, and involvement of parents mitigate the ill effects of poverty. Consequences of Growing Up Poor also looks at the importance of timing: Does being poor have a different impact on preschoolers, children, and adolescents? When are children most vulnerable to poverty? Some contributors find that poverty in the prenatal or early childhood years appears to be particularly detrimental to cognitive development and physical health. Others offer evidence that lower income has a stronger negative effect during adolescence than in childhood or adulthood. Based on their findings, the editors and contributors to Consequences of Growing Up Poor recommend more sharply focused child welfare policies targeted to specific eras and conditions of poor children's lives. They also weigh the relative need for income supplements, child care subsidies, and home interventions. Consequences of Growing Up Poor describes the extent and causes of hardships for poor children, defines the interaction between income and family, and offers solutions to improve young lives. JEANNE BROOKS-GUNN is Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Child Development at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also director of the Center for Young Children and Families, and co-directs the Adolescent Study Program at Teachers College.

Book The Effect of Poverty on Children s Academic Performance

Download or read book The Effect of Poverty on Children s Academic Performance written by Kiweon Kim and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book The Oxford Handbook of Poverty and Child Development

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Poverty and Child Development written by Valerie Maholmes, Ph.D., CAS Ph.D. and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-01 with total page 750 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 15 million children live in families subsisting below the federal poverty level, and there are nearly 4 million more children living in poverty today than in the turn of the 21st century. When compared to their more affluent counterparts, children living in fragile circumstances-including homeless children, children in foster care, and children living in families affected by chronic physical or mental health problems-are more likely to have low academic achievement, to drop out of school, and to have health and behavioral problems. The Oxford Handbook of Poverty and Child Development provides a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms through which socioeconomic, cultural, familial, and community-level factors impact the early and long-term cognitive, neurobiological, socio-emotional, and physical development of children living in poverty. Leading contributors from various disciplines review basic and applied multidisciplinary research and propose questions and answers regarding the short and long-term impact of poverty, contexts and policies on child developmental trajectories. In addition, the book features analyses involving diverse children of all ages, particularly those from understudied groups (e.g. Pacific Islanders, Native Americans, immigrants) and those from understudied geographic areas (e.g., the rural U.S; international humanitarian settings). Each of the 7 sections begins with an overview of basic biological and behavioral research on child development and poverty, followed by applied analyses of contemporary issues that are currently at the heart of public debates on child health and well-being, and concluded with suggestions for policy reform. Through collaborative, interdisciplinary research, this book identifies the most pressing scientific issues involving poverty and child development, and offers new ideas and research questions that could lead us to develop a new science of research that is multidisciplinary, longitudinal, and that embraces an ecological approach to the study of child development.

Book Why are Youth from Lower income Families Less Likely to Attend University

Download or read book Why are Youth from Lower income Families Less Likely to Attend University written by Statistics Canada and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Impact of Poverty on the Academic Performance  Selected Students in the North Bengal of Bangladesh

Download or read book Impact of Poverty on the Academic Performance Selected Students in the North Bengal of Bangladesh written by Sajjad Hossine Sharif and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2020-11-11 with total page 13 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Pedagogy - School Pedagogics, , course: Business Research Methodology, language: English, abstract: The purpose of the study was establishing impact of poverty on the academic performance of school students in Bangladesh. 3 research questions were formulated to guide in the study. The study employed descriptive survey research design while data was collected from websites. Findings revealed that parents were not able to provide their children with learning materials which in turn affected their academic result. It was also found that poor children’s are not privileged with proper environment for education. One of the major findings of the study was that children’s from poor family absent in the class more frequently since they have to get involved with different types of work in home. Inadequate space in home also affect the performance of the students from poor family. 100 Students of four school in Dhaka city were participated in it among them sample of 10 students were selected through convenient sampling. Correlation of their father’s income and their academic performance was run. Based on the findings it was concluded that family’s financial condition has an impact on the children’s academic performance. It was recommend that government should make education free for the students of poor family .Since this study conducted in other countries it was important to identify the impact in Bangladesh.

Book Teaching with Poverty in Mind

Download or read book Teaching with Poverty in Mind written by Eric Jensen and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2010-06-16 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Teaching with Poverty in Mind: What Being Poor Does to Kids' Brains and What Schools Can Do About It, veteran educator and brain expert Eric Jensen takes an unflinching look at how poverty hurts children, families, and communities across the United States and demonstrates how schools can improve the academic achievement and life readiness of economically disadvantaged students. Jensen argues that although chronic exposure to poverty can result in detrimental changes to the brain, the brain's very ability to adapt from experience means that poor children can also experience emotional, social, and academic success. A brain that is susceptible to adverse environmental effects is equally susceptible to the positive effects of rich, balanced learning environments and caring relationships that build students' resilience, self-esteem, and character. Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, Teaching with Poverty in Mind reveals * What poverty is and how it affects students in school; * What drives change both at the macro level (within schools and districts) and at the micro level (inside a student's brain); * Effective strategies from those who have succeeded and ways to replicate those best practices at your own school; and * How to engage the resources necessary to make change happen. Too often, we talk about change while maintaining a culture of excuses. We can do better. Although no magic bullet can offset the grave challenges faced daily by disadvantaged children, this timely resource shines a spotlight on what matters most, providing an inspiring and practical guide for enriching the minds and lives of all your students.

Book Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind

Download or read book Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind written by Eric Jensen and published by ASCD. This book was released on 2013-08-23 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this galvanizing follow-up to the best-selling Teaching with Poverty in Mind, renowned educator and learning expert Eric Jensen digs deeper into engagement as the key factor in the academic success of economically disadvantaged students. Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind reveals * Smart, purposeful engagement strategies that all teachers can use to expand students' cognitive capacity, increase motivation and effort, and build deep, enduring understanding of content. * The (until-now) unwritten rules for engagement that are essential for increasing student achievement. * How automating engagement in the classroom can help teachers use instructional time more effectively and empower students to take ownership of their learning. * Steps you can take to create an exciting yet realistic implementation plan. Too many of our most vulnerable students are tuning out and dropping out because of our failure to engage them. It's time to set the bar higher. Until we make school the best part of every student's day, we will struggle with attendance, achievement, and graduation rates. This timely resource will help you take immediate action to revitalize and enrich your practice so that all your students may thrive in school and beyond.

Book Too Many Children Left Behind

Download or read book Too Many Children Left Behind written by Bruce Bradbury and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The belief that with hard work and determination, all children have the opportunity to succeed in life is a cherished part of the American Dream. Yet, increased inequality in America has made that dream more difficult for many to obtain. In Too Many Children Left Behind, an international team of social scientists assesses how social mobility varies in the United States compared with Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Bruce Bradbury, Miles Corak, Jane Waldfogel, and Elizabeth Washbrook show that the academic achievement gap between disadvantaged American children and their more advantaged peers is far greater than in other wealthy countries, with serious consequences for their future life outcomes. With education the key to expanding opportunities for those born into low socioeconomic status families, Too Many Children Left Behind helps us better understand educational disparities and how to reduce them. Analyzing data on 8,000 school children in the United States, the authors demonstrate that disadvantages that begin early in life have long lasting effects on academic performance. The social inequalities that children experience before they start school contribute to a large gap in test scores between low- and high-SES students later in life. Many children from low-SES backgrounds lack critical resources, including books, high-quality child care, and other goods and services that foster the stimulating environment necessary for cognitive development. The authors find that not only is a child’s academic success deeply tied to his or her family background, but that this class-based achievement gap does not narrow as the child proceeds through school. The authors compare test score gaps from the United States with those from three other countries and find smaller achievement gaps and greater social mobility in all three, particularly in Canada. The wider availability of public resources for disadvantaged children in those countries facilitates the early child development that is fundamental for academic success. All three countries provide stronger social services than the United States, including universal health insurance, universal preschool, paid parental leave, and other supports. The authors conclude that the United States could narrow its achievement gap by adopting public policies that expand support for children in the form of tax credits, parenting programs, and pre-K. With economic inequalities limiting the futures of millions of children, Too Many Children Left Behind is a timely study that uses global evidence to show how the United States can do more to level the playing field.

Book Whither Opportunity

    Book Details:
  • Author : Greg J. Duncan
  • Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
  • Release : 2011-09-01
  • ISBN : 1610447514
  • Pages : 573 pages

Download or read book Whither Opportunity written by Greg J. Duncan and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the incomes of affluent and poor families have diverged over the past three decades, so too has the educational performance of their children. But how exactly do the forces of rising inequality affect the educational attainment and life chances of low-income children? In Whither Opportunity? a distinguished team of economists, sociologists, and experts in social and education policy examines the corrosive effects of unequal family resources, disadvantaged neighborhoods, insecure labor markets, and worsening school conditions on K-12 education. This groundbreaking book illuminates the ways rising inequality is undermining one of the most important goals of public education—the ability of schools to provide children with an equal chance at academic and economic success. The most ambitious study of educational inequality to date, Whither Opportunity? analyzes how social and economic conditions surrounding schools affect school performance and children’s educational achievement. The book shows that from earliest childhood, parental investments in children’s learning affect reading, math, and other attainments later in life. Contributor Meredith Phillip finds that between birth and age six, wealthier children will have spent as many as 1,300 more hours than poor children on child enrichment activities such as music lessons, travel, and summer camp. Greg Duncan, George Farkas, and Katherine Magnuson demonstrate that a child from a poor family is two to four times as likely as a child from an affluent family to have classmates with low skills and behavior problems – attributes which have a negative effect on the learning of their fellow students. As a result of such disparities, contributor Sean Reardon finds that the gap between rich and poor children’s math and reading achievement scores is now much larger than it was fifty years ago. And such income-based gaps persist across the school years, as Martha Bailey and Sue Dynarski document in their chapter on the growing income-based gap in college completion. Whither Opportunity? also reveals the profound impact of environmental factors on children’s educational progress and schools’ functioning. Elizabeth Ananat, Anna Gassman-Pines, and Christina Gibson-Davis show that local job losses such as those caused by plant closings can lower the test scores of students with low socioeconomic status, even students whose parents have not lost their jobs. They find that community-wide stress is most likely the culprit. Analyzing the math achievement of elementary school children, Stephen Raudenbush, Marshall Jean, and Emily Art find that students learn less if they attend schools with high student turnover during the school year – a common occurrence in poor schools. And David Kirk and Robert Sampson show that teacher commitment, parental involvement, and student achievement in schools in high-crime neighborhoods all tend to be low. For generations of Americans, public education provided the springboard to upward mobility. This pioneering volume casts a stark light on the ways rising inequality may now be compromising schools’ functioning, and with it the promise of equal opportunity in America.

Book The Condition of Education 2018

Download or read book The Condition of Education 2018 written by Education Department and published by Bernan Press. This book was released on 2019-06-30 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Condition of Education 2018 summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report presents 47 indicators on the status and condition of education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national measures of the condition and progress of education for which accurate data are available. The Condition of Education includes an "At a Glance" section, which allows readers to quickly make comparisons across indicators, and a "Highlights" section, which captures key findings from each indicator. In addition, The Condition of Education contains a Reader's Guide, a Glossary, and a Guide to Sources that provide additional background information. Each indicator provides links to the source data tables used to produce the analyses.

Book Class and Schools

    Book Details:
  • Author : Richard Rothstein
  • Publisher : Teachers College Press
  • Release : 2004
  • ISBN : 9780807745564
  • Pages : 210 pages

Download or read book Class and Schools written by Richard Rothstein and published by Teachers College Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary public policy assumes that the achievement gap between black and white students could be closed if only schools would do a better job. According to Richard Rothstein, "Closing the gaps between lower-class and middle-class children requires social and economic reform as well as school improvement. Unfortunately, the trend is to shift most of the burden to schools, as if they alone can eradicate poverty and inequality." In this book, Rothstein points the way toward social and economic reforms that would give all children a more equal chance to succeed in school. This book features: a summary of numerous studies linking school achievement to health care quality, nutrition, childrearing styles, housing stability, parental economic security, and more ; aA look at erroneous and misleading data that underlie commonplace claims that some schools "beat the demographic odds and therefore any school can close the achievement gap if only it adopted proper practices." ; and an analysis of how the over-emphasis of standardized tests in federal law obscures the true achievement gap and makes narrowing it more difficult.

Book Opportunity and Performance

Download or read book Opportunity and Performance written by Sam Redding and published by IAP. This book was released on 2021-07-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because everyone from policymakers to classroom teachers has a role in achieving greater equity for children from poverty, this book provides a sweeping chronicle of the historical turning points—judicial, legislative, and regulatory—on the road to greater equity, as background to the situation today. It provides succinct policy recommendations for states and districts, as well as practical curricular and instructional strategies for districts, schools, and teachers. This comprehensive approach—from the statehouse to the classroom—for providing children who come to school from impoverished environments with the education in which they thrive, not merely one that is comparable to others, truly enlists everyone in the quest for opportunity and performance. The next step toward equity may be taken by a governor, but it may also be taken by a teacher. One need not wait for the other. Press Relaease Redding, S. (Ed.). (2021). Opportunity and performance: Equity for children from poverty. Information Age. Copyright: Academic Development Institute • historical and legislative background for understanding current situation • analysis of poverty’s impact on learning from multiple perspectives • likely effects of COVID pandemic on learning and what to do about it • proximal (classroom) and distal (system) levers for change • actionable steps for teachers, schools, districts, states • what can be done to disrupt poverty’s impact on learning, "right here, right now” • disproportionately positive effects (DPEs) of high-impact strategies • goalposts for measurement of progress by schools, districts, states • glossary of terms and discussion prompts Last year, 2021, saw a host of books and articles addressing aspects of “equity,” some mounting the bandwagon of advocacy and some arguing what the term itself actually means. But where were the clear-eyed analyses and practical solutions for educators? After more than a year of focused attention to equity by five education scholars, their book, Opportunity & Performance, entered this stream of publications. The team is associated with the Academic Development Institute and their collaboration was supported by the National Comprehensive Center. This book is unique and distinct from others in several ways. First, the authors agreed early on to put boundaries around a topic that could otherwise run loose with ambiguity. As they were all educators, the book would focus on equity in education. As equity could be viewed from the perspective of a variety of groups that seek it—racial and ethnic groups, children with disabilities, and English learners prominent among them—the team of authors chose to devote the book to the one historically underserved group that most pervasively suffers in terms of academic achievement and that includes the other groups. That group is children from poverty. The five authors are not only researchers, their careers bristle with experience in schools and agencies that work with schools. From different disciplinary fields within education, they have all created and implemented strategies to improve learning and to measure that improvement. The authors were determined to logically and persuasively link their conclusions from the research on poverty, on learning, and on the nexus of the two. They wanted the book to be useful. They sought a respectful tone that would encourage common ground and constructive action to open doors of opportunity and achieve greater learning for students from impoverished environments. The book’s authors and external advisors brought to the work a diversity of professional background and expertise on historically underserved students, children from poverty, effective instruction, systems change, and methods for evaluating progress. Equity of opportunity: Each student—despite family income, race, ethnicity, gender, language, or disability—has the opportunity to attend schools, access courses and programs, and be taught by teachers that meet standards of quality on a par with schools attended by their peers. Equity of performance: The schools, courses, programs, and teachers that serve students from historically underserved groups reorient their curriculum, instruction, and support services to ameliorate disadvantages these students may disproportionately bear, optimizing learning results for these students. The Book's Authors Linda Cavazos, Ph.D., is a researcher and technical assistance provider with more than 25 years of experience in education supporting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners and directing projects in the areas of equity, diversity, inclusion, literacy, and cultural and linguistic competence, responsiveness, and sustainability. Allison Layland, Ph.D., is the Chief Education Strategist for the Academic Development Institute (ADI) with projects in several regional centers. She has con¬sulted with 11 state education agencies on effective implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and has more than 20 years of teaching and leadership experience in general and special education at the school, district, and state levels. Sam Redding, Ed.D., is Chief Learning Scientist and a consultant to three regional centers. Dr. Redding also served as the Associate Director of the Center on School Turnaround (WestEd) and as Senior Learning Specialist for the Center on Innovations in Learning (Temple University), and Director of the Center on Innovation & Improvement. As a Senior Research Associate at the Laboratory for Student Success, he headed the Lab’s research and implementation of comprehensive school reform. Janet S. Twyman, Ph.D., BCBA, LBA, Dr. Twyman is a consultant for the Academic Development Institute. Throughout her career as a preschool and elementary teacher, school principal and administrator, university professor, instructional designer, distance learning architect, and educational consultant, Dr. Twyman has been a proponent of effective learning tech¬nologies that produce individual and system change. She has presented to and worked with education systems, organizations, and institutions in over 50 states and countries, including speaking about technologies for diverse learners and settings at the United Nations. Bi Vuong, MPA, is the Managing Director, Education Practice with Project Evident. Before joining Project Evident, Bi was the Director of Proving Ground at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University. She also launched the National Center for Rural Education Research Network. Prior to Proving Ground, she served as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the School District of Philadelphia. Bi serves as a consultant for the Academic Development Institute with project assignments for several regional centers. The Book’s External Advisors Patricia Edwards, Ph.D. is professor of language and literacy at Michigan State University, a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, with research and publications on multicultural literacy, parent involvement, and related topics, especially among poor and minority children. Sheneka Williams, Ph.D. is professor and chairperson of the Department of Educational Administration at Michigan State University with a outstanding body of research on educational opportunity for African American students. T. V. (Joe) Layng, Ph.D. is a behavioral scientist with a distinguished career in research and practice, advancing learning through effective instruction for diverse students; Dr. Layng’s work focuses on the integration of technology with instructional design and systemic behavior interventions. Contact: Dr. Sam Redding at [email protected]

Book Children of Austerity

Download or read book Children of Austerity written by Bea Cantillon and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-07 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2008 financial crisis triggered the worst global recession since the Great Depression. Many OECD countries responded to the crisis by reducing social spending. Through 11 diverse country case studies (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States), this volume describes the evolution of child poverty and material well-being during the crisis, and links these outcomes with the responses by governments. The analysis underlines that countries with fragmented social protection systems were less able to protect the incomes of households with children at the time when unemployment soared. In contrast, countries with more comprehensive social protection cushioned the impact of the crisis on households with children, especially if they had implemented fiscal stimulus packages at the onset of the crisis. Although the macroeconomic 'shock' itself and the starting positions differed greatly across countries, while the responses by governments covered a very wide range of policy levers and varied with their circumstances, cuts in social spending and tax increases often played a major role in the impact that the crisis had on the living standards of families and children.

Book Family Life and School Achievement

Download or read book Family Life and School Achievement written by Reginald M. Clark and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-07-31 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Working mothers, broken homes, poverty, racial or ethnic background, poorly educated parents—these are the usual reasons given for the academic problems of poor urban children. Reginald M. Clark contends, however, that such structural characteristics of families neither predict nor explain the wide variation in academic achievement among children. He emphasizes instead the total family life, stating that the most important indicators of academic potential are embedded in family culture. To support his contentions, Clark offers ten intimate portraits of Black families in Chicago. Visiting the homes of poor one- and two-parent families of high and low achievers, Clark made detailed observations on the quality of home life, noting how family habits and interactions affect school success and what characteristics of family life provide children with "school survival skills," a complex of behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge that are the essential elements in academic success. Clark's conclusions lead to exciting implications for educational policy. If school achievement is not dependent on family structure or income, parents can learn to inculcate school survival skills in their children. Clark offers specific suggestions and strategies for use by teachers, parents, school administrators, and social service policy makers, but his work will also find an audience in urban anthropology, family studies, and Black studies.