Poverty

The following articles address the effects of poverty on education.

"Confronting Opportunity Gaps," from Moving Every Child Ahead: From NCLB Hype to Meaningful Educational Opportunity, by Michael A. Rebell and Jessica R. Wolff, January 2008

This chapter examines how conditions of poverty and racial inequality create barriers to learning opportunities and analyzes how NCLB responds to these conditions.

The Price We Pay: Economic and Social Consequences of Inadequate Education, by Clive Belfield and Henry M. Levin, 2007

This book highlights the private, fiscal, and public costs of educational inequities. Drawing from The Social Costs of Inadequate Education, a summary of the 2005 Teachers College Symposium on Educational Equity, it also considers demographic trends and explores policy interventions.

The following reports were published in Augsut 2007 by Clive Belfield and Henry M. Levin. They are both based on California data, but the authors draw conclusions that have national implications and they recommend interventions that could have similar returns in other states. The first report calculates the fiscal and social burdens of inadequate and incomplete education; the second reviews and evaluates educational interventions to increase California's high school graduation rate.

Report 1: The Economic Losses from High School Dropouts in California
Report 2: The Return on Investment for Improving California's High School Graduation Rate

Poverty, “Meaningful Educational Opportunity,” and the Necessary Role of the Courts, by Michael A. Rebell, June 2007

This article establishes a comprehensive range of in and out of school services to provide a "meaningful educational opportunity" rooted in federal laws and court decisions to millions of children living in poverty.

What are the Mechanisms of High-Poverty Disadvantages?: On the Relationship Between Poverty and Curriculum, by Henry M. Levin, June 2007

This article explores the link between poverty and educational failure in the American school system by reviewing survey results and analyzing curriculum differences that increase achievement gaps.

How Far Have We Come? New Book Looks at School Segregation in Connecticut, by Wendy Lecker, April 2007

This is a Book Review of The Children in Room E-4: American Education on Trial, by Susan Eaton. The book is about a school desegregation case in Hartford.