This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 
  Good schooling can be very helpful for low-income students, but these students’ socioeconomic backgrounds have more impact than schooling on their futures.
  
• 
  For this reason, more general social reform must accompany effective school reform.
  
• 
  Several strategies, including smaller classes and better-paid teachers, will help improve the learning of low-income students.
  

FOR YOUR REVIEW

1. 
   Write a short essay in which you outline what a school’s superintendent might do to improve the learning of the school district’s elementary school students.
   
2. 
   Why do you think the United States has not more vigorously pursued the school reform agenda outlined in this section?
   

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[5] Downey, D. B., & Gibbs, B. G. (2012). How schools really matter. In D. Hartmann & C. Uggen (Eds.), The Contexts Reader (2nd ed., pp. 80–86). New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

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[8] Madland, D., & Bunker, N. (2011). Middle-class societies invest more in public education: A stronger middle class is associated with higher levels of spending on education. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress; Rokosa, J. (2011). Fighting the war on poverty with early childhood education. Retrieved January 7, 2012, fromhttp://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/10/poverty_early_childhood_education.html; Rothstein, R. (2010). How to fix our schools. Retrieved January 11, 2012, fromhttp://www.epi.org/publication/ib286/; Smerdon, B. A., & Borman, K. M. (Eds.). (2009).Saving America’s high schools. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.

[9] Lowe, J. I. (2011, January 13). To boost learning, start with emotional health. Education Week. Retrieved fromhttp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/12/07/13lowe_ep.h31.html.

[10] Roksa, J., & Potter, D. (2011). Parenting and academic achievement: Intergenerational transmission of educational advantage. Sociology of Education, 84, 299–321.

[11] Farrington, D. P., & Ttofi, M. M. (2009). Reducing school bullying: Evidence-based implications for policy. Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, 39, 281–345.