When low-income students returned to Chicago public schools this fall, many had better access to technology, thanks to a public-private partnership. Chicago families with children enrolled in the National School Lunch Program are eligible for subsidized computers and Internet connections through an agreement between the city and telecom giant…

For too long, educators' approach to understanding the relationships between poverty, class and education has been framed by studying the behaviors and cultures of poor students and their families. If only people--in the middle and upper-middle classes--can understand "their" culture, why "those people" do not value education, why "those parents"…

Backers of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) based their support on the belief that teachers and administrators primarily were responsible for low levels of achievement by America's poor. But this one-sided view is both inadequate and unsupported by the evidence. The author argues that harsh social policies and the pernicious effects of poverty are more…

In terms of opportunities for college, the society is not a level playing field, according to David Conley, professor and director of the research center for educational policy, University of Oregon. Middle and upper classes have far more access to the right information than others. Conley adds that when a person goes to college, he/she needs a…

Under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, every school is subject to the controversial mandates for annual test score gains contained in the federal law. The law represents a profound change in the relationship between the federal government and state and local education agencies regarding who controls education and has direct implications for…

Students' technological savvy has challenged schools to make greater use of computers and the Internet in their curricula, but unfortunately, not every student has the same access to it, and the inability to keep pace has created a digital divide that continues to widen. The digital divide particularly affects students who are black, Hispanic,…

A growing phenomenon in the United States is state-funded pre-kindergarten. This article deals with the status of pre-K programs in the United States. In this article, the authors discuss a major study of 240 state-funded pre-K programs in six states initiated by the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) to provide a base of…