Criticizes the general acceptance by social scientists of the "culture of poverty" thesis as regards Blacks. Through anecdotes and interviews from the writings of Robert Coles, shows that the values and goals of Black Americans are generally oriented toward education, hard work, and economic advancement. (GC)

This work is the result of an effort to further investigate the American black family, and to relate the findings to formally drawn sociological theories. The author directed a research project in which black and white undergraduate students conducted more than 200 case interviews among middle class, working class and lower class black families.…

Despite a myriad of school reform efforts, inner-city schools, attended for the most part by poor and working-class Black and Latino children, are failing to prepare students for our highly complex and changing world. This book suggests that reform efforts have failed because they focused upon school-based solutions and paid scant attention to the…