In "School Communities of Strength," Peter W. Cookson, Jr., lays out a blueprint for providing equitable educational opportunities for students from all socioeconomic strata, and particularly for the five million American children who live with the extreme material hardship known as deep poverty. This work issues an urgent call to action…

The relationship between students' living in poverty and academic underachievement challenges schools across the nation. Poverty is particularly prevalent among children with disabilities. One detrimental condition of poverty that directly affects student development and academic achievement is food insecurity and hunger. With the increasing…

In 2008, the Ministry of Education in Manitoba, Canada approved a $1.8 million grant for a major three-year pilot project entitled the Student Success Initiative (SSI) designed to support schools facing barriers to success. Six schools with lower-than-average graduation rates in Manitoba from urban, rural, and northern communities were invited to…

For many schools, the most pressing concern is helping families meet basic needs. Between 2007 and 2009, according to the Brookings Institution, the number of people who live in poverty increased by 4.9 million. Brookings reported that between 1999 and 2009, two thirds of the increase in poverty occurred in the suburbs. With poverty and social…

Counselors frequently counsel clients who live in poverty. The authors describe the new CARE model that addresses the influence of multiple systems on poor clients' experiences. A social justice, humanistic intervention, the CARE model emphasizes cultivating a positive counseling relationship with poor clients, empathizing with their unique…

There is a growing optimism among international organizations such as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can transform developing countries such as Nigeria to developed ones in a relatively short time. Experiences from Asian and European countries such as India, Bangladesh, Malaysia,…

Conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) have two main objectives: reducing poverty and increasing the human capital of children. To reach these objectives, transfers are given to poor households conditioned on investments in their children's education, health, and nutrition. Targeting mechanisms used by CCTs have been generally successful in…

Effective poverty reduction programs require careful measurement of poverty status. Commonly used consumption or income-based classifications of poverty aggregate together households that are persistently poor with those who are only in poverty due to passing conditions. They also classify as non-poor households that are at risk of falling into…

THE POOR FEEL THAT MEMBERS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS, INCLUDING CIVIL RIGHTS AND POVERTY WORKERS, DO NOT TRULY UNDERSTAND THE UNENDING STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL WHICH CHARACTERIZES A LIFE OF POVERTY. THE POOR DO NOT GLORY IN THEIR CONDITION AND ARE WILLING TO BE HELPED, BUT THEY ARE SUSPICIOUS OF AID WHICH SEEMS TO HUMILIATE THEM OR OF ANY PERSON WHO WOULD…

Discusses various viewpoints on poverty. Contrasts progressive-era politics with today's dependency politics. Differing views of the poor and the causes of poverty impede the implementation of the new paternalistic programs which have, in some places, begun to succeed. Urges a consensus. (DM)

The working poor are employable people who have found low-paying jobs and barely scrape out a living. By removing many forms of federal aid, the Reagan administration has locked the working poor into poverty. In saving a few dollars today, we are penalizing the next generation. (CS)

WORKERS ARE PRODUCTIVE AGENTS. THEIR ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY IS ENHANCED BY INVESTMENT IN THEM. THE INVESTMENT APPROACH IS NOT ONLY A USEFUL BUT A VERY POWERFUL ORGANIZING CONCEPT FOR POLICY AND PROGRAMING. BY USING IT, ONE CAN IDENTIFY MAJOR MALINVESTMENTS THAT ARE A CONSEQUENCE OF PUBLIC POLICY SUCH AS--(1) IN AGRICULTURE, TOO MUCH HAS BEEN…

Society's preference for dependency reduction over poverty reduction in dealing with the lower classes stands in the way of greater anti-poverty impact of social policy. Discusses four approaches to poverty policy, their effectiveness, and the poverty assumptions they are based on. Examines why a workfare strategy could be effective. (PS)

Discusses the philosophical underpinings of providing public assistance to the poor based on the 'desert' model. Argues that society has a moral obligation to provide subsidized medical care to all poor people. (AOS)