This issue, the fifth in a series on demographic forces shaping U.S. education, highlights the persistence of poverty, examining the experiences of one Kentucky school system. Wolfe County, Kentucky, uses education to lift its children out of poverty. This extremely poor county is as poor as it ever was (which is also true in central cities and…

Kentucky has a long history of educational problems and of reform efforts that failed because of state neglect. These problems, which deeply affect rural economic development and are closely tied to patterns of unequal development, have become more troublesome as world markets have changed. The roots of these problems are planted in the state's…

An updated study of Kentucky school district performance since the implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA) added 4 years of accountability data; compared the performance of various districts; and explored district financial and teaching resources and their impacts on performance. After the initial years of change…