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…

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…

I examine several potential explanations for recent evidence showing a lack of improvement in the academic achievement of children participating in several poverty reduction residential mobility programs. Detailed interviews and field notes about the relocation and school experiences of 80 children in the Gautreaux II residential mobility program…

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…

Poverty in the United States is migrating far beyond the urban core and transforming the suburbs into places increasingly stratified by income, wealth, opportunity, and education. Census data from the 2005 American Community Survey reveal new patterns of income inequality, residential mobility, and spatial segregation that make the suburbs less of…

Achieving the goals of federal education legislation depends on how federal funds are distributed and used. Since the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965, various federal programs have been created to support educational improvement and target additional resources to meet the educational needs of children who are…

Although born into privilege, Katharine Drexel was blessed with parents, siblings, friends, and spiritual guides who kept her rooted in a deep, Eucharistic faith. Responding to the needs of the poor was a responsibility of the rich, and Katharine learned this value at the hands of her parents at an early age. With the good counsel of popes and…