Families who live in poverty face disadvantages that can hinder their children's development in many ways, write Greg Duncan, Katherine Magnuson, and Elizabeth Votruba-Drzal. As they struggle to get by economically, and as they cope with substandard housing, unsafe neighborhoods, and inadequate schools, poor families experience more stress in…

Since the 1960s, there have been continuing federal efforts to bring reform to scale in high-poverty elementary and secondary schools across the U.S. This paper traces the evolution of these efforts and discusses their impacts on achievement outcomes. Drawing on evidence from meta-analyses of the Title I evaluation literature and the Comprehensive…

This brief is one in a series on children and welfare reform that explores how states and communities can achieve the adult-focused goals of welfare reform and enhance the well-being of young children. Arguing that deliberate policy, program, fiscal, and collaborative strategies are needed to strengthen basic supports, promote young children's…

Suggests ways to improve child support enforcement. Getting the child support system out of the courts to the extent possible and providing government guarantees of child support are two types of proposals that must be considered. A final necessity is increasing welfare benefits to a subsistence level. (SLD)