This book has two major portions. The majority of the book is my perspective of the life that I have lived as a child raised in poverty. The other portion of this book provides educators and others who work with children some research-based practices that are linked to particular behaviors or actions. These are provided from a dual perspective, the author as researcher and the author as a youngster who survived to tell his story. In the original research, the Attitudes Toward Poverty Scale (ATP) was given to teachers employed at schools in the Piedmont area of South Carolina. The average score for each schools' teachers on the ATP was compared to their students' (who were living in poverty) performance on statewide testing in language arts and mathematics. In contradiction to this researcher's original hypothesis, the results revealed that teachers with a more negative attitude towards poverty had students with greater academic performance on statewide assessments. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]