Research demonstrates that children of poverty need more than just academic instruction to succeed. Discover a school-improvement blueprint for teaching resilience and turning low-performing schools into cultures of hope. The authors draw from their own experiences working with high-poverty, high-achieving schools to illustrate how to support students with an approach that considers social as well as emotional factors in education. Understand how poverty affects education and how creating a positive school culture can help: Understand the relevance of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and positive psychology in K-12 education. - Discover tested strategies behind the success of high-poverty, high-achieving schools in closing the achievement gap. - Learn how to create intrinsic motivation for students impacted by adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and support them in overcoming learned helplessness. - Access surveys that gauge the temperature of your school's culture. - Integrate the world of jobs and professional careers into academic curriculum. - Support students with tools to envision and plan for the future. - Define processes for building consensus and increasing collaboration among teachers and school leadership. Contents: Introduction Part One: An Apartheid of Ignorance Chapter 1. Poverty Is No Excuse Chapter 2. The Tragedy of High School Dropouts Chapter 3. A Culture of Hope Part Two: The Four Seeds of Hope Chapter 4. A Sense of Optimism Chapter 5. A Sense of Belonging Chapter 6. A Sense of Pride, Self-Esteem, and Self-Confidence Chapter 7. A Sense of Purpose Part Three: Implementing a Culture of Hope Chapter 8. The Power of "We" Chapter 9. A Culture of Hope at the High School Level Chapter 10. Hope Fulfilled Appendix A: Methodologies of the Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report Studies Appendix B: Surveys of Students and Staff Glossary References and Resources Index "In the era of high-stakes testing and accountability ratings, Barr and Gibson provide educators with a much-needed dose of humanity. This book does more than provide a shot in the arm for schools and students who lack hope; it provides a theory, structure, and methodology for any school struggling to inspire under-served students." -- Anthony Muhammad, educational consultant, author of Transforming School Culture and The Collaborative Administrator "All children, regardless of race or wealth, want to feel safe and secure, to be loved and experience a sense of belonging, and to become competent and capable. As educators, our moral obligation is to create the context and conditions to meet these universal needs so that each of our graduates is college, career, and life ready. Bob Barr and Emily Gibson provide a pragmatic road map for systemically building a culture of hope in our public schools and classrooms. Today, more than ever, we need new constructs that connect people, purpose, and passion through transformative practices, recognizing the interdependency of relationships and results." -- Steven T. Webb, superintendent, Vancouver (WA) Public Schools "If we don't believe that the American dream is dying, this important book reminds us it is chronically ill. Barr and Gibson highlight the tragic failure of education to respond to the growing achievement gap between rich and poor, then give us clear directions for turning those schools into gateways out of poverty. Take an honest look around. Then use some of the authentic instruments and surveys in this essential resource. The time for action is now." -- Alan Boyle, director, Leannta Education Associates Robert D. Barr, PhD, is recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on reaching and teaching children of poverty and minority students and helping high-poverty schools become high-performing ones. He is an educator, speaker, author, and emeritus analyst with the Boise State University Center for School Improvement. Bob has keynoted hundreds of state, regional, national, and international conferences and has provided workshops for schools, school districts, and state departments of education in every area of the United States. He has helped high-poverty schools in more than forty states improve student performance. Escaping poverty and realizing the American dream are a part of Bob's personal story. His grandparents were migrant workers, and the overriding values of his family were hard work, thrift, and the abiding belief that if you kept at it, life would get better. When Bob was in the fifth grade, he cashed in his school bank account so the family could use the forty-eight dollars to buy a mule. Through hard work and sacrifice, his parents saved enough to buy an acre of land, then eight acres, and finally, their dream, a 150-acre ranch in the cedar breaks and rolling hills of Glen Rose, Texas. Bob has been selected for the National School Boards Association's prestigious Meet the Expert sessions at their national conferences twelve times and has