It's no secret that students attending urban schools in the United States do not fare as well on measures of achievement as their rural and suburban counterparts. According to Belinda Williams and her coauthors, this gap is largely due to a little acknowledged fact: that poor and minority students bring culturally distinct values and beliefs to the classroom that are often incompatible with the biases inherent in the curriculum, assessment measures, and teachers themselves.

This second edition of Closing the Achievement Gap argues that if education reform is to work, educators must become more sensitive to the worldviews of disadvantaged students—and to incorporate this awareness into their day-to-day work. Teachers, principals, and legislators must

* Learn about cultural perceptions of human development,
* Apply this knowledge to professional development and comprehensive reform, and
* Align political policy accordingly.

In addition to providing a framework for meeting these challenges, this book offers specific suggestions for bridging the cultural divide through such diverse methods as direct vocabulary instruction, opportunity-to-learn strategies, and school-level organizational reform. Thoroughly researched and eloquently written, it is a vital resource for ensuring that students of all backgrounds succeed equally well in the classroom.