children with social disabilities

Presents the 1996-97 school year of twelve South-Central Los Angeles high school students who qualified for an elite gifted program because of their exceptional IQs, and how they persevered despite challenges from the physical landscape, their home life, and school administrations.

The author describes his experiences teaching on the island of Yamacraw off the coast of South Carolina, home to a mostly African-American, illiterate population.

Explores the differences between schools for the rich and public schools for the poor and argues for a reform of the public education system so that poor children have the educational opportunities that the rich do.

Discusses how to prevent the misidentification of students of low socioeconomic status as learning disabled and improve their performance by supporting school readiness skills, enhancing teaching techniques, fostering relationships between home and school, and more.

Examines the right of all children to receive an education that suits their needs.

The author draws on his personal experiences with inner-city children in South Bronx, New York, to tell stories that demonstrate every child's value as a person rather than as a future entry-level worker.

Discusses how newsboys, and a few newsgirls, stood on street corners in the 1800s trying to sell newspapers, and decades later, "Newsies," as they were called, became famous.

American poet and writer Jimmy Santiago Baca relates stories about conflict and life-altering choices in his life, discussing his childhood in an orphanage, post-prison life, works with struggling adolescents, and more.