Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-176) and index.

Finding hope among the hopeless
The social context and its impact on inner-city schooling
The rule of schools in reducing racial inequality : closing the achievement gap
Unequal outcomes, unequal opportunities : closing the achievement gap on Berkeley
Segregation, poverty, and limits of local control : Oakland as a case study
The culture of violence and the need for safety in schools
Conclusion : What will it take to improve America's urban public schools

Pedro Noguera argues that higher standards and more tests, by themselves, will not make low-income urban students any smarter and the schools they attend more successful without substantial investment in the communities in which they live. Drawing on extensive research performed in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond, Noguera demonstrates how school and student achievement is influenced by social forces such as demographic change, poverty, drug trafficking, violence, and social inequity. Readers get a detailed glimpse into the lives of teachers and students working "against the odds" to succeed. Noguera sends a strong message to those who would have urban schools "shape up or shut down": invest in the future of these students and schools, and we can reach the kind of achievement and success that typify only more privileged communities.