San Antonio College Library

"Reading for Our Lives challenges the bath-book-bed mantra and the idea that reading aloud to our kids is enough to ensure school readiness. Instead, it gives parents easy, immediate, and accessible ways to nurture language and literacy development from the start. Through personal stories, historical accounts, scholarly research, and practical tips, this book presents the life-and-death urgency of literacy, investigates inequity in reading achievement,...

"An alarmingly high number of American students continue to lack proficiency in reading, math, and science. The various attempts to address this problem have all too often resulted in "silver bullet" solutions such as reducing class size or implementing voucher programs. But as the authors of this book show, improving literacy also requires an understanding of complex and interrelated social issues that shape a child's learning. More than twenty years...

Today more than eight million Americans live in neighborhoods of extreme economic deprivation, social isolation, and often terrifying violence. The number of ghettos, barrios, and slums in the United States has more than doubled since 1970, and the proportion of the poor who live in them has risen dramatically. Policymakers and the public alike are increasingly concerned about the emergence of an "underclass" population in these blighted neighborhoods....

"As the twenty-first century begins, the overwhelming majority of children in the United States are raised in households in which both parents work. Yet decent, affordable child-care is available to only a fraction of these families. As the population ages, one in four American families cares for elderly relatives, a responsibility that adult children shoulder with little or no help. Other families who must care for disabled adult members receive...

Analyzes the current labour market in the US and concludes that social policy must change to cope with the realities of the new economy. "More and better jobs" is the underlying theme of this text. It presents an agenda of lifelong learning and recommends specific government educational policies.