ABSTRACT
Throughout most current literature on reform needs to alleviate the risks associated with poverty, there is a growing awareness that educational reforms must address the larger context within which schools function if outcomes for poor children are to be improved. The whole Ebonics movement and debate could be seen as one attempt to link schools and schooling to the cultural context of groups that have been socially and politically excluded in our society. However, beyond attempts to link schools to community services through increased coordination of social service and health-related delivery systems, there seem to be few strategies for educational professionals to seriously effect change in the macroecological context within which schools are embedded. This paper briefly examines the ways in which risks associated with poverty threaten to undermine even the best-designed school improvement measures. It will be argued that most current approaches for reducing risks associated with poverty cannot be effectively brought to scale. Macroecological reforms are put forth as a powerful strategy for achieving necessary changes at the political and economic structural levels of the community and larger society. Last, prospects for successfully applying this strategy to bring about change in the near future are considered.
