ABSTRACT
Privately, many of them still assume that the only possible answers are those offered by the deficiency theories of the 1960s: either genetic inferiority or cultural deprivation. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book points out that the problem is not a specifically American one: lower-caste groups have poor school records everywhere in the world. Membership in a lower caste implies a limited set of possible adult careers. The book describes many aspects of Afro-American culture that are in more or less direct conflict with the social and cognitive structure of the school. It demonstrates that public schools can be effective in teaching poor and minority children, but that most of them fail to do so.
