ABSTRACT
Malcolm X called education a “passport for the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today” (cited in Madhere et al., 1997, p. 1). Unfortunately, in most high-poverty schools, most students have diminished future prospects because they do not receive the high-quality learning opportunities, expert teaching, and supportive learning environments they need to reach the levels of educational achievement that are generally associated with better postsecondary educational opportunities and careers, higher economic returns, and developmental well-being. This chapter discusses how educational achievement has been most productively operationalized at different points throughout childhood, summarizes the evidence on the continuity and short- and long-term benefits of educational achievement, and discusses the factors that have been identified as promoting and impeding educational achievement. Special attention is paid to those factors that are alterable—those factors that, if changed, can increase the numbers of students from high-poverty schools who receive a passport for the future.
