Table of Contents
1 Adversity 1
Why do poor children struggle in school?
The importance of noncognitive skills
"O.K., now that we know this, what do we do?"
2 Strategies 6
The problem with scaling up
Different approaches, common threads
An unbroken story from birth through high school
3 Skills 9
Can we agree on the best way to teach grit?
Teaching character without talking about character
Is "Teaching" the right word to use?
4 Stress 13
A brief explanation of our fight-or-flight response
What toxic stress does to the brain
Why executive functions matter in school
5 Parents 16
How babies make sense of the world
The importance of "serve and return"
Helping infants handle stress (or not)
6 Trauma 19
What is your ACE score?
Adverse experiences vs. adverse environments
ACEs and their effect on school success
7 Neglect 22
The "good" kind of neglect?
The harsh effects of chronic understimulation
A lesson from a Russian orphanage
8 Early Intervention 26
Why the early years matter
Education funding meets brain science
Baby talk and the policy makers' dilemma
9 Attachment 30
What a Jamaican study can teach us about parental attachment
Building a "secure base"
Can we just hand out brochures and let parents figure it out from there?
10 Home Visiting 36
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up
Julianna and the cookie
Throwing incident
"We just zero in on this one positive moment."
11 Beyond the Home 42
The Educare effect
Reaching informal childcare providers
Helping pre-K teachers feel less stressed-out
The bi-directional model of self-regulation
12 Building Blocks 48
What changes (and what doesn't) in kindergarten
"It may not be a matter of you just not sucking it up enough"
The deep roots of perseverance and resilience
13 Discipline 53
The history of "zero tolerance"
Who gets suspended and why
The effects of suspensions on the kids who aren't suspended
Why harsh punishments often backfire.
14 Incentive 56
The behaviorist approach to education
Getting past stickers and pizza parties
"The impact of financial incentives on student achievement is statistically 0."
15 Motivation 59
Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation
What makes a 4-year-old want to quit crayoning?
Autonomy, competence, and relatedness
16 Assessment 65
How do we measure noncognitive abilities?
Finding the educators who help kids engage
What are the deep messages teachers convey to their students?
17 Messages 74
The narrative of failure within each school
What kind of classroom promotes perseverance?
Begritty, or just act gritty?
18 Mindsets 81
Is my teacher a friend or a foe?
The transformative power of a Post-it-switching off the fight-or-flight alarm
19 Relationships 86
Why Rashid got jumped, and why he was able to talk about it
How classroom climate affects test scores
Is it really possible to transform an entire school?
20 Pedagogy 91
What happens when teachers give up the reins?
Self-directed projects and student-Led conferences
Assigning work that is challenging, rigorous, and deep
21 Challenge 100
Lots of basic skills, little problem-solving
The Japanese approach
The dominant American instructional strategy
"Confusion and frustration should be minimized."
22 Deeper Learning 104
The demands of the 21st-century job market
"Deeper learning has historically been the province of the advantaged"
Change comes to Elm City Prep
23 Solutions 110
Seven million children in deep poverty
A broken system
Changing our policies, our practices, and our way of thinking
Acknowledgments 117
A Note on Sources 120
Index 121
About the Author 127
About the Type 128