Children living in poverty have the same God-given potential as children in wealthier communities, but on average they achieve at significantly lower levels. Kids who both live in poverty and read below grade level by third grade are three times as likely not to graduate from high school as students who have never been poor. By the time children in low-income communities are in fourth grade, they're already three grade levels behind their peers in wealthier communities. More than half won't graduate from high school--and many that do graduate only perform at an eighth-grade level. Only one in ten will go on to graduate from college. These students have severely diminished opportunities for personal prosperity and professional success. It is clear that America's public schools do not provide a high quality public education for the sixteen million children growing up in poverty. Education expert Nicole Baker Fulgham explores what Christians can--and should--do to champion urgently needed reform and help improve our public schools. The book provides concrete action steps for working to ensure that all of God's children get the quality public education they deserve. It also features personal narratives from the author and other Christian public school teachers that demonstrate how the achievement gap in public education can be solved.

Throughout our nation?s history, faith communities have played an essential role in educating children. Churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious organizations have supported and extended the work of local schools by offering tutoring, reading instruction, mentoring, after-school programs and a wide range of other services. Faith communities have met the educational needs of young people with efforts that have been as generous as they have been effective. The recently passed No Child Left Behind Act?the landmark education reform law designed to close the historic achievement gaps between disadvantaged and minority students and their more advantaged peers?gives faith-based groups new opportunities to build on the good work they are already doing. No Child Left Behind resources can help faith-based groups to find new ways to help meet the learning needs of all children and to discover new ways to partner with local schools. With No Child Left Behind, schools and religious organizations can become even more powerful allies in the effort to ensure that all children?regardless of their race, family income or the language spoken in their homes?receive a high-quality education.

Since "A Nation at Risk" in 1983, the "problem" of education in the United States has occupied a prominent space in the media, in the halls of government, and in the lives of those most involved in schools. Through experiences of parents, students, teachers and administrators who have sought to live out a spirituality of communion, Education's Highest Aim examines contemporary education in the light of a way of life rooted in love of neighbor, and presents the effects when such a value is lived out across a spectrum of educational milieus.

In Overcoming Religious Illiteracy, Harvard professor and Phillips Academy teacher Diane L. Moore argues that though the United States is one of the most religiously diverse nations in the world, the vast majority of citizens are woefully ignorant about religion itself and the basic tenets of the world's major religious traditions. The consequences of this religious illiteracy are profound and include fueling the culture wars, curtailing historical understanding and promoting religious and racial bigotry. In this volume, Moore combines theory with practice to articulate how to incorporate the study of religion into the schools in ways that will invigorate classrooms and enhance democratic discourse in the public sphere.