A Review of Two Must Read Books for All Parents and Educators

For twenty-five years Jonathan Kozol has followed the lives of many inner-city children and documented their struggles, tragedies and successes in his new book Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America. These are children who live in horrid condition and are placed in disadvantaged educational institutions. The most disturbing part of these stories is that these kids have grown up in the United States.

Meanwhile, conventional wisdom believes that cognitive development and stimulation in children, especially before school age, is the major factor in determining their future educational success. In How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, author Paul Tough has challenged these thoughts and provides awareness of the important role that character plays in the development of children.

Both of these books provide valuable lessons and insight into actions we need to take to ensure all children are able to reach the full potential of their natural abilities.

Fire in the Ashes is a follow-up and continuation of Kozol’s previous book Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America in which he provided firsthand accounts from his months among the homeless.

The first story in the new book follows a family from the South Bronx to Montana as they are given an opportunity to start their lives over. Kozol takes us on an emotional rollercoaster as we witness how the initial successes of this relocation turn into eventual disaster. This is just one of several documented stories that end tragically.

Most of the stories originate around St. Ann’s church in locations around the South Bronx such as the ghastly Martinique Hotel and Mott Haven, where we encounter desperate families living in meager conditions. Readers will likely be angered, as I was, to learn about landlords who violate safety concerns but are seemingly protected from prosecution due to campaign contributions.

Kozol also relays several inspiring success stories in which children have risen from very harsh circumstances to break out of the cycle of poverty. These are children who took full advantage of opportunities by applying themselves to their education.

As we come to understand the horrific living conditions of poor inner-city children, the most damaging blow to these children are the disadvantaged schools they are forced to attend. These schools are not only poorly equipped but are staffed with non-certified teachers and experience a high rate of turnover. How can we expect children to learn in schools that suffer from a lack of resources and a constant turnover of teachers?

The unacceptable cases are those in which the children who are obviously bright enough to obtain educational success are tragically held back by the less than adequate schools that are available to them. These are the children who are very hard working and dedicated to improving their lives.

The main question from this book is  - What is the main difference that Kozol has seen between the situations in which children succeed and those that have failed? The pattern that the authors identifies is that the children who have succeeded have not done so alone, someone has intervened to help them get into the right school or opened another door to opportunity. The children still need the drive and determination to succeed, but having a caring and supportive person in their corner makes a world of difference.

Paul Tough is also the author of Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America, which told the stories of how families in Harlem are trying to change their lives.

In How Children Succeed, Tough reveals how non-cognitive characteristics of children, such as grit, self-determination and curiosity can be a better predictor of success than simply measuring intelligence. In this book we see several astonishing cases of disadvantaged children having their lives changed by receiving the attention needed to develop their natural abilities which parallel the success stories that Kozol encountered.

Tough begins by exploring the long term negative impacts that frequent anxiety can have on children’s development. When we face anxiety our bodies react according to deal with the situation, but over time as these reactions take place repeatedly our bodies begin to wear down and can result in substantial health problems. Again we see that intervention by caring adults can reduce the level and impacts to our bodies brought about by anxiety.

The book follows with inspiring stories of how disadvantaged children can overcome many obstacles and obtain academic success by building non-cognitive or character traits. Tough includes a detailed overview of Walter Mischel’s famous 1972 marshmallow tests which observed how long children can resist the temptation of a sweet treat.

We are then introduced to the KIPP charter schools along with expensive private schools to observe how they promote character in children to produce academic success. Tough notes that while the SAT was developed to help colleges identify the potential collegial success of children with similar GPAs but from different, in reality we find that the GPA (from whatever school) is a better predictor than the SAT. This is because the SAT is a one-time test of cognitive ability whereby the GPA better represents a child’s self-determination and dedication to learning.

It is also important for parents to realize that we need to create environments for our children in which they encounter failure in order to help them deal with adversity. Dealing with disappointments, perseverance and curiosity are critical traits that we need to develop in our children.

Conclusion

The message that I have taken away from both of these books is that with the proper intervention and support we can provide the opportunity for all children, regardless of their upbringing, to obtain educational success and improvements to their lives. Both of these books are well researched and written and I highly recommend them to all parents, educators and elected officials. These books will hopefully provide input to thought-provoking discussions along with the identification and implementation of better solutions for how we prepare all children for their own development and success.