I recently finished reading A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne, and I was disappointed. The book is overly simplistic, the bullet-heavy format makes the book feel like an oversized set of workshop notes, and there just isn’t enough research to back up her assertions. In this book, poor students are defined solely by how they differ from middle-class students. The few good points are very general, relating to resilience and explicitly teaching thinking skills, but a couple of good (and obvious) points don’t make up for the shallow approach and lack of documentation.

If you’re interested in a book that describes the survival strategies used by people in poverty use, pick up Off the Booksinstead-not an “education” book, not about children, but better written, better researched, and an actually enjoyable read to boot.

Rating: ✰ 1/2