A volume of the West Side studies, field work conducted in the summer of 1912. A wider study of the Manhattan neighborhood under the Bureau of Social Research of New York School of Philanthropy with funds supplied by the Russell Sage Foundation.
RUTH S. TRUE, New York Survey Associates, Inc.
In 1900, Alice Willard Solenberger was given charge of the Central District of the Chicago Bureau of Charities, a territory in the South Side of the city where a large number of applicants were homeless men. Recognizing the inadequate treatment of these men, Solenberger devised a new plan of treatment, adapted largely from the methods used in the treatment and investigation of families, calling for greater care, greater skill, and greater sympathy in dealing with applicants. This book presents the methods behind the new plan of treatment.
ALICE WILLARD SOLENBERGER, Central District of the Chicago Bureau of Charities
One of a series of monographs prepared by the Foundation's Department of Child-Helping to accompany round table meetings of trustees of institutions caring for children. The Education of Dependent Children in Institutions discusses the academic and vocational aspects of the subject, social, moral and religious considerations are put forth in another monograph of the series.
C. SPENCER RICHARDSON was associate director of the Department of Child-Helping of the Russell Sage Foundation.
“This carefully researched book documents that family background matters more in accounting for the academic success of children in the United States than for those in Canada, the United Kingdom, or Australia—all countries that have experienced similar economic shocks and have large immigrant populations. The authors make a compelling case that differences among the countries in social supports for families, labor market policies, and education policies all play roles in explaining this pattern. Too Many Children Left Behind will be sobering to readers in the United States, but it provides a source of hope that public policies matter in leveling the playing field and improving the life chances of children from low-income families.”
—RICHARD J. MURNANE, Thompson Research Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
“A devastating dismantling of the American Dream drawn from the most compelling data yet on children’s achievement during their early and formative years.”
—LEE ELLIOT MAJOR, chief executive, The Sutton Trust, and trustee, The Education Endowment Foundation
“It’s easy to think that the large achievement gap between rich and poor students in the United States is an immutable pattern, but the careful cross-national analysis in Too Many Children Left Behind suggests the opposite. The book’s detailed comparison of patterns of educational inequality in four countries demonstrates clearly that social and educational policies can help to equalize children’s opportunities for educational success.”
—SEAN F. REARDON, professor of poverty and inequality in education, Stanford University
The belief that with hard work and determination, all children have the opportunity to succeed in life is a cherished part of the American Dream. Yet, increased inequality in America has made that dream more difficult for many to obtain. In Too Many Children Left Behind, an international team of social scientists assesses how social mobility varies in the United States compared with Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Bruce Bradbury, Miles Corak, Jane Waldfogel, and Elizabeth Washbrook show that the academic achievement gap between disadvantaged American children and their more advantaged peers is far greater than in other wealthy countries, with serious consequences for their future life outcomes. With education the key to expanding opportunities for those born into low socioeconomic status families, Too Many Children Left Behind helps us better understand educational disparities and how to reduce them.
Analyzing data on 8,000 school children in the United States, the authors demonstrate that disadvantages that begin early in life have long lasting effects on academic performance. The social inequalities that children experience before they start school contribute to a large gap in test scores between low- and high-SES students later in life. Many children from low-SES backgrounds lack critical resources, including books, high-quality child care, and other goods and services that foster the stimulating environment necessary for cognitive development. The authors find that not only is a child’s academic success deeply tied to his or her family background, but that this class-based achievement gap does not narrow as the child proceeds through school.
The authors compare test score gaps from the United States with those from three other countries and find smaller achievement gaps and greater social mobility in all three, particularly in Canada. The wider availability of public resources for disadvantaged children in those countries facilitates the early child development that is fundamental for academic success. All three countries provide stronger social services than the United States, including universal health insurance, universal preschool, paid parental leave, and other supports. The authors conclude that the United States could narrow its achievement gap by adopting public policies that expand support for children in the form of tax credits, parenting programs, and pre-K.
With economic inequalities limiting the futures of millions of children, Too Many Children Left Behind is a timely study that uses global evidence to show how the United States can do more to level the playing field.
BRUCE BRADBURY is associate professor at the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Australia.
MILES CORAK is professor of economics at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa.
JANE WALDFOGEL is professor of social work and public affairs at the Columbia University School of Social Work and visiting professor at the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
ELIZABETH WASHBROOK is lecturer in Quantitative Methods for Education at the Graduate School of Education and a member of the Centre for Multilevel Modelling at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
This pamphlet, published in 1911, looks into the causes which contribute to making a child over-age for his grade and if the responsibility lies with the school. Conclusions presented demonstrate the importance of studying the progress of school children as well as their distribution by ages and grades.
LEONARD P. AYRES was director of the Division of Education at the Russell Sage Foundation.
During 1914 and the earlier months of 1915, the Division of Education of the Russell Sage Foundation conducted a study of spelling among school children with the object of developing a scale for measuring attainment in the spelling of common words. This pamphlet describes the investigation and the scale it produced.
LEONARD P. AYRES was director of the Division of Education at the Russell Sage Foundation.
This paper, published in 1912, analyzes the argument that the effectiveness of a school and its teachers must be measured in terms of the results secured by the school. It looks at how applied science may avail to better educational practices, similar to industrial activity.
LEONARD P. AYRES was director of the Division of Education at the Russell Sage Foundation.
Published in 1913, The Effect of Promotion Rates on School Efficiency presents findings that illustrate the great importance of small differences in promotion rates in education, particularly the degree to which children are trained in habits of success and failure.
LEONARD P. AYRES was director of the Division of Education at the Russell Sage Foundation.
Three papers were read at a meeting of the American Public Health Association in 1916. They report on the lack of statistical evidence and analysis in health investigations, and why the statistical method is such a necessary element in public health research.
DONALD ARMSTRONG was executive officer of the Community Health and Tuberculosis Demonstration and assistant secretary of the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis.
FRANZ SCHNEIDER, JR. was sanitarian at the Department of Surveys and Exhibits of the Russell Sage Foundation.
LOUIS I. DUBLIN was statistician at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
As millions of baby boomers retire and age in the coming years, more American families will confront difficult choices about the long-term care of their loved ones. The swelling ranks of the disabled and elderly who need such support—including home care, adult day care, or a nursing home stay—must often interact with a strained, inequitable and expensive system. How will American society and policy adapt to this demographic transition?
In Universal Coverage of Long-Term Care in the United States, editors Nancy Folbre and Douglas Wolf and an acclaimed group of care researchers offers a much-needed assessment of current U.S. long-term care policies, the problems facing more comprehensive reform, and what can be learned from other countries facing similar care demands. After the high-profile suspension of the Obama Administration’s public long-term insurance program in 2011, this volume, the Foundation’s first free e-book, includes concrete suggestions for moving policy toward a more affordable and universal long-term care coverage in America.
David Bell is a Professor of Economics in the Stirling Management School at the University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland.
Alison Bowes is a Professor in the School of Applied Social Science at the University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland.
Leonard Burman is the Daniel P. Moynihan Professor of Public Affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.
Brian Burwell is Vice President for Community Living Systems at Thomson Reuters, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Marc A. Cohen is Chief Research and Development Officer of LifePlans, Inc., in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Svein Olav Daatland is Senior Researcher at NOVA/Norwegian Social Research, in Oslo, Norway.
Nancy Folbre is a Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Mary Jo Gibson, formerly a Strategic Policy Adviser at AARP's Public Policy Institute, is a long-term care consultant.
Howard Gleckman is a Resident Fellow at The Urban Institute, where he is affiliated with both the Tax Policy Center and the Program on Retirement Policy.
Robert Hudson is Professor and Chair of Social Welfare Policy in Boston University’s School of Social Work.
Carol Levine is Director of the Families and Health Project at the United Hospital Fund, New York City.
David Stevenson is an Associate Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
Robyn Stone is Executive Director of the Center for Applied Research and Senior Vice President of LeadingAge in Washington, D.C.
Eileen J. Tell is Senior Vice President of Univita (formerly the Long Term Care Group, Inc.), in Natick, Massachusetts.
Douglas Wolf is the Gerald B. Cramer Professor of Aging Studies and Director of the Center for Aging and Policy Studies at Syracuse
Robyn I. Stone discusses the long-term care workforce in America, its challenges and potential reforms for improvement. Read the Interview
Carol Levine discusses her personal experience as a family caregiver, and how policy must change to better support friends and family who offer unpaid care. Read the Interview
Douglas Wolf offers an overview of Universal Coverage and outlines possible reforms to improve the provision of long-term care in America. Read the Interview
