The most powerful policy for improving education is poverty reduction.

A small reduction in poverty leads to better academic performance.

In a lecture given by David Berliner (professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at the University of Arizona) at the opening of the American Educational Research Association in Montreal in May 2005, we learn that poverty and individual or community school failure are intimately linked, with data and statistics to back it up.

"A small reduction in family poverty leads to significant increases in positive school behaviors and better academic performance."

Hence the conclusion that "the most powerful policy for improving our nations' school achievement is a reduction in family and youth poverty"

What more is there to say, other than to stop fooling ourselves with psycho-pedagogical reforms when the real elements of reform are most often ignored.

We recommend reading this lecture:

Our Impoverished View of Educational Reform by David C. Berliner August 2005 - .pdf format, 846 kb