Teaching Life Lessons More Important Than Ever

In the South more than half of public school students are poor, according to a new report that heralds the future that lies ahead for the rest of the country. The Southern Education Foundation's report says minority students are expected to exceed 50 percent of public school enrollment by the year 2020 and the share of poor students is on the rise in every state. The "enormous implications," according to Columbia University expert Michael A. Rebell? 

"When we realize that the majority of graduates of our schools in the long run are going to come from backgrounds with educational deprivation, it makes it imperative that schools be improved," Rebell said in the New York Times story on the report.

Closing this achievement gap substantiated by the Southern Education Foundation has never been more important. Evidence proves that a strong social and emotional education strengthens attachment to school for these most vulnerable kids growing up in poverty without life skills that unlock learning.

Related topics: teaching life skills to children