Breaking the cycle of poverty by improving education and literacy: that's the ultimate goal of Educating the Other America. This trailblazing book from top experts brings together 30 of the biggest names in education to tackle the toughest challenges faced by the nearly 1 in 5 children who live below the poverty line "and offer fresh, cutting-edge ideas for closing the achievement gap.Readers will start with an in-depth, research-based understanding of children who fail to read not because of cognitive impairment, but because of the complex effects of poverty. They'll explore the dramatic impact of poverty on children's literacy, school achievement, social success, physical health, and future economic well-being. Then readers will discover the practical benefits of the latest research and innovations in teaching and classroom design: creating rich multisensory classrooms that support students' health and learningapplying Universal Design to engage all students and accommodate a wide range of learner needsusing key research findings to shape instruction that helps promote higher achievement for English language learnersexposing students to multimedia stories that incorporate motion, sound, and music to improve text understanding and vocabularyusing results of the most recent studies to teach African American students effectivelymaking the most of educational software to help improve children's reading outcomesturning shared book reading into a great accelerator of vocabulary development, comprehension, and other literacy skillsEducation professionals will also learn from the latest statistics and research projects on poverty, literacy, and achievement; explore the successes and limitations of current education reform efforts; and discover what work still needs to be done to create significant and lasting improvements. Representing the most creative new thinking from the best minds in education, this groundbreaking resource illuminates the challenges of poverty and gives professionals the knowledge they need to help students succeed "both in school and for the rest of their lives.