Paul Tough's How Children Succeed

Read it.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, a few more details.  As Ryan's earlier post linking to Tough's appearance on the EconTalk podcast noted, this book is primarily concerned with the previously intangible predictors of success.

Tough organized his writing into five chapters, each with numerous sub-sections.  The first 50 or so pages are titled 'How to Fail (And How Not To)', and Tough concerns himself largely with the familiar discrepancies between high- and low-achieving students.  He spends most of the section detailing research on young children's neurological response to stress, which culminates with the development of an Adverse Childhood Experience score, which correlates notably with success, or lack thereof, later in life.  

The second section, How to Build Character, largely compares KIPP and the Riverdale Country School and the ways in which each attempts to develop the character of their students in far different ways.  He also delves into the research of Martin Seligman, the founder of Positive Psychology, and Angela Duckworth, who coined the term 'grit'.  There was an interesting moment in which the Riverdale Head, Dominick Randolph (formerly of L'ville), noted that his students are far less resilient than many under-privileged students, simply because failure is not a part of their lives and probably never will be.  Tough then cites several relevant statistics on depression and substance abuse as further evidence.  In speaking with Tiffany, her anecdotal experience in Philadelphia and at Blair line up with Tough's conclusions.  The Atlantic had a nice feature a few years ago on a similar idea, relevant when I consider what Latta called "Blair homesickness."  I also found the difference between 'moral character' and 'performance character' fascinating.  Moral character deals with ethical values, while performance character centers on effort, grit, and diligence.  KIPP even manages to assign a number to their students' character that appears on their report cards.

His third chunk, How to Think, was mostly an examination of thinking through chess.  Specifically, IS 318, a perennial national champion in middle school chess, with an 80%+ Title 1 population.  He works through the program, its players, and its teachers, all in an attempt to understand their success.  I found the most interesting section 'Calibrated Meanness'.  Tough started it with an anecdote from Elizabeth Spiegel, the IS 318 coach, who, at the 2010 national girls' tournament, felt after several one-on-one reviews of her students' game that she was, in her own words, "an abusive jerk."  But after several rounds, her girls were back on track and she offered this comment: "...I really believe that's why we seem to win girls' nationals sections pretty easily every year: most people won't tell teenage girls (especially the together, articulate ones) that they are lazy and the quality of their work is unacceptable.  And sometimes they need to hear that, or they have no reason to step up."  Tough concludes that nurturing is necessary early in life, but that tough love and challenge is a requirement in early adolescence.

How to Succeed concentrates on getting kids to college, especially those with what TFA called an "achievement gap."  Tough spends most of his time on OneGoal, a three year intensive college program for urban kids who show some desire and are willing to commit to intense preparation and guidance through the college process.  OneGoal also tracks their students' college success with continued counseling and advice through phone calls, email, and social media, something that has come up in our own value-added conversations.

Tough ends with a section on the future.  A Better Path is the shortest of the book and devoted to scaling the success of the various programs, as well as admitting the reality that the War on Poverty of the 1960s is now under the umbrella of education reform, something that is not realistic or remotely sustainable (and a valid criticism of TFA, I might add).

If you're looking for shortcuts for your classroom, you won't find it.  This book is about the culture of kids and schools and success.  It's strength lies in the potential you envision for an already strong community like Blair.

Read it.