Cultural Integrity and Schooling Outcomes of African American Children from Low-Income Backgrounds

How can schools better serve children from diverse backgrounds to enhance educational outcomes so that diversity becomes an asset rather than a liability?¹ In this chapter, we seek answers to this question by focusing on how to create resilient schools. Such schools function well, yield more educational success stories than not, and thrive because they produce academic talent; and they do so even though the children served may be from low-income backgrounds, dwell in inner-city communities, or come from ethnic/minority/cultural groups who historically have not fared well in public schools. The quest for resilient schools is not new. Indeed, calls