Agree so much. However I want to add that motivation plays a factor here as well. I know too many people who think that once high school is over, reading is o

Agree so much. However I want to add that motivation plays a factor here as well. I know too many people who think that once high school is over, reading is over. As someone who spends 1-2 hours per day reading, not counting software blogs, I am horrified by that attitude. And how many people goofed off in school? (I admit I did that a bit too much back then) "the person without the parenting or cultural environment that promotes learning" Exactly. I saw a program a few years ago in Milwaukee. Basically they assigned mentors to struggling schools to help the kids work through the problems that were distracting them. The results were solid double digit improvements in both the percentage of kids passing, and reducing the number of disciplinary incidents. I wish I could recall the name, I have searched for it before. This needs to be in every struggling school.