The failure of many urban schools to adequately teach their mostly poor and often non-white pupil populations has been a very serious policy issue. In an effort to improve this situation, policymakers and politicians have tried myriad solutions, but to no avail. This work stresses the role of Latino families in shaping educational preparation. Author William Sampson argues that the family is more important in the effort to improve schools than the schools themselves and that school improvement efforts should therefore focus more upon efforts to influence family change. For teachers at all levels, educational policymakers, parents, and education scholars.