importance of out-of-school effects…

Looking forward to reading Duncan & Murnane’s “Whither Opportunity” — it’s inclusion of out of school effects on children’s chances to learn and thrive brings to mind Rothstein’s (2004) work — including the following short excerpt:

“Better school practices can probably narrow the gap. School reform, however, is not enough. In seeking to close the achievement gap for low-income and minority students, policy makers focus inordinate attention on the improvement of instruction because they apparently believe that social class differences are immutable and that only schools can improve the destinies of lower-class children…”