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"Limited research on this calendar shows some positive impact on test scores, particularly for low-income elementary students. In Chicago, year-round students last year posted slightly better gains on test scores than did students in schools on the regular calendar."

"One option, Hayes said, might be to tailor money to districts' needs. For instance, fast-growing districts could get extra dollars to keep up with the influx of students. Also, students from low-income backgrounds could bring more money than more affluent students."

""Every time we open a new Title I school, they open with a parenting center," she said.A school typically qualifies for Title I status if at least 40 percent of its students come from low-income families as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau."

"Most of the other schools on the 'in improvement' list are in step two or three this year, which means it's their second year or third year on the list. They are required to continue the work from step one and offer supplemental services to low-income students, usually in the form of tutoring."

"For years, the majority of high-performing black and Hispanic middle school students in Wake County have been shut out of advanced math classes that would put them on track for top-flight colleges."

"The performance gap between low-income Connecticut students and their peers is the largest in the country, according to a state-appointed education committee."

"New Academy Canoga Park opened in 2005 as an unusual example of public-private collaboration using school bonds and other funding sources to combine a new school with low-income housing."

"The state learned this week that it was awarded $697 million in federal Race to the Top money, but it can't be used for hiring teachers. Half of that will be used for statewide initiatives. Most of the other half will go to districts with high poverty rates."

"About half of the money from Race to the Top, which is aimed at spurring education reform and innovation, will fund statewide efforts, and most of the rest will go to school districts with high poverty rates."

"Citizen Schools has been around since 1995, providing mostly after-school programs for low-income students at 37 school sites across the country. In Boston, the nonprofit offered an extended school day similar to the programs starting in Oakland, doubling proficiency rates..."

"Low-income college students who rely on New Jersey's popular Tuition Aid Grant program to help pay their tuition bills will see their aid checks slashed by nearly 8 percent as they return to campus for the new school year, state officials said."

"The D.C. mayoral race is deeply split on most issues, but everyone agrees on one thing: We must reduce the achievement gap between minority and white students. It is too bad, then, that the gap is such a mindless measure of school progress."