Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why Hardcover – May 24, 2016

A 5 Star Idea with a 4 Star Outcome The book Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why was written by Paul Tough in 2016 and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as a follow up to the research he conducted for his previous book How Children Succeed. As a teacher, the topics that everyone strives to accomplish is understanding how children succeed and being able to find ways to help them succeed. Based on a need to understand those aspects drew my attention to reading more in depth about it. With the rise in high stakes standardized testing, there is a modern obsession with raising students test scores instead of focusing on how to support children into exploring ways to be curious, optimistic, persistent and use self-control. Tough’s book is built around the idea that children in poverty struggle in school which results in lower test scores and affects students throughout their life, making it crucial for educators to understand the affects of growing up in adversity, especially since childhood poverty is on the rise. Since 2013, more than 51% of the nation’s children “fall below the federal government’s threshold for being low income, meaning they are eligible for free or subsidized school lunch” (p.1). After hitting this milestone, American public schools are now making a mission to help children in poverty succeed which is where Tough developed his 125 page book. Throughout Tough’s book there are 23 sections where he breaks down each topic. The sections are: adversity, strategies, skills, stress, parents, trauma, neglect, early intervention, attachment, home visiting, beyond the home, building blocks, discipline, incentives, motivation, assessment, messages, mindsets, relationships, pedagogy, challenge, deeper learning, and solutions. I love how these sections flow together seamlessly and build off of each other as more information is given to the reader. Tough begins by explaining how adversity affects student success from birth and moves into discussing the importance of non-cognitive skills like persistence, growth mindset and grit which is best learned through experience as opposed to explicit instruction. Tough states that “No child ever learned curiosity by filling out curiosity worksheets” (12). Throughout the book, Tough mentions the work of Deci and Ryan which stresses that non-cognitive abilities can be improved, but it involves more than simply rewards and punishments. He notes that education is not about overloading students with random standards based information, but creating excitement and drive to explore and experiment more, which can be a difficult task for students in poverty who need additional support. Tough explains that children who do not come from a home where they are able to form secure attachments to positive adults do not have the perseverance, grit or non-cognitive traits necessary to be successful. Character is developed in environments which children form secure attachments to teachers and caregivers, and are taught in ways that stimulate their autonomy and ability to solve problems. From this, he introduced ideas and suggestions for educators to help develop those skills within students. Tough mentions Deci and Ryan’s work by stating that the three basic human needs that need to be supported in the classroom are autonomy, competence and relatedness. By creating environments that promote these three feelings, students are more motivated and more successful. Overall throughout the book, Tough stresses the importance of the environment children are in whether it is at home or at school. New York Times said it best that Tough “Illuminates the extremes of American childhood: for rich kids, a safety net drawn so tight it’s a harness; for poor kids, almost nothing to break their fall.” Although students in poverty face many obstacles at home that challenge their ability to succeed in school, Tough mentions that the school environment needs to change. He closes out the book by stating that we need to change our policies, practices and way of thinking in order to help children succeed. As a teacher, we can provide 6 hours a day of a supporting environment starting at the age of 5, but what he also states is that the early years of a child’s life is when they are most impacted by adversity. Amounts of stress and a lack of serve and return interactions affects children starting at a young age. To me, it seems like the real issue surrounding this book is poverty throughout the United States. For a teacher, he gives many ways to help children succeed who grow up in adversity which is beneficial to know, but it seems like the best way to tackle the issue is to focus on decreasing poverty throughout the United States. Although I believe that every new teacher could benefit from reading about child development to understand how childhood environments affects children and learn best classroom strategies, I think this book is also suited for new parents to realize how important the early childhood environment is for their children. If you are interested in learning more about Tough’s point of view, his books are available on Amazon and at major bookstores with a retail price of $18.99.

Helping Children Succeed: What Works and WhyBook Review by: Carli Brown In our world, people have encountered many different experiences. These experiences that people have shape who they are today. As educators, we understand that our students will be diverse in many different ways: race, ethnicity, religion, age, and disability; however, we tend to forget that a child’s early life has a lot of influence on who they become. In this book, it not only talks about the “why,” but it also talks about the “how” behind educating students who come from low-income households. In this book, Helping Children Succeed: What Words and Why, Paul Tough attempts to answer a very simple question, that has a more complex answer. In his first book, he discusses children’s backgrounds and how these backgrounds affect their skill developments. After writing his previous book, so many people understood the research and began to ask the question, “What do we do?” In this book, he attempts to answer that question for educators, childcare workers and even parents. In a short 144 pages for 10 dollars, Tough published this book with Houghton Mifflin in 2016 to attempt to dive into different program’s ideologies and their success. In the end, he discusses the three things that will ultimately create change. Changing policies, changing practices, and changing our way of thinking. Throughout this book, Tough explains that a child’s environment in the early ages affects their non-cognitive skill development. These non-cognitive skills are more important to a child’s future success than academic skills they may learn later on in their lives. Tough gave many examples of different people who are not educators who were very successful in “teaching” these non-cognitive skills. He explains that, “ Maybe you can’t teach character the way you teach math, (Tough, 2016, p. 11). In all of the situations he researched, the adult did not use character words such as: grit, perseverance, or patience; the adult allowed the student to experience situations where they needed to develop these character traits. Tough discussed, in depth, how the environment of a child shapes them from age birth and on. The situations that a child experiences allows them to learn those character traits. Tough shows a lot of research to support a child fostering a growth mindset by putting them in situations where they have to show grit and perseverance. They can be put in these situations in life at home, and life at school. I really enjoyed Tough explaining the importance of relationships and pedagogy in changing a child’s life. Teaching a child more than academics. Tough explains the research from Deci and Ryan, researchers on rewards and incentives for children, that explains children’s three intrinsic motivations: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. For a teacher to allow those students to feel these things, educators can focus on two things: relationships and pedagogy. Tough goes on to explain that the relationships teachers have with their students either fosters that growth mindset, or allows judgemental feelings to settle in to a child’s mind. The way teachers talk and interact with students allows them to feel a certain way. They need to feel confident enough in a teacher’s classroom to make mistakes, and show some grit, when it comes to hard work. Tough states that, “ It’s that teachers have a critical and potentially transformative opportunity, when dealing with students who perceive school as a threatening place, to disarm those threats by changing the way they communicate,” (Tough, 2016, p. 86). Tough also discusses that the work teachers give their students must be meaningful and challenging. Boosting confidence and having a calm environment is important; but, once you have that positive environment, challenging students in a positive way gives them opportunities to learn how to problem solve, work together, and show some grit. This is called cooperative learning. “Giving students more autonomy in their learning meant- giving up control,” (Tough, 2016, p. 92). Tough explains that this model of learning is very beneficial for students, but may be more difficult for teachers because they have to give up control. I would give this book a 4.5 out 5 stars. The only critique I have for this book would be to add some practical ways to begin to create this calming environment for students. Projects and lessons that educators could work from that promote this positive environment for learning. After reading this book, I felt as if I could be more than a robot educator who develops students to succeed on a state test. There are two types of teachers, cognitive and non-cognitive teachers. I take a lot of pride in the way I build relationships with students, and the projects I give that may be challenging and outside of the box; therefore, this environment and these projects truly do help students succeed academically, as well as develop character traits. The actions and steps I take toward making sure my students feel safe and cared for, are the actions that create change in that child’s life. “…the trajectory that children’s lives follow can sometimes be redirected by things that might at first seem, to the adults in their lives, small and insignificant. The tone of a parent’s voice. The words a teacher writes on a Post-it note. The way a math class is organized. The extra time that a mentor or a coach takes to listen to a child facing a challenge. Those personal actions can create powerful changes, and those individual changes can resonate on a national scale,” (Tough, 2016, p. 113). Do the little things, for the little kids, so that when they become big kids, they have the opportunity to do big things. I would encourage every educator to read this book and truly have an open mind to see the students they are teaching, and the environment they are creating.

Terrific book that I thoroughly enjoyed. Here are a few things that I especially appreciated as a parent and speech-language pathologist. First, Paul goes into depth about intrinsic motivation and why external rewards generally don't work in the long run. So true! Second, as a university professor, I really liked the description of the academic mindset. I got some great ideas for helping my first-generation university students have a stronger feeling of belonging in my classes. This book is well worth the money and I recommend it very highly.

This book offers a clear overview of current knowledge in this field. It is a quick read, and very clearly written. Tough's main conclusion, that the role of the environment is pivotal in the success of children, is compelling, and he builds his argument very cohesively.I only gave it 4/5 because (a) no references are given in the book itself - you can find them on the associated website, however, and (b) for me, I already knew much of the information provided, as much of it has already been discussed through other media.However, it was great to have such a comprehensive overview, which most likely will serve as a good reference / refresher. I bought this partly out of own interest, but also as prep for beginning teacher training. It did refresh my knowledge and improve my confidence in my own beliefs.

Compelling book detailing a number of studies around childhood learning- primarily around disadvantaged children. I enjoyed it although I hadn't realised it would focus mainly on disadvantaged groups. Mainly American studies. Still raises many interesting points worth taking on board.

Interesting but mainly written around disadvantaged children.

This book wastes no words. It is a concise look at exactly what it says, "what works and why". An essential read for anyone who works with young people.

Although I’m in Canada and focus on post secondary learning, I still found all of the material insightful and informative. I will consider how to take some of the information and knowledge provided in my own educational approaches. Let’s put more autonomy, competence and relatedness into our teaching!