Four literacy experts lay out the evidence in this compelling book, based on the well-known Home-School Study of Language and Literacy Development that inspired the landmark resource "Beginning Literacy with Language." Following a group of children living in low-income families from preschool through high school, the authors charted the students' outcomes using test data to reflect language and literacy skills, self-report data reflecting motivation and engagement in school, and interviews with students, teachers, and parents. Through the sobering discoveries made during this long-term study, readers will discover the critical importance of factors such as: (1) ongoing reading support in middle school and high school, especially in the area of comprehension; (2) academic and emotional support from teachers and parents; (3) the intermediate steps needed to achieve long-term goals; and (4) risk factors such as attending multiple schools, family disruption, and social-emotional difficulties. Readers will also see how the specific risk factor of poverty relates to achievement, motivation, and school climate, and how elements of a special education model--more student/teacher interaction, smaller class size, and student directed learning--could enhance the quality of educational programs serving all adolescents. With this enlightening, meticulously researched book, all education professionals will gain a better understanding of factors critical to school success--and learn how to develop programs that go beyond K-3 literacy to help adolescents reach their full potential. Following an About the Authors section, a Foreword (Timothy Shanahan and Cynthia R. Shanahan) and a Preface, this book contains eight chapters: (1) The Ever-Narrowing Path to School Success; (2) Closing the Literacy Achievement Gap and Promoting Reading for Learning: Two Challenges; (3) Early Language and Literacy Skills and Later Reading Comprehension: Literacy Predicts Literacy; (4) Continuities in Literacy, Discontinuities in Outcomes: Middle and High School; (5) Motivational and Scholastic Resources that Predict Academic Success; (6) Different Motivational Characteristics in Learners: The Carrot or the Stick?; (7) Projections of Triumph and Frustration; and (8) Lessons Learned and Lessons Needed: Seeking the Missing Puzzle Pieces. References and an Index are also included.