The transition from high school to adult life is an exciting time for many young people. Youth from high poverty backgrounds, however, are considered at-risk for a host of unfavorable outcomes including academic failure, school dropout, drug abuse, unemployment and incarceration. These adolescents are more likely than their more affluent peers to have known hunger, violence, unsafe neighborhoods, abuse and neglect (Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Their schools are another impoverished facet of their lives. African American, Hispanic, and Native American youth are more likely than their Asian American or white counterparts to attend predominately minority schools with limited resources and to live in neighborhoods where poverty is concentrated (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2005; Losen and Orfield, 2002). In this paper, the authors describe the devastating effects poverty can have on families and youth--in particular, those who are members of ethnically and culturally diverse groups and those with a disability. They discuss how the challenges presented by poverty and race impact on the educational experiences of these young people and finally, they suggest promising practices that encompass community and educational funding efforts, high school reform and restructuring, curricular and instructional modifications and school-family-community collaboration, as derived from the research and practice literature.