The incarceration rate in the United States has increased dramatically in the past half century. In 1970, about 100 out of every 100,000 individuals in the United States were confined in prison. Today, that number is five times as large, with nearly 500 out of every 100,000 individuals confined in prison. Currently, an estimated 2.7 million children--or 1 in 28 of those under the age of 18--have a biological mother or father who is incarcerated in a local jail, state prison, or federal prison. And, given that most individuals are eventually released from confinement, back to their families and communities, even more children will experience the incarceration of a parent over the course of their lives. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study--a longitudinal study of nearly 5,000 U.S. children born in urban areas around the turn of the century--show that, by age 9, about one-third of children experience the incarceration of a biological father and about one-tenth of children experience the incarceration of a biological mother. Therefore, especially in urban and socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, parental incarceration represents an important obstacle for a large number of children and for the educational institutions they attend. This article discusses what teachers, principals, and counselors, who regularly interact with children of incarcerated or formerly incarcerated parents, should know about this particular student population.