In the longest and most closely argued of recent Ingersoll lectures, William Montague reaches this conclusion: “The third and highest prospect for eternity is that personal life, at least, not only goes on growing but wins to some strange mystic union with that greater Life in which it has its little being. Precious and indispensable for value as personality appears, there is about it something tragically wanting; and as in every finite thing, but more acutely, a sort of wound that cries for healing. If that vaguely longed-for supplement to our being could come, and come without the annihilation of such being as we already have, then would eternity hold out to us the prospect of something unimaginably more than mere survival.” Readers who follow him to these final words will experience unusual intellectual stimulation.

With the greatest income inequality in the world, the nations of the Americas face the challenge of consolidating democratic regimes, improving productivity, and reducing poverty as they enter the twenty-first century. Educational opportunity is central to this threefold challenge.

The distinguished contributors to this volume discuss current policies and issues in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and the United States, as they explore the nature of the relationship among education, poverty, and inequality. The book provides impressive evidence linking school participation, the quality of education for poor children in the Americas, and the impact of education policies to promote social justice. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, the book addresses the following sets of questions: How does the education system reproduce social inequality? How does education provide opportunities for social mobility? What are the causal processes involved? What is the direction of this causation?

Linking theory and practice, the authors explore the dynamic relationship between educational change and social change, and weigh the significance of their findings for the educational chances of poor children.