Framework for Understanding Poverty: a Cognitive Approach

2014 Revere Awards - Golden Lamp Winner

When viewed through an economic lens, poverty can be defined as an absence of resources. Since 1995, Framework's basic premise is that the middle-class understandings of those who work with children and adults in poverty are often ill-suited for connecting with and helping people build up resources and rise out of poverty. Now, 18 years and 1.5 million copies later, Framework: A Cognitive Approach has been revised, updated and expanded. The 5th edition features an enhanced chapter on instruction and achievement; greater emphasis on the thinking, community, and learning patterns involved in breaking out of poverty; plentiful citations, new case studies, and data: more details findings about interventions, resources, and causes of poverty, and a review of the outlook for people in poverty and those who work with them.

Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D., is a career educator, internationally requested speaker, bestselling author, and founder and president of aha! Process, Inc. She is an expert on the mindsets of economic class and on crossing socioeconomic lines. Dr. Payne's company has published more than 150 books, DVDs, and related materials.