Roberta Wollons is Visiting Professor at the Center for American Studies at Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.

• Acknowledgments IntroductionRoberta Wollons Part I: Historical Public Discourse 1. Child Saving in Modern America 1870s-1990sHamilton Cravens 2. Status Offenders, Criminal Offenders, and Children "At Risk" in Early Twentieth-Century Juvenile CourtSteven Schlossman and Susan Turner 3. Structuring Risks: The Making of Urban School OrderJoseph L. Tropea Part II: Reconceptualizing Children at Risk 4. Making Controversy: Who's "At Risk?"Michelle Fine 5. Children's Legal Rights? A Historical Look at a Legal ParadoxMichael Grossberg 6. Inventing the Problem Child: "At Risk" Children in the Child Guidance Movement of the 1920s and 1930sMargo Horn Part III: Contemporary Public Discourse 7. Children at Risk: Students in Special EducationAlan Gartner and Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky 8. Language and Ethnicity as Factors in School Failure: The Case of Mexican-AmericansPatricia Gandara 9. Adolescent Pregnancy and Child SupportP. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Maris A. Vinovskis 10. Reversing the Poverty Cycle with Job-Based EducationRobert I. Lerman 11. Public Policy and Child Care: The Question of QualityJudith D. Auerbach 12. Public Policy and Child ProtectionJames Garbarino and Kathleen Kostelny Contributors Index

"This is an excellent example of sound multi-disciplinary research. It should be very useful for those in the fields of educational policy and history, sociology, political science, government planning, welfare reform, child development, juvenile justice, and family policy." — Barbara Beatty, Wellesley College"So much of what has been published on education for this population has been focused on curriculum and pedagogy. We have needed a good exploration of public policy issues, which is the precise emphasis of this book. It is crucial to situate the discussion in an historical context." — Barry M. Franklin, Kennesaw State College