Available today, Paul Tough’s provocative and profoundly hopeful new book, HOW CHILDREN SUCCEED, will reverse decades of thinking, solving the mysteries of why some children succeed and others fail. What if, for decades, we’ve emphasized the wrong skills and used the wrong strategies to move children toward success in school and in life? Sure, intelligence matters, Paul Tough writes, but it is just one part of the success equation.   Tough introduces readers to the psychologists, neuroscientists, and economists who are solving the mysteries of character, exploring traits like perseverance, optimism, grit, curiosity, and conscientiousness.  How do these traits develop? And why are they such powerful predictors of success? Through the engrossing, inspiring stories of children seemingly on the brink of failure, Tough investigates questions at the heart of the success equation: How do you turn a D student into a national chess champion? How are affluent parents preventing their children from developing grit? What simple message helps girls improve their math scores by 10 percentage points? Why does the United States produce more college dropouts than any other country and what can we do about it? This rich and provocative dispatch will not only vitally engage readers, it will change our understanding of childhood itself. Read an excerpt here. See Paul’s tour schedule here. Listen to Paul on NPR’s Morning Edition.  Like Paul on Facebook and follow him on Twitter for updates.  

Available today, Paul Tough’s provocative and profoundly hopeful new book, HOW CHILDREN SUCCEED, will reverse decades of thinking, solving the mysteries of why some children succeed and others fail.

What if, for decades, we’ve emphasized the wrong skills and used the wrong strategies to move children toward success in school and in life? Sure, intelligence matters, Paul Tough writes, but it is just one part of the success equation.  
Tough introduces readers to the psychologists, neuroscientists, and economists who are solving the mysteries of character, exploring traits like perseverance, optimism, grit, curiosity, and conscientiousness.  How do these traits develop? And why are they such powerful predictors of success?
Through the engrossing, inspiring stories of children seemingly on the brink of failure, Tough investigates questions at the heart of the success equation: How do you turn a D student into a national chess champion? How are affluent parents preventing their children from developing grit? What simple message helps girls improve their math scores by 10 percentage points? Why does the United States produce more college dropouts than any other country and what can we do about it?
This rich and provocative dispatch will not only vitally engage readers, it will change our understanding of childhood itself.

Read an excerpt here.

See Paul’s tour schedule here.

Listen to Paul on NPR’s Morning Edition. 

Like Paul on Facebook and follow him on Twitter for updates.  

Tags: paul tough how children succeed whatever it takes youth nonfiction lit books available now