High Risk Children in Schools offers a way for psychologists and educators to see and talk about the growing population of "at-risk" children--those likely to fail at formal schooling--while helping to redefine the relationship between schools and families. Using systems theory and developmental psychology, the authors present a new framework for the study and education of children who are at-risk. This framework--the Contextual Systems Model--creates a dialogue between the child and schooling through which meaning, goals and experiences are shared and accepted. Through this process, schools as contexts for development become forces for reducing risk.