Every successful organization needs a driver, a leader who keeps it focused, hones its vision and nurtures it as
a way of developing and maximizing its potential. For aha! Process, Inc., that person is its founder, Dr. Ruby
K. Payne.
Ruby has been involved with education since 1972 as a teacher, principal, consultant, and administrator. The lessons
learned during those years are the bedrock on which aha! Process, Inc. has been built. Her first book, A Framework
for Understanding Poverty, is a powerful tool for educators to use when dealing with children from poverty.
In her book, Ruby discusses the hidden rules that govern how each of us behaves in our social class. Those rules,
because they are hidden and only known to those within the group, prove to be a major stumbling block for individuals
trying to move to a new social class. Students from poverty often languish in classrooms run by members of middle
class because those are the rules that govern.
Ruby has developed this message for seminars and workshops as well. Speaking to approximately 200 groups a year,
Ruby is working to spread the word throughout North America that children of poverty need not suffer through an
educational system oblivious to their needs. More than educators are heeding her message. Judges, social workers,
ministers, community leaders and health professionals are all learning from Ruby's work.
A gifted synthesizer, Ruby presents her research and observations in such a way that many people experience "eye-opening
learning," enhancing their own abilities to help children of poverty succeed.
Ruby received her B.A. from Goshen (IN) College. She earned a master's degree from Western Michigan University
and her doctorate from Loyola (IL) University.
Ruby Payne founded aha! Process, Inc. (formerly RFT Publishing Co.) in 1996 and serves as its President. She lives
in Baytown, Texas, with her husband, Frank, and son, Tom.
Summary
A Framework for Understanding Poverty was Dr. Ruby Payne's first book and the first book RFT Publishing Co.
(now aha! Process, Inc.) published. It is fitting that the book and the company's history are intertwined. The
central goal of the company is educating people about the differences that separate economic classes and then teaching
them skills to bridge those gulfs. Framework is the method that delivers that message.
Ruby's thesis for Framework is simple. Individuals accustomed to personal poverty think and act differently from
people in the middle and upper economic classes. Most teachers today come from middle-class backgrounds. Economic
class differences, in an educational setting, often make both teaching and learning challenging. Too often, teachers
don't understand why a student from poverty is chronically acting out or is not grasping a concept even after repeated
explanations. At the same time, the student doesn't understand what he/she is expected to produce and why. Ruby
discusses at length the social cues or "hidden rules" that govern how we think and interact in society
-- and the significance of those rules in a classroom.
Framework also illuminates differences between generational poverty and situational poverty. Ruby explains the
"voices" that all of us use to project ourselves to the outside world and how poverty can affect those
voices. Through the use of realistic teaching scenarios, Ruby focuses attention on sources of support, or resources,
which might or might not be present in a student's life. Resources are important assets -- things like mental stability,
emotional support, and physical health -- and the more resources students have in their lives, the better able
they'll be to achieve their goals.
Framework is a teacher's book. It draws on years of experience in multiple school systems, along with a wide range
of academic positions. In this groundbreaking work Ruby Payne matter-of-factly presents the issues central to teaching
students from poverty, then takes a pivotal next step by offering proven tools educators can use immediately to
improve the quality of instruction in their classrooms.
