Early colleges are intended to serve students from populations typically underrepresented in college and to prepare those students with the academic skills and dispositions to succeed in college. Another important attribute of early colleges is that they help students earn college credit during their high school years. Many such early colleges are…

Depicts adolescents' lively, voluntary involvement in constructive alternatives to the counterproductive teenage ventures filling the morning's newspapers. Successful youth organizations adopt a firm and flexible approach, empower rather than infantilize youths, and have clear goals and membership rules. Many out-of-school settings share features…

Purpose-centered education model identifies broad purpose at each learning stage enabling students to apply their academic learning to meet external challenges. The purpose should involve a socially useful outcome and focus on a substantive knowledge area that is developmentally enriching. Teaching should involve five dimensions of knowledge and…

A developmentally appropriate curriculum can never be standardized in a multicultural community. Thoughtful teachers can use child development principles to make the new context of school meaningful, to attach new kinds of learning to what children have already achieved, and to safeguard children's growing self-image and self-confidence as their…

True educational reform will come about only when we replace the reigning psychometric educational psychology with a developmentally appropriate one. The developmental approach is superior regarding its conception of the learner, the learning process, the information to be acquired, and educational goals. Includes 14 references. (MLH)

The National Governors' Association Task Force on Readiness presented policy recommendations to help at-risk children prepare for school and meet new educational standards. Suggested state initiatives include various outreach and preschool programs for low-income families, assistance with basic skills and teacher training, and incentives and…

High performing schools for young adolescents are developmentally responsive, academically excellent, and socially equitable. Necessary reform elements include professional development, technical assistance, coordination, networks, data-driven decision making, enlightened leadership, improved teacher preparation, a well-informed public, and…