Several tools exist that school districts can use to help solve current or potential problems in compensatory programs. The school district should begin by conducting (1) a study to determine the extent to which students are served by multiple compensatory programs, (2) on-site observations of the programs, and (3) a review of the curriculum and…

Functioning-level testing has been proposed as an alternative to grade-level testing for the evaluation of compensatory educational programs in which students score well below their own grade level. Data from two studies, however, suggest an adverse impact on program evaluation from the adoption of functioning-level testing. Two compensatory…

Argues that the nature-nurture controversy, stemming from Arthur Jensen's hereditarian analysis of group differences in measured intelligence, presupposes a false dichotomy and a conception of the environment that is too narrow. Discusses effective features of compensatory education programs, including supplemental instruction, testing,…

This is a collection of four papers concerned with improvement of Chapter 1 programs in the northwestern United States. The first paper (Steve Murray) describes a program improvement support model presently in use. It summarizes the process of program adoption in five northwestern states and describes differences in state context that have…

The terms "educationally disadvantaged" and "compensatory education" are defined in many ways. "Compensation" implies a deficit which must be overcome, but there is little agreement on where the deficiency is located--in the child, his family or home, his school, or all of these. In general, it is agreed that school…

The purpose of this report is to review the actions of the United States Office of Education (OE) in the administration and operation of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the 1978 Education Amendments. The report describes the changes Congress mandated OE to implement and examines OE's response to these specific…

Explains differences between Title I and Chapter I in four primary areas: targeting of funds; fiscal requirements; program design, implementation, and evaluation; and accountability. Argues that the changes significantly diminish the federal role in compensatory education, allow for abuse in implementation of the program, and may cause serious…

Argues that special and segregating programs for students having difficulty learning focus on within-child deficits, keep students apart from their peers, and lower teacher expectations. The authors make a case for urban schools and teacher preparation that enhance skills in dealing with diverse learners and encourage inclusion. (GR)

Briefly sketches some of the circumstances and beliefs that led to the institution of tracking for managing student diversity. Suggests how these social, political, and historical factors can continue to sustain deleterious tracking practices. Offers some promising directions for altering ability grouping and tracking. (PS)

Describes how exclusive reliance on traditional achievement measures as indices of intellectual potential, and the ensuing competition among nursing schools for the most academically able students, has created a caste system that has left the task of educating the "less able" to Black collegiate institutions. (Author/GC)

Intended for teachers and administrators who work with Chapter 1, Education Consolidation and Improvement Act programs, this report describes elements identified by researchers as essential features of successful schooling. After discussing the impact of schools and teachers and the interrelatedness of their effectiveness, it presents 13…

This report summarizes the results of achievement tests administered in the Spring of 1981 to students in court-identified minority-isolated schools in San Diego, California. An introduction outlines the court order and describes the tests and the participating schools. In 28 of the 36 subject-grade level instances analyzed, student achievement on…

This report examines the effectiveness of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in meeting the special needs of underachieving students and describes the probable consequences of proposed cuts in Title I aid in seventeen southern States and Puerto Rico. A general description of Title I and the Federal role in educating the…

Reviews the background, intent, and provisions of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA), a law designed to simplify and consolidate 30 Federal elementary and secondary education assistance programs. Asserts that significant deregulation will not occur under ECIA, and that the Act will create as many problems as it solves. (GC)

This paper summarizes reports of various Ohio committees and offices that have studied attendance and dropout problems and have developed strategies and recommendations for dealing with them. Those strategies and recommendations are provided along with the following: (1) a statement of the problem and its scope; (2) a list of roles and…