A three-level growth-curve model was applied to estimate perceived impact growth trajectories, using multi-year data from project and school surveys on outcome and program implementation collected from 59 sites and approximately 1165 participating schools in the Safe Schools and Healthy Students Initiative. Primary interest is to determine whether…

In England, parents make "choices" (in reality, "preferences") for the state-maintained secondary schools they wish their child to attend. If there are more applicants than places, the school's published admissions criteria are used to give priority to applicants. This article examines how school composition in London varies by…

Examines how much progress has been made in England and Wales towards meeting the needs of disadvantaged preschool children and to what extent the policies adopted so far may be considered to amount to a comprehensive strategy. (Author/MP)

Demonstrates typical concerns and problems associated with administering and maintaining a rural community Head Start center as exemplified by the Carbon County Child Development Program in Rawlins, Wyoming. Emphasizes the poverty of families served, lack of federal financial support, enrollment trends, and educational benefits of the Head Start…

Recent criticisms of Project Head Start have resulted in plans to improve program services and to expand in a more thoughtful manner to make the program more responsive to the needs of children and families. New directions include expansion below and beyond the ages previously served by Head Start. (SLD)

This paper, developed from the discussions of the Executive Session on Making the System Work for Poor Children, describes why the current human service system is failing to help many poor children, and maps out the dimensions of a system that could greatly improve these children's prospects. The argument is made that the current system's problems…

This third biennial "Map and Track" examines state-level efforts to promote positive outcomes for young children, including efforts to enhance children's economic security, healthy growth and development, and school readiness. The report provides information about the following types of state-funded child development and family support…

The Family Support Act of 1988 (FSA) provides a means by which federal, state, and local governments can work systematically and comprehensively to provide the support people need to escape poverty. The act mandates that appropriate educational services be made available to at least some welfare recipients as part of the effort to help those…

Discusses four trends in family life which are particularly affecting Head Start and other programs serving low-income families (1) feminization of poverty, (2) teenage parenting, (3) increasing number of employed mothers, and (4) increasing challenges to attaining economic self-sufficiency. Explores the implications of these trends for Head Start…

This report focuses on fatherhood in its profile of state efforts to develop comprehensive programs and policies for young children and families, presents indicators of child and family well-being, and describes state investments in young children and families. The report provides national and state indicators of fathers and fatherhood, and…