This Digest reviews the historical background on grade retention and promotion and examines research, criteria, and policies concerning these options. The historical overview points out changes in attitudes toward mastery-based promotion and social promotion practices in the schools. Valid and invalid approaches to research on grade retention are…

Recent Supreme Court rulings are motivating employers to take actions reflecting their compliance with federal laws protecting against sexual harassment. Three key steps employers can take to counter sexual harassment are as follows: develop a strong company policy specifying outlawed behaviors and penalties for their demonstration; establish…

This digest reviews a variety of the policies, programs, and practices to prevent youth violence so that local leaders can base decisions on the experience of other communities. The effectiveness of school violence prevention initiatives is increased by public policies that reinforce their message and by community programs that attempt to prevent…

Suggestions for early childhood educators on how to provide developmentally appropriate practices and teaching methods are offered. Suggestions concern: (1) making decisions about entrance and placement; (2) evaluating a program's accomplishment of goals; (3) planning and individualizing curriculum and instruction; and (4) promoting appropriate…

This digest summarizes the effective bilingual strategies described in a commissioned paper, "Transforming Education for Hispanic Youth: Exemplary Practices" by Anne Turnbaugh Lockwood and Walter G. Secada, and the recommendations of the Hispanic Dropout Project (U.S. Department of Education) for transforming bilingual education at all…

This digest examines the spread of mentoring in the United States, obstacles to realizing the potential of mentoring as a vehicle of reform, needed research, and selected issues of policy and practice. While the education community understands that mentors have a positive effect on teacher retention, the question of what mentors should do, what…

In response to the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act and its amendments, most urban schools have created special programs for homeless students to help them succeed academically and to offer them access to social services and a safe and stress-free environment. Recruitment, enrollment, and service coordination policies are adapted to the…

This document argues that current efforts to establish a national test to measure progress toward the nation's educational goals will inhibit, rather than advance, educational reform. Proponents of a national test have asked for single, primarily multiple-choice tests, or for performance assessments to measure progress toward the nation's…