A child's early years play a significant role in determining their chances later on in life, including their chances of social mobility. But the poorest children are already 11 months behind their peers when they start at primary school, with efforts to close the gap stalling, and evidence that the gap has started to widen once again in recent…

This volume explores whether the nation's early childhood programs are boosting child development and preparing children for schooling and proposes reforms that would improve the programs. The volume contains contrasting papers on the success of Head Start, Early Head Start, and home-visiting programs and on policies that would improve these three…

"Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of Life" presents research findings on the effects of early childhood programs and practices in the first decade of life and their implications for policy development and reform. Leading scholars in the multidisciplinary field of human development and in early childhood learning…

These papers, prepared by graduate students at Texas Woman's University as part of an internship program, are presented in three sections: (1) overview and administration of federal programs; (2) Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and (3) some procedural considerations in the development of federal programs. The specific topics…

This publication examines the process of networking, which is defined here as a framework to provide technical support between and among professionals. The process of networking is explored over a 7-year period as it served directors of the Midwest Teacher Corps, one of 12 networks established on a geographical basis by the Teacher Corps Program,…

This volume examines two-generation interventions as models that represent a new approach to assisting families in poverty. Five of the chapters examine current programs--their design, characteristics of participants, implementation issues, and in one case, evaluation outcomes. Other chapters offer a research and policy context for this…

Five papers which criticize Charles Murray's book, "Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980" are presented in this report. In general, the papers dispute Murray's thesis that the poor did not benefit from social policies but were, instead, substantially harmed by these programs. The papers (and their authors) are: (1)…

This 2-volume set contains 10 papers, 5 in each volume, that review and evaluate findings from the Youth Research and Technical Assistance Project, whose purpose was not only to explore studies and evaluations related to youth training and employment programs but also to provide a broader synthesis of evidence, findings, and research from related…

A survey which gave respondents an opportunity to react to the evaluation requirements of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA), Chapter 1, was distributed, in June 1988, to local and state educational agencies, universities, and Technical Assistance Centers throughout the United States. Part I of the survey contained 14…

The accomplishments and impact of 10 Youth Advocacy Teacher Corps projects in 1978-79 are highlighted in this publication. Section 1 presents an overview of the Teacher Corps from 1965 to 1982 and reviews the development, since 1976, of the 10 Youth Advocacy Projects (YAP). The objectives of the projects (to promote effective educational responses…

This publication contains ten papers designed to show relationships between job creation and vocational education. Information is presented regarding three areas: (1) national and state perspectives of job creation, (2) examples of how specific vocational education disciplines impact in the job creation process, and (3) case studies of job…

A healthy economy is the best offense against poverty, but economic growth alone cannot close the wide gap between the poverty rates of minorities and whites. This collection examines the socioeconomic status of racial and ethnic minorities, their experiences with poverty, and the effects of federal social policies toward minority groups from 1787…

Fifteen papers commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education's School Finance Project are contained in this volume. The papers examine the changing dimensions of the federal-state partnership in education. The volume is organized into four sections. The first section is devoted to state educational policy concerns, including various state…

These case studies and analytic essays are intended to give the reader a richer understanding of when and how top managers succeed or fail in their efforts to use performance management (PM) systems to improve the functioning of federal, state, and local government in the United States (U.S.). The question mark in the title is intended to remind…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…