Both educational vouchers and class size reduction are high-profile proposals for improving education. While the body of research on vouchers is small and unconvincing, the research on smaller classes is abundant and compelling. Researchers have been able to compare the impact of both of these policy alternatives on student performance. Their…

Although the number of urban Catholic schools has declined in recent years, Nativity model middle schools, first developed by the Jesuits over 35 years ago, have appeared throughout the nation to address the need for effective alternative education for urban children placed at risk. The present study compares the effectiveness of two types of…

The Educational Priorities Panel carried out a study of the first year of the class size reduction program for grades K-3 in the New York City public schools by visiting five schools throughout the city and interviewing the principal and at least two teachers involved in implementing the program at each school. In all, 17 interviews were…

Inner-city youth are at high risk for dropping out of high school. Within this article, risk factors associated with dropout and strategies for effective prevention and intervention are reviewed. An example of a school-based drop-out prevention program is highlighted. The FUTURES Program is a school-based drop-out prevention program designed to…

Much continues to be written about the failure of U.S. schools to provide a quality education for at-risk urban students. Private Nativity model schools have been instituted in response to the need to provide quality education at the middle school level for such students. As the number of these and other alternative middle schools increases, a…

The use of recent college graduates as volunteer teachers has increased in recent years with the growth of the Teach for America program and alternative middle schools for at-risk children from low income homes. Very few studies to date have investigated the effects of the use of such teachers on student learning and engagement in school. The…

Examines four types of kindergarten programs (developmental, multiage, full-day, and lower class size) to determine which best accommodates developmental differences while enhancing youngsters' readiness for formal schooling. Low-income, urban areas should implement full-day kindergarten programs and smaller classes in first through third grades.…