Recruiting, preparing, and retaining high quality secondary mathematics and science teachers are three of the most critical problems in the nation's urban schools that serve a vast majority of children from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Although the factors contributing to these problems are complex, one area that has caught…

This dissertation evaluates the impact of elementary school policies on child health behaviors and obesity in the United States. Two chapters address nutrition policies, two chapters address physical activity policies, and a final chapter estimates the health care cost savings associated with a decline in childhood obesity prevalence. The use of…

In this article, I consider social class and reading performance, outline a non-categorical approach to reading disability, describe the reading intervention program we have developed for older low-progress readers and seek to demonstrate how students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds can, and do, make substantial progress when offered…

This article examines school response to bullying and youth aggression in upper/middle-class and low socioeconomic neighborhoods, and the feasibility of successfully implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in schools located in impoverished communities. The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program is one of the few programs that has proven…

Research Findings: Research suggests that early care and education programs are most effective when they include strong components of family involvement. The Center for the Study of Social Policy recommended that early care and education programs build family-centered practices to strengthen families and reduce the incidence of child abuse and…

This article includes descriptions of a process used to conduct practice-based research syntheses and the manner in which synthesis findings are used to inform and evaluate early childhood intervention practices. The main focus of a practice-based research synthesis is the unbundling of an intervention practice to identify those practice…

This document reports on the second in a series of hearings on the reauthorization of expiring federal elementary and secondary education programs. Corporate business leaders presented their views on the reauthorization of Chapter 1. Five witnesses, representing manufacturing, education programs funded under the Education Improvement and…

Described is a federally funded summer program for 139 disadvantaged 5- and 6-year-old children. Preparation and planning aspects (including the proposal, objectives, and preservice training) are reviewed. The program is said to emphasize methods for implementing individualized instruction. Discussed and evaluated are inservice training…

Even in early grades, a large gap in skills exists between students from economically advantaged and disadvantaged families. Evidence suggests that a substantial share of this skills gap emerges during the summer months, when school is not in session. Children from disadvantaged families experience greater losses in skills during summer vacations…

This study examined three federally supported programs that utilize Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences in the identification of giftedness in economically disadvantaged and minority group youth. Following an extensive review of the literature, three chapters examine each program in detail. Each chapter first sets the identification…

Summarizes rationale for early childhood educational intervention efforts and describes the Carolina Abcedarian Project: a longitudinal, early educational program providing supplemental preschool experiences designed to prevent the cumulative and progressive decline in intellectual and socially adaptive behavior shown by children from extreme…

A group of nine Filipino children (ages five to nine) from disadvantaged backgrounds received training in higher level cognitive thinking skills and was compared to a control group that received no training. The training program was based on Benjamin Bloom's cognitive levels of thinking. Students receiving the training showed better performance on…

Evaluation of an instrumental enrichment program with 80 gifted children (ages 10-12) from culturally disadvantaged backgrounds and a follow-up study 4 years later showed: (1) generalization effects on verbal and nonverbal thinking tasks, and (2) durability of effects on thinking tasks and broad generalization in school achievement. (Author/DB)

Policymakers nationwide must decide how to best invest in education and related opportunities, such as out-of-school-time programs targeting youth and early-childhood education programs. In this paper, we review the costs, benefits, and costs and benefits relative to one another for one alternative type of investment: youth programs that are…

This study examines whether high-quality after-school programs operating in high-poverty communities improve the academic, social, and behavioral outcomes of participating students. The study compared students who regularly participated in high-quality after-school programs to students who regularly spent time with no adult supervision after…