Playful Learning Landscapes seeks to transform everyday spaces into playful learning opportunities to maximize "the other 80 percent" of time that children spend outside school. It lies at the intersection of the growing Child Friendly City movement and a global development agenda that calls for access to high-quality early childhood…

In this study we explore the experiences of new teachers in urban schools at the intersection of three major policy agendas--alternative certification, new teacher retention, and the small schools movement. We examine alternatively certified teachers' perceptions of the rewards and challenges of teaching in small schools, the support neophyte…

Franklyn G. Jenifer, Chancellor of the Board of Regents of Higher Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, proposes residential urban schools for at-risk inner city youth. These "urban academies" would remove those who are most vulnerable from the destructive ghetto environment and totally involve them in the educational environment. (FMW)

Presents a method of determining environmental improvement by calculating a ratio of the measurement of environmental quality before and after an improvement project. Applies the method for four case studies in South Wales. (TW)

Criticizes the development of current Federal policy for dealing with the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic based on the individual responsibility of minority group victims. Argues that AIDS should be combatted through a materialist-realist perspective that acknowledges the influence of social and environmental pressures. (FMW)

Improving high school graduation rates has in recent years become a growing concern to state and local policymakers for a number of reasons: the reduced economic opportunities and increased social costs for individuals without a high school diploma; the economic consequences, such as reduced tax revenues; and the need for more college graduates.…

This symposium investigates the condition of urban Latinos and Blacks two decades after reports by the Kerner, Eisenhower, and Katzenbach commissions recommended sweeping reforms in urban policy. Twenty-nine researchers, politicians, and policymakers analyze the condition of the urban poor and the role of minorities in forming policies. The…

This essay discusses impediments to student success in today's urban schools and recommends solutions for the future. The following problems are covered: (1) overcrowded classrooms; (2) student behavioral problems; (3) lack of instructional materials; (4) outdated facilities; (5) inadequate school library collections; (6) low teacher salaries; (7)…

As North America increasingly becomes an urban society, questions surface as to the role and direction of environmental education programs. Such programs may hold potential in abating some of the problems inherent with contemporary inner city youth. Several successful on-going programs are reviewed. (Author/CW)

This second volume of a four-volume evaluation of the 1988-89 New York City School Community Education Program (also known as the Umbrella Program) comprises reports evaluating nine innovative elementary school projects on social, ethnical, and environmental studies, four of which included staff development workshops. Evaluation sources included…

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) increasingly is being used to study and address environmental justice. This article presents the results of a cross-site case study of four CBPR partnerships in the United States that researched environmental health problems and worked to educate legislators and promote relevant public policy. The…

This report on the educational concerns of Hispanic Americans is part of a four-part study of minority education in the United States by the National Education Association (NEA). Data were gathered from site visits to a wide variety of urban schools and programs, and from the testimony of representatives of community organizations, the U.S. Bureau…

In outlining a national strategy for environmental education in India, this document describes some current and future efforts of the Center for Environmental Education at Ahmedabad. It provides an historical account of India's environmental problems and its recent efforts at addressing those problems in light of rapid developmental efforts and…

This paper describes how four institutions of higher education, local businesses, and community leaders cooperated to work for change in University Heights (Newark, New Jersey). Initial sections describe the community and the economic and social changes it has seen in recent decades. These sections also review how the four institutions established…

Reviews research on the impact of efforts to achieve school desegregation. Argues that increased interracial exposure in schools and neighborhoods triggers racial and ethnic conflict. Reviews recent research and asserts that school desegregation significantly raised rates of protests against busing. (CFR)