The paper focusses on three aspects of our work with the urban poor: utilization of participatory research methodologies to elicit local knowledge in forms that do not require traditional education; building capacities to create active organized citizenry through catalysing Settlement Improvement Committees, which are representative bodies…

In addition to regular job duties, such as tree care, mulching, irrigation, and pesticide management, urban park workers have faced environmental changes due to drought, wildfires, and West Nile virus. They simultaneously have endured expectations to manage growing, diversifying park usage and limitations on career development. An integrated…

The field of education has become comfortable in its use of the construct urban to describe particular schools in particular metropolitan places. This article argues that the construct has come to signify not just place but also to denote particular meanings of "urban" populations. It analyzes how literary and social-scientific practices converged…

"Reading Girls" captures the voices and literacy experiences of a diverse group of urban adolescent girls. The author--an experienced researcher and middle school teacher--intertwines investigations of multiple literacies, technologies, race, class, gender, sexuality, and gender expression to provide a provocative look at what helps and what hurts…

Through the second half of the 1990s and into the early years of the 21st century, public attention to the plight of poor black Americans seemed to wane. There was scant media attention to the problem of concentrated urban poverty (neighborhoods in which a high percentage of the residents fall beneath the federally designated poverty line), little…

Urbanization almost invariably accompanies development, and the cities of India and China are experiencing spectacular increases in population. The concentration of millions of people in a small mass creates challenges for public policy, especially in the areas of basic infrastructure, public health, traffic congestion, and often law enforcement…

"Los misterios de Madrid" (1992) provides a burlesque novelistic portrayal of the changing capital city and its inhabitants in the early 1990s. Spanish writer Antonio Munoz Molina creates vignettes of Madrid's people and places while showing the capital as a destination for both foreign-born immigrants and provincial Spaniards alike. In…

An intensive consultation undertaken by the University of Winnipeg revealed that many residents--especially new Canadians and Aboriginal peoples living in the downtown neighbourhoods--face barriers to higher education, and for many the university was an unknown and unwelcoming territory. Winnipeg is home to the largest urban population of…

Learning cycles were developed in Brazil as an innovative project in order to address the needs and characteristics of the country's growing heterogeneous urban population. This new school model aims at reducing dropout rates and student failure as well as providing a non-interrupted school experience for diverse learners. In this article, the…

Winners and finalists for the annual Broad Prize for Urban Education have consistently outperformed peer districts serving similar student populations. What makes the difference? These districts consistently demonstrate a learning loop that influences the district's ability to learn, which ultimately influences student opportunities to learn.…

Compares urban dwellers' opinions about urban public schools with all demographic groups. Finds little difference between the two groups. (PKP)

Social workers in urban areas attempt to carry out the profession's commitment to social change and social justice amid growing inequality, racial polarization, and a physical environment that reflects fears and antipathy toward poor people who reside there. The authors argue that changing urban conditions have prompted a need for innovative…

Presents first phase of Project REACH (Risk Behavior Is Adolescence: Prediction and Prevention), school-based project aimed at identifying factors associated with risk and resiliency in urban African American youth, and evaluating role of school-based adolescent health centers for this population. Identifies methodological challenges and discusses…

This is a report of an urbanization program for rural Columbians who migrate to the cities. Projects are described which are intended to improve employment opportunities and the organization of marketing systems. (SA)

Project Safety Net identifies low-income urban frail elderly and provides comprehensive geriatric assessment and referral. During 8-month period, 814 older persons were screened including high proportions who were widowed (51%) and who lived alone (66%). Effectiveness of program remains to be determined in randomized clinical trials. (Author/NB)