America's schools were founded on the principle that a democratic nation needed informed, active, and knowledgeable citizens in order to realize the promise of democracy. Over the last 400 years, we have lost our way. Today's schools do a poor job of preparing our students to be engaged, open-minded, and purposeful participants in a system of…

An initiative to coordinate early learning programs across a major city in the Midwestern United States was undertaken in 2013. The opinions of teachers regarding effects on instruction and children were not included in the development and implementation of the program. This omission is important because multiple scholars have pointed to the…

The U.S. Department of Education's Promise Neighborhood Initiative (DCPNI) is one of the Obama administration's major antipoverty initiatives and a core strategy of the White House's Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. It is intended to improve educational outcomes by creating a continuum of school readiness, academic services, and family and…

This descriptive study explores the perceptions of and preferences for leadership development by students enrolled in a comprehensive urban agriculture program. A total of 284 students from the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences participated in the study. The results of the study showed that the average respondent was involved in a…

With 55 percent of the 53,400 students on free and reduced lunch programs, a 78 percent mobility rate, and a diverse population, Columbus City Schools (CCS) in Ohio faces the challenges common to other urban districts. In spite of the challenges, CCS has made a long-term commitment to engage students in high-quality physical education and physical…

Data are presented from structured interviews conducted with 340 youths from the Monroe-Pratt neighborhood of Baltimore (Maryland). Interviews reveal lifestyle and community environmental factors that increase the risks of youth experiencing failure in educational and occupational attainment. Suggestions are made for improving the educational…

The largest single federal investment in schooling, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (P.L. 103-382) has provided supplementary resources to schools with large numbers of low-income students throughout the past three decades. In 1994 the program was reauthorized according to the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA), which…

This booklet is a guide to setting up a formal mentor program in the community. Mentor programs can take many shapes, whether sponsored through the schools, by businesses, or by churches and volunteer agencies. Like any operation, a volunteer mentor program has various management functions. The planning function sets a mission statement, goals,…

Schools can do a much better job of educating students, especially low income and minority students, if they draw on information already available and replicate educational programs that have been successful. Suggestions are made for replicating proven programs. (SLD)

This guide is designed to help funders and government and nongovernment agencies understand the types of programs with the greatest potential to improve the lives of some of American society's most disadvantaged members. Much of the material is drawn from "Nurturing Young Black Males: Challenges to Agencies, Programs, and Social Policy,"…

The first ten New York City Beacons began operation in 1991 as a result of the recommendation of a commission appointed by then-mayor David N. Dinkins. Richard Murphy, commissioner of youth services, led the development and implementation. Michele Cahill served as a consultant in the design and created the Youth Development Institute (YDI) as part…

Nearly one million adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 are victims of violent crimes each year, and this has been true since at least 1985. Children are becoming involved in violence at ever younger ages, both as victims and as perpetrators. The threat of firearms is the greatest concern in adolescent violence, but no single factor can be…

In "Abbott v. Burke" the New Jersey Supreme Court determined that the state constitutional guarantee to a thorough and efficient education must include a supplemental program designed to wipe out the deficits poor children bring with them to school. In this report, the Education Law Center draws on educational research to identify the…

The Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities (SDFSC) Act of 1986 provides funding to school districts to supplement local efforts to eliminate drug and alcohol use by their students. In 1995-96, its ninth year of funding, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) (Texas) received $363,720 from the SDFSC grant plus a sum carried over from…

Recently developed school programs for African-American male students give strong gender and cultural identity; strengthen social skills, discipline, and self-esteem; and redefine the "manly" African American. Some programs have faced legal and political obstacles. Early evidence of modest success is clear, but the long-term efficacy is…