Preservice teachers must be prepared to address substantial student diversity and to educate all students to higher levels of understanding and competence. Many teacher educators are not competent to prepare new teachers in this area. Several approaches to handling institutional aspects of teacher education for diversity are discussed, noting…

This commentary reflects on findings from previous articles that reviewed trends in special education research in the United States, Norway, Botswana, Ecuador, Australia, and Turkey. It discusses the function, funding, and subject matter of special education research, on research on the education of special education teachers, and on research…

Outlines disparities in educational access, proposing reforms for equalizing opportunities to learn and examining social and economic challenges; reducing achievement gaps; inequality and achievement; the influence of funding on achievement (particularly among African American students); what matters in teaching (e.g., access to quality teaching,…

More economically disadvantaged students are attending college than ever before, yet only a small percentage of them actually graduate. As the author points out, helping students get into college is only half the battle. Along with financial support, these students need academic and social support, as well as supportive relationships. (BF)

Describes the major characteristics of elementary school education in rural China and the problems that confront rural educators. Discusses student-teacher relationship, classroom management strategies, principal and teacher roles, differences between urban and rural education, economic influences on rural education, and challenges for rural…

Assesses the distribution of poverty areas in the United States relative to public library outlet locations to begin discussion on the best possible public library funding and development policies that would serve individuals in poverty areas. Provides a comparative analysis of poverty relative to public library outlets using two common methods of…

The World Bank is a body that declares its vision to be a world free of poverty. It has long recognised that poverty and illiteracy are closely correlated and that illiteracy is a hindrance to economic and social development. The 180 or so governments that own the Bank have declared literacy to be a human right, so the Bank itself presumably also…

This study describes the meaning of program quality for a representative group of parents of children enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. Educators often conceptualized quality in terms of structural or process indicators; parents most often cited teacher experience and relationship to children. Families, like educators, emphasized…

The past two decades have witnessed a significant growth in the number of school improvement programs and in the accompanying efforts to evaluate such programs. Passage of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002 has intensified the need for evaluations to assess and understand the quality and value of educational interventions. Well over a…

The Exemplary Schools study at Howard University's Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR) was designed to aid the program in its goal toward developing and implementing a reform model that "overdetermines" success for all students. The Talent Development (TD) principle of "overdetermination of success" argues…

For the people of Bangladesh, mostly in rural areas, a new disaster is emerging. Two-thirds of the deep tube wells installed over the last three decades--roughly 3 million in total--contain arsenic concentrations above the permissible levels set by the WHO. These wells were installed to contribute to a secure and reliable drinking water supply,…

Educators have frequently expressed concern about young children who are exposed to known environmental risk factors associated with the development of chronic behavior problems (e.g., poverty, domestic violence, child maltreatment). Nevertheless, a societal commitment to address these environmental risk factors by identifying young children who…

Children will face many critical issues in the 21st century. Unfortunately, most of these issues are not new and have remained the same from previous years. Millions of children lack safe, affordable, quality child care and early childhood education while their parents work. Seven and one-half million children are at home alone without…

In 2001, a 3-month course in human rights based on critical inquiry was offered to 8th graders in a slum area of Santo Domingo. The students' attitudes, behaviors and knowledge of human rights principles were measured before and after the course. The curriculum focused on international principles and entrenched local problems such as…

This working paper considers ways to tackle the critical issue of early drop-out and under-achievement of children at school. It draws on evidence of the benefits of early childhood programmes to children's learning and success in school. It particularly examines how well-designed early childhood programmes can effectively address poverty and…