On September 27, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty. To this commission, he delegated the responsibility of making a comprehensive study and appraisal of the current economic situations and trends in American rural life. In fulfilling this responsibility, the National Advisory Commission…

The unknowns about nonmetropolitan Southern poverty are systematically addressed by this monograph. The methodology employed isolates and gives equal treatment to 5 causal explanations. The 5 are genetic, culture of poverty, opportunity, maldistribution, and scarce resource explanations. Comprehensive materials are then organized around these…

Between 1980 and 1986 federal support for education fell by 11 percent and number of disadvantaged students grew to 20 percent. In 1986 federal support for children had fallen to its lowest level in 20 years. Evaluates congressional turnaround that began to increase federal support. U.S. business leaders expressed concern over U.S. educational…

Proposes social structural view of poverty rates as a function of local opportunity instead of individual-level focus on who is poor. Defines poverty rates as a function of industrial structure and relative power of labor in a locality. Confirms theoretical model with data from 46 South Carolina counties. (LFL)

In an effort to help shape a research agenda for rural education, this document reviews the research on rural education and at-risk students to determine the relative influence on student outcomes of poverty and community location. Sections of this review address: methodological considerations (definitions of "rural" and "at-risk," inadequate…

This paper analyzes the role the community college plays as a bridge to opportunity for the working poor and economically disadvantaged. Because educating the disadvantaged is expensive and often under-funded--particularly in the area of basic or remedial education--many community colleges opt to focus on educating more advantaged students in…

"Udbhas," which means "expression," is a non-profit organization founded in 1988 to spread literacy and promote post-literacy education among the underprivileged children in the slums of Calcutta, India. This paper describes the creation, work, and benefits to children of Udbhas. The paper notes that most of the organization's…

Addresses world hunger issues and the increasing world population. Sees continued imbalance between supply and demand. Points out Europe and the United States are dealing with surplus production, whereas developing nations continue to import needed food. Argues solving hunger problems requires eliminating poverty through development programs.…

This study of philanthropy donors in Appalachian Ohio was conducted with the purpose of understanding giving within a rural region. The research was initiated with an ultimate goal of increasing endowed assets in communities that are experiencing philanthropic poverty. The data collected from donors utilizing post-positivist qualitative research…

This Issue Brief reports the timing of entry into special education and the number of grades in which students receive special education across the primary grades. About 12 percent of students receive special education in at least one of the grades: kindergarten, first, and third grade, including 16 percent of boys, 8 percent of girls, 18 percent…

MDRC launched Opening Doors in 2003 to study the effects of community college programs designed to help students persist in school and earn a credential. This report presents early results from the Opening Doors program at Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio, which operated from 2004 through 2006. The two-semester program served students whose…

Ask the average person what comes to mind at the mention of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Odds are the answer involves armed African-Americans winding up in shootouts with police. Those images have overshadowed the Panthers' free breakfast programs, medical clinics and other efforts to improve poor Black neighborhoods in the late 1960s. Also…

This article draws from a three-year ethnographic study of girls and their mothers in a high-poverty, predominantly white community. Informed by critical and feminist theories of social class, I present four cases that highlight psychosocial tensions within the mother-daughter-teacher-researcher triangle and argue that white, middle-class female…

We examine high concentrations of poverty in public schools by comparing economic segregation in schools and in their corresponding attendance boundaries. To do this, we assign poverty rates from the 2000 census to maps of school attendance boundaries for 21 of the largest school districts and link this with data enumerating the number of poor…

This paper looks at access to adult education and vocational education and training (VET) provision in fishing communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. Fishing communities are being disadvantaged due to geographical and socio-political marginalisation, and the predominance of informal sector employment in the context of worldwide marine…