Policies play an important role in shaping school environments. Schools with healthy, well-maintained physical environments signal that students are valued. Policies built around equal opportunities, valued teachers, and family and community engagement strengthen a school's psychosocial environment. Coordinated school health program policies…

School-bashers bemoaning declining SAT scores since 1967 do not consider the greater numbers of students now taking these tests. Some parents believe children are overtested. Teachers generally are well prepared, and administration is not top-heavy. Business is faster, but not necessarily more efficient than education. (MLH)

Introduces this special issue on mental health and Head Start. Presents a rationale for exploring mental health issues in Head Start children. Notes that the Head Start program presents a unique opportunity to expand the knowledge base regarding the prevalence of mental health problems and the factors contributing to emotional functioning among…

Investigated white preservice teachers' reactions to field observations in rural schools. Data from questionnaires, reflection journals, and supervisor observations indicated that they disliked the setting but worked hard to earn satisfactory grades from cooperating teachers. They came to understand some of the effects of poverty and recognized…

Discusses how two urban school principals used nontraditional administrative approaches as strategies for connecting home and school and for improving the literary achievement of their culturally diverse students. Describes how these principals made a personal and caring investment, served as strong instructional leaders, reconceptualized the real…

Discusses results of a school-community survey administered to parents and teachers in nine K-5 buildings in two Pennsylvania districts. Surveys were correlated with student-performance indicators and with the school's poverty index and average daily attendance. Results indicate that school and home practices important to academic learning vary…

Examines a work initiative that moved welfare recipients into jobs as nurse assistants at a geriatric facility. The women's stories describe a welfare-to-work program in practice and illustrate how and why earnest efforts to mediate poverty resulted instead in the continued marginalization and stigmatization of poor people. (RJM)

Reviews measures of dental health in children and the evidence on child dental health. Although children's dental health has improved over the past two decades, many poor children do not receive necessary dental health services, and reasons for this failure are summarized. (SLD)

An Eisenhower Foundation study finds that minorities suffer disproportionately from the widening gap between rich and poor but that, despite poorer schools, earnings and educational attainment of African Americans have improved. The study calls for expansion of proven programs to narrow racial and economic gaps, repudiating supply-side economics…

Assessed impact of an antipoverty program on family functioning and developmental outcomes for preschool- and school-aged children. Found that the New Hope program had strong positive effects on boys' academic achievement, classroom behavior, positive social behavior, and problem behaviors, and on boys' expectations for advanced education and…

States that the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has designated January as Poverty Awareness month, suggesting that the 29th of January be used to help the needy. Lists things people can do on this day. Reports that 32.3 million people living in the United States are living in poverty, a number largely made up of minorities, children,…

Reviews research evidence on the benefits and costs of increasing investment in children, and a redirection of some economic policies that have an indirect impact on children. Concludes that much more could be done to enhance the well-being of children, but it would require a willingness to increase both public spending and taxation. (MOK)

A new generation of children, those born between 1977 and 1993, are sometimes called the "echo boom." These children and teenagers differ from each other in race, religion, living arrangements, and socioeconomic class. Understanding the demographics of these students can help school boards meet the challenges of preparing this generation for the…

Analyzes recent media accounts of teen mothers, identifying interpretive frames associated with the discourses of bureaucratic experts, conservatives, oppositional movements, and the mothers themselves. The dominant discourse is that of the bureaucratic experts who have incentives to tell their own stigma stories about teen mothers. (SLD)

Neglected children need teachers who are not judgmental, moralistic, or easily shocked; who listen, understand, and recognize their own fears and prejudices; and who enjoy interacting with children and define their work as eliciting effort and growth. (SK)