Early Head Start began with 68 programs in 1995 and today, almost 650 programs serve some 55,000 low-income families with infants and toddlers. This two-generation program provides high-quality child and family development services, a focus on staff development, and a commitment to community partnerships. A rigorous national evaluation, including…

This Kids Count pamphlet provides information on the living arrangements of Florida's children, focusing on family types. Drawing on information from the 1997 National Survey of America's Families, the Current Population Survey, and the National Center for Health Statistics, the pamphlet presents information on changes in America's families,…

This digest examines the problem of upgrading rural school facilities, focusing on specific rural issues, conditions that interfere with teaching and learning, and new funding approaches. Almost half of U.S. public schools are in rural areas and small towns. Close rural school-community relationships may make it easier to make decisions,…

This executive summary, part of a larger study that will include an examination of Title I implementation in selected districts and schools, assesses the extent to which the policies and enforcement practices of the U.S. Department of Education have fulfilled the promise of the recent reauthorization of the Title I program. The summary is…

This report assesses the extent to which the policies and enforcement practices of the U.S. Department of Education have fulfilled the promise of the recent reauthorization of the Title I program. The study is organized around five broad sets of questions about the impact of Title I on the academic achievement of poor children, centering on: (1)…

The province of Balochistan has the worst educational attainment in Pakistan, which has low educational attainment compared to countries with similar income levels. In light of several factors constraining the Balochistan government's ability to expand school supply in poor areas, private schools were thought to offer potential benefits for…

The link between poverty and child labor has been regarded as a well established fact, but recent research has questioned the validity of this link. Starting from the premise that child labor is not necessarily harmful, this paper analyzes the determinants of harmful child labor, viewed as labor that directly conflicts with children's human…

An analysis of data from a survey of more than 100 parents residing in emergency shelter in San Diego, California, reveals a portrait of poverty that is prevalent among women and children in the United States today. Homeless families in San Diego, as in the rest of the country, are most often headed by women in their early thirties whose prospects…

This report is designed to help Pennsylvania policymakers compare two current school reform ideas that are intended to improve student achievement: private school vouchers and class size reduction. It begins with a brief history of educational vouchers, then reviews the achievement effects of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Cleveland, Ohio,…

This study uses National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data to analyze differences in black and white child poverty. The NLSY documents family income and underlying conditions such as employment, educational attainment, welfare use, and marriage or divorce. This analysis examines: time in poverty, time on welfare, time in a single parent…

Homelessness in the United Kingdom has very wide ramifications. Young homeless people face a difficult transition into adult life as poverty, low self-esteem, lack of family support, and lack of qualifications reinforce each others' effects. Homeless young people start behind their peers in educational achievement. Government policies put up…

This study investigated the potential effects of welfare reform on children in late childhood through adolescence, examining how poverty status and family welfare receipt interacted with current poverty status and welfare receipt during adolescence to influence various outcomes. The study examined how 1998 outcomes varied for adolescents based on…

This report presents data from research on New York state and city compliance with changes in federal welfare laws. It outlines how children and families are faring after 5 years of welfare reform (e.g., caseloads have dropped, but child poverty persists, families leave welfare for low paying jobs and unstable work, and family homelessness is…

This working paper examines whether the concept of social exclusion, including educational exclusion, adds values to the understanding of poverty. It focuses on educational exclusion and inclusion in South Africa. The paper states that the issues are complex and that educational inclusion requires careful consideration of every aspect of schooling…

This study examined the impact of the Lighthouse program, a school-based, after-school remediation program in the Chicago Public Schools, on student academic achievement. The Lighthouse program included an extra hour of instructional time and an hour of recreational time. Between the two activities, students received a healthy late afternoon meal.…