Two financing plans are proposed to address needs for an allowance for poor households to fund child-care: financing from redirected existing funds; and a program of voluntary parental leave to ensure the adequacy of infant care, financed through a payroll tax increase. These proposals would help parents balance work and family obligations. (SLD)

Presents some of the health risks and economic and job insecurities involved in working in the United States. Suggests ways for counselors to amend their practices to accommodate the changing work environment and to help clients prepare for and deal with the economic and physical realities of the job market. (Author)

Examines four models for secondary education (magnet schools, school reform models, small high schools, and Catholic high schools) that have been shown to strongly improve educational outcomes for urban minority children, or at least strongly influence the reform movement, explaining why the comprehensive high school design has failed in urban…

Six preschool children, mostly from poverty-level backgrounds, were taught to make descriptive statements about objects. The category-descriptor statements were organized and sequenced into four clusters. As sets of new statements were successively taught and evaluated, the number and diversity of probed category and descriptor terms steadily and…

Alejandro Toledo, the first Native person to be elected president of Peru, talks about his Quechua roots; his proposed constitutional amendment to ensure equal rights for indigenous peoples; financial support for Native cultural preservation efforts; and his number one priority--to fight poverty through education, focusing on basic education,…

Describes the outcomes of a pilot project which was designed to predate an expanded Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE) literacy development program in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Discusses lessons learned from this pilot program. Highlights the value of pilot programs in general. (PM)

Reviews over 60 magazines that represent "alternative" and independent publications addressing topics such as the environment, education, ethics, business, parenting, racism, indigenous rights, poverty, political issues, international affairs, land use, women, youth, urban affairs, art and essay, and social change. Includes a brief…

Books and online discussion groups encourage youth to develop strong narrative voices. Includes an annotated bibliography of books and Internet sites dealing with discovering the self and others; exploring race, culture, archeology, technology, war, poverty, gender and urban problems; creating and critiquing stories; and publishing industry…

Reports a Louisiana study that investigated relationships between black high school students' academic achievement and their peers' and families' socioeconomic and social status. Test scores, school data, and student surveys indicated that family poverty status, family social status, and peers' family social status all influenced individual…

Effects of student poverty and location on school accountability scores were examined using hierarchical linear modeling and data from 1,115 Kentucky schools in 171 districts. Positive effects of nonmetro location were found, but they did not erase the strong negative effect of poverty. Projections indicate that equitable excellence will not be…

A conference of 47 science, mathematics, and technology educators and rural education experts from across the country prepared a research agenda regarding science and mathematics achievement in poor, rural schools. Researchable questions were grouped into categories of community support, instructional resources, leadership and school reform,…

Identifies underlying paradoxical bases for expansion and replication of early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs. Presents history of ECCE in the United States. Proposes typology of expansion and replication processes, and considers paradoxes associated with replication process. Offers recommendations for funders, policymakers, and…

Explores the use of research in early childhood education and the relationship between quality early childhood education and school success, providing a historical perspective on young children's care and education, describing factors that have changed thinking about the needs of young children and their families, and suggesting steps for…

Describes how two low-achieving, high-poverty school districts raised the test scores of their students. The El Centro school district's inquiry-science approach raised elementary science test scores, as well as mathematics and reading scores. Twin Falls improved test scores by adopting the Standardized Timed Curriculum, which involved components…

This study examined factors related to social competence in first-grade children of low-income, adolescent mothers. Findings indicated that higher social skills and lower levels of problem behaviors related to higher quality parenting, higher academic skills, and residence in neighborhoods with lower poverty rates. Children with higher social…