School districts must address health and academic challenges homeless children bring to school by forming community-based task forces, helping homeless shelters address families' needs, increasing staff awareness, and developing strategies to encourage homeless children's academic success. The paper notes opportunities for staff involvement and…

Provides an economic analysis of the status of African-American males, arguing that the precarious economic position of African-American males is the leading cause of single female-headed households in African-American communities. Marginalization processes based on low employment have pushed African-American males away from marriage. (SLD)

A turnaround school in Mission, Texas proves poverty and underachievement are not synonymous. The 1998 passing rate on state assessments was 90.7 percent, compared to 41.2 percent in 1993. Factors include committed faculty, a strong principal, extended reading practice and instructional time, incentives and recognition, and pre-assessment…

As public schools are failing inner-city children, school choice offers a promising solution. This paper presents research that shows how school choice (public, private, or parochial) has a positive effect on minority, inner city children, noting that school choice is the only reform mechanism that would offer schools immediate and measurable…

Refutes many of the arguments school voucher proponents employ to justify using government funds to support private schools, discussing why vouchers are bad for America, its children, and its schools, and making recommendations for what can be done to help fix what is wrong with struggling urban schools to the benefit of all children. (SM)

Formal and informal support systems are essential to empowering rural families to meet basic needs of health, education, and employment. Formal resources (institutions, agencies, professionals) are often lacking in rural areas and families rely on informal resources (extended family, church, social clubs). Characteristics of informal social…

Reports on research conducted in poor Puerto Rican households in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) that shows the complex relationships between household members' survival strategies, residential mobility, home-school connections, and students' learning. Results from five families show that household stability is the strongest factor affecting students'…

Used hierarchical linear modeling to study the relations between the degree of Chapter I and regular-program coordination in high-poverty schools and students' longitudinal achievements while controlling for the compositional features of the school. Findings reveal some areas in which high-poverty schools can influence the academic achievement of…

The effects of income, language, and citizenship on the use of health-care services by Chinese Americans is examined (N=1808). Focus groups, a telephone survey, and key informant interviews were conducted. Data analysis included an acculturation index, demographic profile, and logistical regression. Health insurance and social factors are…

Explains how Texas overcame limited educational funding and demographic disadvantages and became one of the highest-performing states in the nation in elementary-school achievement. It describes how educators found innovative ways to raise achievement when they were given the freedom to experiment while being simultaneously held accountable for…

Discusses the rationale behind the movement to link services to schools through school-linked, family resource centers. Describes several exemplary program, already developed, and outlines the promise this movement holds as a major social work strategy for revitalizing communities. Focuses on parental involvement, skill development, and how to…

Some advocates of "all children can learn" downplay the need for adequate resources and child-friendly public policy. Educators' heroic efforts alone are insufficient. Other destructive fallacies include the principal as sole instructional leader and exception-based, uniform standards. The effective-schools movement has become too…

Suggests that the most useful discussion of accountability, testing, and educational equity should occur at the conceptual level rather than the level of conflicting individual studies. Argues that statistical debates avoid larger foundational questions about the goals of schooling in our society and emphasizes the need for research on effective…

Examined relationships between families and staff from community agencies in a poor urban neighborhood, investigating how they affected urban educational restructuring efforts that encouraged family-school-community collaboration. Findings indicated that these relationships often rested on inherent inequalities stemming from conditions that placed…

Examines school enrollment and educational attainment in Kinshasa, Congo, focusing on how poverty, household structure, gender, and economic well-being affect investments in children's education. Increased economic well-being translates into greater attainment for both females and males, but does not necessarily reduce gender differences in school…