Argues that structural cleavages provoke social disruptions where opportunities are conducive. Thus, combinations of rurality with particular structural cleavages predict specific disruption patterns. Data from northeastern United States indicate that rurality, combined with other population characteristics (provocation, ascriptive inequality,…

In order to help Illinois policymakers and education administrators assess whether the State's public high school graduates are ready to enter and succeed in college, the IERC is undertaking a six-year longitudinal study of the Illinois Class of 2002. This first report shows that only about one third of the Class of 2002 is college-ready, and that…

This collection of papers reviews the state of U.S. education 20 years after the original "A Nation at Risk" report on the quality of schools by the National Commission on Educational Excellence. The first paper presents "Findings and Recommendations by the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education." Part 1, "'A Nation at Risk': Then and Now," includes:…

Children from poor families exhibit more conduct disorders, chronic illnesses, school problems, hyperactivity, and emotional disorders than children who are not poor. Minority children that are poor face the additional disadvantage of marginalization. Research indicates that support and strong personal skills are needed for such children to be…

As Congress prepares to make important decisions about the future of Head Start, Program Information Report (PIR) data provide important contextual information about Early Head Start programs and the children and families they serve. In 2004, Early Head Start served a diverse group of infants, toddlers, and pregnant women, most of whom were from…

As a result of their mobile lifestyle, migrant children experience a high degree of unpredictability in all aspects of their lives. This paper illustrates how the patterns of migrant families' moves put their children at even greater risk for educational problems than is true for other mobile student groups, such as dependents of U.S. military…

Since the 1996 passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (welfare reform), impoverished children in single-parent families receive less aid than under the previous system, and the most disadvantaged of these children have slipped deeper into poverty. This research brief summarizes a study that explored the economic well-being…

In Bolivia, malnutrition afflicts about 25 percent of children under 3 and 12-24 percent of women. It contributes to high death rates, immune deficiency, learning disabilities, and low work productivity. Malnutrition and its effects are particularly severe among poor, rural, and indigenous populations. Malnutrition is both caused by and causes…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 reauthorized and significantly expanded the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Act and its accompanying fund increases offer numerous opportunities to improve teaching and achievement of young adolescents, targeting federal money more than ever to high poverty schools and districts and including…

This study examined how five high-poverty Texas high schools, which had attained notable achievement levels on selected academic indicators, reached their present levels of performance. The schools shared several characteristics: most students were economically disadvantaged; the location was in a large urban district; there was no selective…

This first in a four-part series on why academic achievement gaps persist discusses how to raise minority achievement. It explains how earlier progress in closing the gap has stalled, while at the same time, the greater diversity of student populations and the rapid growth of the Hispanic population and of other ethnic groups have reshaped the…

This publication presents an introduction,"New Frontiers for a New Century: A National Overview" (Kati Haycock), which announces a new, online, interactive database of national educational records and discusses the importance of making necessary changes in education. This requires that educators, policymakers, and advocates receive solid…

Schoolwide programs form the centerpiece of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's vision of enabling programs to work together and support the overall reforms of states, school districts, and schools. A schoolwide program may now use Title I, Part A funds coupled with other federal education funds to upgrade the school's entire educational…

These proceedings from a conference on the health needs of Asian and Pacific American (APA) children include discussions and recommendations from each breakout session. The breakout sessions focused on trends and services; K-12 education; health and mental health; child abuse and neglect services; bias crime and violence; and poverty and welfare…

The systemic reform exemplified by the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 (KERA) requires the coupling of top-down state mandates with bottom-up advocacy and leadership. This research on an Eastern Kentucky school district details the dynamics at the district's main high school, as people struggle to build both a community of learners within…