A program to develop the potential of poverty-ridden Negroes in the Mississippi Delta is enjoying a great deal of success. (CK)

This special issue provides international comparisons of black seniors in South Africa, Ghana, Jamaica, Bermuda, and the United States, focusing on policy and program issues. The challenge is to ensure true equality of opportunity so that black seniors in the future will not be in the disadvantaged position of today. (Author)

Libraries await their uncertain fate as they transform literacy development and the vital service they provide to the needy children in the nation. If we let the libraries die, then the hopes of young generation will slip away as they will be left without access to necessary support.

Industry and mainstream research and policy institutions often suggest that transgenic crop varieties can raise the productivity of poor third world farmers, feed the hungry, and reduce poverty. These claims are critically evaluated by examining global-hunger data, the constraints that affect the productivity of small farmers in the third world,…

Self-rated health (SRH) predicts service use, morbidity, and mortality. Additionally, SRH has been associated with indices of psychological well-being. The main focus of the study was to investigate important differences among the lower spectrum of SRH (ie, fair and poor) on indices of well-being. In-person interviews collected data from 207 (M…

The author examined potential differences between preservice teachers who held positive self-judgments of their test taking ability (positive self-judgers) and preservice teachers who held negative self-judgment of their test-taking ability (negative self-judgers). Preservice teachers (N = 87) enrolled in an introductory…

"For most children and learners, things are getting better." This is an important and encouraging message from Ofsted Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert's Annual Report for 2007/08, and one to hang on to. However, it is not the whole story. From a social justice perspective it is also important to note for whom this is not the case. The Chief…

In its history, professional social work has long given at least lip service to the idea of building on client strengths as a part of the helping enterprise. This article provides an overview of the strengths approach to practice as it has evolved in social work and how that method and style might be applied by school counselors in their work with…

This study examines whether parents have the prerequisite knowledge about police interrogation that would allow them to compensate for youths' knowledge deficits, protect their interests, and buffer against their vulnerability to coercion. A racially diverse urban/suburban convenience sample of 77 11- to 13-year-olds, 46 14- to 15-year-olds, and…

For over four decades, the federal Head Start program has provided millions of young children from impoverished backgrounds with access to early childhood education and basic health services. By some important measures, Head Start has helped put children on the path to academic and economic success. Teachers in the Head Start program play a…

This descriptive report is part of a broader project collecting, organizing, and analyzing multiple sources of data from the four-state REL Appalachia region, comprised of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The purposes of that broader project are: (1) to increase awareness of and understanding about critical education issues in the…

A longitudinal research study was conducted at a public university in Pennsylvania on a sample of 129 at-risk students from a state-funded program (Act 101) designed to provide support services for economically and educationally disadvantaged students. This research employed a non-experimental, ex post facto methodology to assess the impact of…

After years of debate, the nation is now taking a bold step toward ensuring that all students graduate ready for college and careers. Under the leadership of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, a panel has drafted a set of Common Core State Standards for college and career…

In 2006, TG (Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation) issued a report entitled "Ready, Willing and Unable: How Financial Barriers Obstruct Bachelor Degree Attainment in Texas." Drawing on a report by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which projected the number of bachelor degrees lost nationally due to financial…

School leaders are increasingly being asked, whether by rhetoric or policy, to measurably improve student achievement. The resultant need to assist school leaders in their ability to improve teaching and learning for all students in their schools led to the establishment of the National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive…