Two years ago Congress passed the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act that provides $5 million a year for state programs to ensure that children are not prevented by bureaucratic or transportation obstacles from obtaining a public education. Although some homeless education plans are helping the children, the funding is inadequate. (MLF)

Reviews current research on Black families headed by a single mother indicating that economic insecurity of Black males is an important causal factor in explaining both the numbers and the impoverishment of this family type. Contends social workers must advocate for policies to assist these groups economically. (Author/ABL)

In October 1994, President Clinton signed into law a substantially modified version of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA), which extends and amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and related legislation. This article describes Title I LEA grant formulas before the 1994 amendments, major criticisms of these formulas, and an…

Because many economically disadvantaged learners have a social learning style, vocational educators need to bridge this personality-based readiness gap to help develop advanced problem-solving skills. Students may find it difficult to gain this support in today's educational environment. (Author)

Academic Development Institute study found schools having greatest difficulty engaging parents were those with high concentrations of poor, single-parent families with many children. Project Better Day was designed to identify uninvolved parents whose grade 1-4 children were behind grade level; draw these parents into positive school relationship;…

The divergent views of poor and working-class African-American and White men regarding the causes of their current condition are presented. Different "biographies of race" encourage African-American men to blame the economy and racism but White men to blame Black males for the economic plight of White men. The ways in which the two…

Based on evidence that human performance can be influenced by effective belief systems, formal mentoring programs have been developed. Improvement is found in aspirations of economically disadvantaged students but none of the findings, with respect to self-efficacy and possible selves, indicated significant improvement. Further development of…

Investigates the reliability and validity of the published teacher version of the preschool Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) for Head Start children. Results of exploratory factor analyses are described and implications for continued development of the instrument are discussed. (Author/MKA)

Studies sheltered homeless and low-income housed families to examine predictors of academic achievement, focusing on housing status, mobility, and race/ethnicity. Results reveal that housing status was not associated with academic achievement. Discusses how homeless and housed children had comparable rates of absenteeism and other school-related…

Reviews many of the major programs seeking to increase college access among economically disadvantaged and at-risk students. Evaluates the potential of these programs while stressing four conditions that effective programs must meet. (Author/EV)

Describes experiences of student ambassadors and alumni in the Academic Talent Development Program, a K-12 summer program for economically disadvantaged students offered by the University of California, Berkeley. Includes story of two students' experiences with a "Shakespeare as Theatre" class. (PKP)

Describes how Puerto Rico's teenage tutor, Jorge Aneudy Villalba, leads a children's learning crusade through an urban desert of poverty and despair, determined to prove the kids from the projects can make their own future. (Author/EV)

The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in the self-handicapping tendencies of a sample of 337 Australian school attending adolescents, who were aged between 15 and 19 years. Self-handicapping, as measured by the shortened Self-Handicapping Scale, was examined in relation to self-esteem, performance attributions, coping…

Perceptions of present, ideal, and future lives among 12 Chinese adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage were examined via qualitative interviews. Results showed that most of the adolescents evaluated their present lives positively. In general, they also had positive perceptions of their future lives, although there also were some negative…

In 1974, Ronald Reagan called the United States a "shining city on a hill." A decade later, Mario Cuomo responded by speaking to us about another city that was not on a shining hill. His "Tale of Two Cities" speech, delivered at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, was not only moving but also haunting. In this other city…