Although rural poverty began to decline, 1994-95, many rural households had incomes just above poverty. Rural minorities were especially disadvantaged; racial differences in educational attainment accounted for 20-33% of income gaps. One-quarter of rural children lived in poverty, most in single-parent households. Most rural poor families lived in…

Uses Milwaukee's school choice/voucher initiative to illustrate how politically motivated evaluation and compromise legislation can dilute potentially beneficial educational innovations. The initiative's success despite counterproductive legislative tampering and biased evaluation is addressed, along with a discussion of the evaluation's…

Examines the change in black attitudes towards a greater acceptance of school vouchers, charter schools, and other reforms that offer alternatives to the dismal prospects inherent in attending urban public schools. Describes examples of the school choice movement in action and discusses the reasons blacks have begun embracing it. (GR)

Examines effects of privatization policies on rural girls' education in Tanzania's Kilimanjaro region. Results of a study of parent wealth and education, surveys of female secondary students, and interviews with out-of-school young women show that privatization has made secondary school attendance more difficult for poor girls. Such attendance has…

Examined relations between early family risk and later maladaptive social information processing and conduct problems among 178 economically disadvantaged boys. Found that early childhood assessments of disadvantage and maternal depression predicted boys' maladaptive response generation and conduct problems at age 10, accounting for 6 and 14…

The importance and urgency of rural education to each state was assessed using seven and nine indicators, respectively. The Mid-South Delta, central Appalachia, coastal Southeast, the north Plains, and northern New England emerged as priority rural education regions. The most important urgency indicators were teacher salaries, computer use, school…

A secondary analysis of data from a California-wide sample of 162 American Indian, entering MSW students indicated that American Indian students demonstrated a noticeably stronger adherence toward social work's traditional mission of helping poor and disadvantaged populations when compared to all MSW students. Implications for practice with…

Presents findings of a study that examined the impact of a model urban library system in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) on children's literacy development, particularly for poor, minority families, and its relation to reading achievement. It is concluded that libraries are vital for children's achievement and developing informational needs. (MES)

Using a social reproduction theory framework, analyzes the process by which high school seniors aspiring to high-level positions are sorted out after graduation. Analyzes early educational attainments and changes in occupational expectations. Shows a process of cumulative disadvantage in which White males are more likely to achieve their goals.…

Occupationally specific vocational training pays off for disadvantaged students, but only if graduates work in the jobs for which they were trained. The implication is that vocational educators must help make sure that the skills they teach are used. (JOW)

Explains the incidence and nature of drug trafficking and chemical dependency among adolescent black males. The paper also discusses the social science theories of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Molefi Asante to better understand the behaviors, and the consequences of those behaviors, of young black males who participate in drug trafficking. (GR)

Presents strategies for improving student academic achievement and U.S. school productivity. Among the strategies are the following: making student achievement a priority goal for schools, enhancing and toughening the curriculum, managing all educational resources at the school and classroom levels, providing a variety of system incentives towards…

This paper reviews current practices in urban school districts, concluding that for inner-city children, special education referral, evaluation, and placement practices are not more effective now than 25 years ago. The characteristics and needs of inner-city special education youngsters and the difficult options facing school administrators are…

A collaborative consultation approach to basic concept instruction with 20 inner-city kindergarten children, which involved intervention by a speech-language pathologist, university faculty, classroom teacher, and physical education teacher, resulted in significantly higher performance on target concepts compared to a control group who received…

Investigated the meaning of segmented assimilation by examining the effects of physical location, mode of reception, and membership in particular social networks on characteristics such as fluency in English, school performance, and self-perception. Results among various ethnic groups show that identification of oneself as an immigrant protects a…