Successful Ventura County schools know the best recipe for high achievement: fully credentialed, highly qualified, and motivated teachers; highly involved and well-educated parents; and adequate funding for smaller classes, professional development, and regular and alternative programs and facilities, topped off with excellent leadership. (MLH)

Examined personal storytelling of European-American preschoolers from working- or middle-class families as a medium through which they construct autonomous selves. Found that children in both communities had extensive rights to speak of past experiences and limited rights to author experiences. Middle-class communities viewed expressing one's view…

An examination of the literature on the characteristics of at-risk students largely cites demographics, socio-economic factors and minority status as identifying factors (DeRidder, 1988; Green and Scott, 1995; Peng, Lee, and Walberg, 1992; Rodriguez, 1997). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (1994), minority students of low…

A specific dramatic episode in history that allows students to delve into the deeper meanings of selected landmark events and explore a wider context of historical narrative is represented within this supplementary teaching unit. This approach helps students materialize history as an ongoing, open-ended process that is based upon decisions made in…

Information on federal student aid recipients by income, undergraduate and graduate level, and financial dependency status is presented for Pell Grants, campus-based programs, and Guaranteed Student Loans (GSL). Income data are reported for all aid recipients and for financially dependent and independent students for 1983-1984 and for 1976-1977,…

This article provides an overview of America's urban population based on the 2000 Census and the implications of increasing cultural diversity for urban public schools. It addresses three basic questions: 1. What does America's population look like at the beginning of the 21st century? 2. What challenges do children and their families face in this…

Richard Rodriguez's "Hunger of Memory," which describes his journey from a bilingual, socially disadvantaged child, the son of Mexican immigrant working class parents, to Doctor of English literature, university professor and author, is examined to provide a deeper understanding of what makes the assimilation process happen, what it…

Twenty dyads--ten middle-class mothers and ten lower-class mothers and their two-year-old children--were videotaped in a play situation. Variables in speech and utterance production were examined for change across condition (awareness or ignorance of being observed) and across socioeconomic class within condition. The number of utterances was…

The system of education in the United States mirrors, creates, and legitimates inequalities of the larger society that supports it. Legally required schooling ranks, sorts, and prepares children for the "real world," and contributes to social maintenance rather than to social change by stressing the "correctness" of some…

This study investigates the relationship between parents' attitudes toward their child, themselves, childrearing and their marriage, and their child's self concept. The subjects were 62 middle class preschool children (3-1/2 to 5 years old) and their parents. The instruments used in the interviews with the children and their parents were (1) the…

An analysis is made of the way data were treated in several studies which concluded that family incomes have increased as fast as college costs and that there is no special difficulty in paying for higher education for middle income families. Trends in tuition costs are confounded by presenting average tuition data aggregated for all types of…

THE INFLUENCE OF HISTORICAL, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL FACTORS UPON THE EARLY LEARNING PROCESS OF SAN JUAN INDIAN CHILDREN WAS RELATED TO THE CONDUCT OF HEAD START PROGRAMS. FOUR TYPES OF DATA WERE USED, (1) PERSONAL RESEARCH INTO THE PUEBLO'S HISTORY, (2) TESTS AND OBSERVATIONS OF 50 INDIAN CHILDREN OF ALL AGES, (3) INFORMATION ABOUT SPECIFIC HEAD…

TWO GROUPS OF WHITE SIXTH-GRADE CHILDREN, MATCHED FOR INTELLIGENCE AND DIVIDED INTO AN UPPER-MIDDLE-CLASS GROUP (GROUP A) AND AN UPPER-LOWER-CLASS GROUP (GROUP B), WERE EXAMINED AFTER THEY HAD HAD A 6-WEEK SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT ON MEXICO TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, ACHIEVEMENT, AND DIRECTION OF ATTITUDE CHANGE. BOTH…

THE SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL, AT INUVIK IN THE WESTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC, ACCOMODATED 300 PUPILS DURING THE 1963-64 SCHOOL YEAR. MOST OF THE YOUNGSTERS KNEW NO ENGLISH, HAD NEVER SLEPT ALONE, AND HAD NEVER SEEN RUNNING WATER AT THE TIME OF THEIR FIRST TRIP TO INUVIK. THESE YOUNGSTERS ARE FROM TWO DISTINCT GROUPS--THE KABLOONAMIUT…

AN EVALUATION OF A 6-WEEK SUMMER EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT PROGRAM FOR DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS RANGING FROM PRESCHOOL TO GRADE NINE FOUND THAT DESPITE THE SHORTNESS OF THE SESSIONS PROGRESS WAS MADE TOWARD REACHING THE GOALS OF THE PROGRAM. THE GOALS INCLUDED INCREASING STUDENTS' VERBAL AND NONVERBAL CREATIVITY, DEVELOPING STUDENT COOPERATION AND…