This article presents the experiences of 89 members of the academic staff at a new university that emerged from a merger of two historically disadvantaged tertiary institutions located in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The authors examine the responses of these participants to new pedagogical strategies that emphasize learner-centered…

Sure Start is a Government project that aims to prevent social exclusion by targeting children between 0 and 4 years of age living in areas of social and economic deprivation. This study examined whether a Tier 2 Behaviour Support Service within a local Sure Start project was able to bring about improvements in children's behaviour and the levels…

A quality school education is essential if young people are to have access to the greatest possible opportunities in life, but it is not a universal experience in Australia. Instead, too many young people are disengaged from school, especially those in the middle years of schooling and those living in disadvantaged areas. This study examined the…

The transition from high school to adult life is an exciting time for many young people. Youth from high poverty backgrounds, however, are considered at-risk for a host of unfavorable outcomes including academic failure, school dropout, drug abuse, unemployment and incarceration. These adolescents are more likely than their more affluent peers to…

This report summarizes the results and impact of Title I and Chapter I reforms. In 1992-93, elementary and secondary students (n=6,403,054) participated in Chapter I in the United States; 17 percent of this population was limited English proficient (LEP). Although the program has helped many, educators and researchers have questioned the…

The purpose of "Teach for America," a program modeled after the Peace Corps, was to recruit a cadre of bright college graduates to become uncertified teachers for two years in some of America's toughest schools. This book tracks the successes and failures of the program in its first year and presents the stories of seven idealistic corps…

A study was conducted to critically assess the developmental conditions of 187 children (ages 1 month to 6 years) in eight creches (day nurseries) located in and around Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. Data were collected through informal interviews of day care staff and from 20 hours of direct observations of day care units. Findings indicated inadequate…

THIS STUDY POSES THE QUESTION OF HOW TO MEASURE THE DEGREE OF INEQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR SUBGROUPS IN SOCIETY. IT EXAMINES AND REJECTS THE DOMINANT IDEA THAT EQUAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY IS PROVIDED BY A COMMUNITY THROUGH THE PROVISION OF FACILITIES WITH FREE AND OPEN ACCESS FOR ALL, SUBSTITUTING THE IDEA THAT IT IS THE INTENSITY…

As the final part of a three-volume study, this review focuses on housing as an instrument of environmental change with particular emphasis on socioeconomic rather than physical dimensions. Three literature orientations relating to the effectiveness of intervention in the lives of the poor are used for review. They are (1) literature that is…

This pilot project was designed to assist high school counselors working with lower socioeconomic Spanish-speaking students to develop more effective vocational counseling programs based on identification of the environmental constructs that influence vocational decisions of Mexican-American youths. Data were collected from interviews with…

A determination as to whether more positive attitudes toward reading could be developed in elementary school children who, because of economic and cultural factors, had limited experience with books was sought in this study. Children from nonreading backgrounds were selected to take part in a books exposure program which supplemented the school's…

This paper examines and evaluates 11 ERIC documents dealing with the manner and extent to which nonstandard dialects differ from standard English. The relative importance of each document to the issue is implicit in the comments concerning that article. The author presents and explains the deficit and difference models of explicating language…

The concern of this investigation lies with the development and estimation of models explaining children's intellectual variability. Specifically, attention is directed to: (a) the role of parental status attainments and family environments in the transmission of intellectual advantage-disadvantage across generations; (b) the possibility that…

Piaget's notions about schema retention were examined using a sample of 384 disadvantaged four, five, and six year old children from a wide geographical area. The purpose was to examine the idea that schemas may be destroyed or modified by specific methods of interference using a retroactive inhibition model. Pictorial scenes were generated and…

The determination of the relationships among auditory discrimination ability, social class and age group differences, reading skill ability, and visual perceptual skills was the objective of this study. Fifteen New York City public schools provided 180 first, third, and fifth grade white and black males from lower and middle socioeconomic status…