A number of economic and labor market trends in the United States over the past 30 years affect the well-being of workers and their families. This article describes key changes taking place and the implications for social and economic policies designed to help low-income working families and their children, particularly those families that include…

Leading researchers from the United States and Europe report on new findings on the effect of education on equal opportunity, using economic and statistical techniques to assess the results of education policy reform in countries including the United States, Britain, Sweden, Germany, and Italy. Much educational research today is focused on…

This study examined the influence of individual attributes, high school experience, and college experience upon persistence for remedial and non-remedial students. The subjects were 438 first-time true freshmen who graduated from a large private university on the West Coast. In addition to finding that remedial and non-remedial students did not…

In the context of areas that have little prospect in the medium term of providing even minimal livelihoods locally for their overwhelming poor and increasingly migration-dependent rural populations, what does education for sustainable development (ESD) mean? Do efforts to qualitatively improve migration offer a viable strategy for reducing poverty…

This book introduces African-American history and culture to children. The first Africans in America came from many different regions and cultures, but became united in this country by being black, African, and slaves. Once in America, Africans began a long struggle for freedom which still continues. Slavery, the Civil War, emancipation, and the…

This paper describes the current state of research on Success for All, a program built around the idea that every child can and must succeed in the early grades. Success for All assumes that every child without organic retardation can read. Requirements for success include prevention and intensive early intervention. Success for All began in one…

This article addresses the problems of racism, prejudice, and bigotry and how they restrain academic achievement in minority students and the need for leadership to confront and reverse these effects. Politics (suburban/urban differences in funding), technology (computer gap), and family income are three factors that impact differentially upon the…

This technical assistance handbook contains information on identifying Kentucky gifted students, including gifted students who live in rural areas or who are economically disadvantaged. Included in the handbook are: (1) recommendations for ensuring equity in the identification and assessment process; (2) a draft of a school district policy on…

Despite the commissions and politicians that decry the failures of public education, thousands of teachers, principals, and administrators struggle daily to provide children with an education that will open doors. This article examines some of these educators' efforts, which demonstrate that change and success are possible. Interviews were…

This report describes a program designed to encourage minority and financially, socially, or educationally disadvantaged incoming, freshman students to pursue health profession career goals. Sixteen at-risk students were selected to participate in a summer intervention program in West Virginia; a control group of 16 pre-medicine or pre-dentistry…

This report focuses on an effort by Los Angeles County to transform its welfare-to-work program, Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN), from one that emphasized basic education to one focused on speedy entry into the work force. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the original program; reasons for a shift to a work-first model and description of…

Books in the Opposing Viewpoints Series present debates about current issues that can be used to teach critical reading and thinking skills. The opinions expressed in the selections in each series title examine many different aspects of a single issue. Detractors of the welfare system have long argued that the system promotes dependency. They…

Contributions to this book are based on presentations at a conference hosted by The Urban Institute in April 1994 to consider the challenges of achieving self-sufficiency for the nation's poor. Achieving long-term self-sufficiency for society's members is a fundamental social goal, but the problems involved, particularly those of finding enough…

This report presents results from the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project (CCHIP), a research project that used survey techniques to document the extent of hunger among low-income families with at least one child under the age of 12. The report's six chapters provide: (1) an overview of the project, identifying its major components;…

To assess the status of hunger and homelessness in urban America during 1991, The U.S. Conference of Mayors surveyed 28 major cities whose mayors are members of its Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness. The survey sought information and estimates from each city on: (1) the demand for emergency food assistance and emergency shelter and the…