Effective schools research, as elaborated by R. R. Edmonds and others, gives a picture of what successful urban schools look like and helps identify the characteristics that led to success. This paper offers the proposition that looking at a school as a caring community provides a way to show effective schools by providing a framework to make…

This theme issue includes four articles on the effective use of computers and electronic technology in education, and on equitable access to educational technologies for Hispanics and other minority groups. "Teachers and Instructional Technology: Wise or Foolish Choices" (Laura Chris Green) describes three unproductive roles for computer…

This report summarizes the findings of three 5-year federally financed dropout prevention programs for high risk students and their families known as the ABC programs: ALAS (Achievement for Latinos through Academic Success), the Belief Academy, and Check & Connect. The information is based on a comprehensive report called "Staying in…

This study compared student-teacher perception about discipline, investigated whether it was interpersonal, procedural, or substantive, and examined how ethnicity, achievement, gender, and position influenced practice. G. Gay's theory (1981) about interethnic group interactions combined with perceptual disparity and cultural discontinuity provided…

The history of Texas' implementation of bilingual education is examined through a review of relevant literature and court litigation, and a survey of school district superintendents and administrators on this topic is reported. In interviews with the administrators, it was found that bilingual education and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL)…

The Even Start--Padres y Progreso program was a nationally funded program in Houston (Texas) designed to prepare young children to enter school not only by offering early childhood education, but also assisting their families with adult literacy/English as a second language, parenting skills training, and employment skills training. The program…

Oak View School, Huntington Beach (California) is reflective of demographic changes due to the rapid increase in the number of ethnic minority students. The school has created goals for quality education for immigrant and minority children and is attempting to respond to the needs of its culturally diverse, although largely Hispanic, population.…

Sites in the San Diego (California) City school system that receive integration funds through their magnet, Voluntary Ethnic Enrollment Program, or Academic Enrichment Academy Program are accountable for their progress toward integration goals. Selection of the 23 study sites for this report was based on their inclusion in the 1995-96 schedule for…

Since the early 1990s, the majority of school-aged children in Texas have been non-White. The 1995 Texas legislature authorized the use of cumulative voting in school districts as a result of lawsuits prompted by the underrepresentation of minority groups on school boards. In cumulative voting, each voter has a number of votes equal to the number…

Identification of gifted students among cultural and linguistic minority groups and development of culturally relevant gifted programs have been problematic. In addition, although giftedness can manifest itself in many ways, few gifted programs have been established in nonacademic areas, especially in rural settings. This paper focuses on the…

Parent involvement in schools is related to children's increased academic achievement and can be an important resource for school personnel. Parents of racial and ethnic minority groups, however, have been found to be less likely to become involved in their children's schools. This study investigated whether white and racial and ethnic minority…

The LegiSchool Project of the California State Legislature and California State University conducts televised Town Meetings to provide a forum for dialogue about problems of interest in California education. This collection contains background readings and materials for the fifth of these Town Meetings, to be titled "Segregated Schools:…

Using 400 autobiographical accounts offered by third graders, this study examined children's inner lives. Subjects were a stratified (by gender and by ethnicity at each school) random sample from eight elementary schools in a large urban Midwestern school district. The autobiographical sample analyzed consisted of information from 144 African…

This document describes studies and other evidence supporting year-round education (YRE) in elementary and secondary schools. Included are six newspaper and journal clippings describing the benefits of YRE schools. The document also quotes from test and survey results that indicate that students who are enrolled in YRE programs learn and retain…

Representing part of the first phase of a 5-year ethnographic research project, this report investigates the ways in which Puerto Rican families influence their children's school achievement. The report examines the history of Puerto Rico and the migration of Puerto Ricans to the United States. Puerto Rican community organizations, both local and…