The current patchwork of programs designed to ameliorate poverty has failed. Efforts to alleviate poverty by expanding educational opportunities have also had little impact. Poverty among youth has increased during the past two decades even though federal funds for reducing poverty have grown and median educational attainment has increased.…

Although 6 million adults in Britain are studying at any one time, survey findings confirm continuing underrepresentation of people in lower socioeconomic levels. This paper suggests that widened participation in education and training is necessary to improve competitiveness and economic success and to enable all to have an equal opportunity of…

Intended to encourage and facilitate research, policy development, and advocacy on issues relevant to those who are in poverty despite employment, this bibliography lists 145 articles and studies focusing on the working poor. Following a description of the search method and a guide to the bibliography, the references are divided into two sections.…

This report discusses changes in markers of the well-being of children in California, focusing on at-risk children in lower income groups. The report considers earnings growth and decline for California's families, public and private resources available, family economics, health, education, and safety. Specific problems are discussed such as a…

This document presents data on the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the Hispanic origin population in the United States obtained through the March 1991 supplement to the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of the Census. Differences are highlighted in selected characteristics of Hispanic Americans compared between March…

A study determined how economically deprived people were portrayed in selected works of children's literature. The content of 30 children's books of realistic fiction written by authors and illustrators of Newbery and Caldecott Award Winners and Honor Books was analyzed. Results indicated that: (1) nearly all economically deprived characters were…

In 1986-87, the school board of the Austin Independent School District approved an assignment plan that returned most elementary students to their neighborhood schools and created 16 predominantly minority schools with many students from low-income families. To assure that these students received a quality education, a 5-year Plan for Educational…

This project located in Glasgow, Scotland, is concerned with the use of distance teaching for a non-formal community education program that is a component of a social change strategy to combat poverty. The study shows that the use of distance learning courses in non-formal community education is successful in attracting, at a reasonable cost per…

This report, covering the program year 1987-1988, is designed to inform the Congress of the status of children with disabilities in Head Start programs. The report states that the program's mandate of having 10 percent or more of the total number of enrollment opportunities in Head Start programs available for handicapped children was met in each…

This report describes the activities of the Head Start program relating to children with disabilities in the 1988-1989 year. Head Start nationally achieved a 13.5 percent level of enrollment of children with professionally diagnosed disabilities. All states and jurisdictions met the federal mandate of at least 10 percent enrollment of children…

The current displaced worker initiative towers over the 30-year effort to bring the economically disadvantaged into the mainstream of the labor market. The Congressional Budget Office defines displacement as all workers 18 years of age and older who lose full-time employment due to slack work, job abolition, or plant closure. Major displaced…

SER's National Hispanic Literacy Initiative, which is implemented through a network of 51 family learning centers (FLCs) that serve economically disadvantaged adults and children, is described. The concept is based on the objective of intergenerational learning, which prescribes that parents and grandparents will desire to learn so that they may…

A study was conducted to provide much-needed, in-depth qualitative information and direction regarding the experiences, attitudes, value systems, and aspirations of various segments of the Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) recipients. Eight focus groups, each composed of 8 to 10 persons, were conducted in May 1990 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Discussion…

Project READ (Reading Education for Adults in Dayton) sought to enhance the literacy of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA)-eligible adults in the Miami Valley through improved coordination efforts. The major task of the activity to coordinate promotion of literacy resources was to create new awareness and linkages between the Human Services…

A hearing was held to discuss the reauthorization of the Follow Through Act, legislation designed to combine the resources of local schools, universities, and parents to consolidate and enhance gains that low-income children make in preschool program such as Head Start. Testimony concerned: (1) characteristics of high quality Follow Through…