Describes the Philadelphia High School Academies, vocational schools in the inner city that are jointly operated and funded by the public schools and local business and labor leaders. Discusses the program's growth and the reasons for its success in bringing inner city youth into the mainstream. (JOW)

Highlights a network of public libraries that promote services to the disadvantaged young and the production of indigenous children's books in Venezuela. Libraries in developing nations are seen as active centers of culture and education, organizing and collecting, as well as transmitting information, and not mere repositories of reading…

A teacher reflects on the writing of his disadvantaged eighth grade students. (JL)

The self-concepts of 2,100 children (ages 6 to 11.5 years) from disadvantaged schools in New South Wales, Australia, was explored. Comparison with a nondisadvantaged group suggests that while disadvantaged children have a more externalized, concrete, less differentiated, and less future-oriented view of self, they do not have a totally negative…

Pre, post, and follow-up assessments showed that two tutoring programs (fantasy play tutoring and skill tutoring) had equal impact on the development of nursery school children's cognitive and linguistic development abilities. However, fantasy play tutoring showed a greater potential for maintaining or increasing social participation. (Author/MP)

When requesting funds to serve students who are disadvantaged, local education agencies should describe the criteria for selecting students, and the types of programs and services to be offered. State staff will then be able to determine adequately which target populations are being served in the state. (CT)

Urban parents, particularly those who are poor and members of a minority group, are intimidated by the schools that serve their children and, therefore, do not participate in school programs. This article suggests steps urban principals can take to establish an effective parent involvement program. (Author/WD)

Identifies ways in which adjustment styles of disadvantaged youth might or might not influence how these youth respond to employment surveys. (PR)

The movement for spelling reform supports the broadening of educational opportunity. Our spelling is outdated, inflated, inconsistent and often absurd. While a simplified spelling system won't eliminate all reading problems, it will make reading problems easier to isolate and diagnose. (MW)

A Parent Assistance Plan (PAP) was designed to teach parents to work on their children's language at home. Of four matched groups of nursery children, one received PAP, one PAP plus Distar language at school, one Distar only, and one no treatment. PAP groups showed significantly greater language development. (Author/SJL)

Socially disadvantaged children who were tutored on a one-to-one basis twice a week did not show any significant achievement gain over nontutored children, although data from tutors, parents, children, and teachers indicate that the tutoring should have had an impact. (CJ)