The 2000 KIDS COUNT Data Book examined the isolation that plagues many low-income families. The lack of home Internet access will only deepen the isolation as opportunities and meaningful connections to support services become primarily available online. This snapshot examines the demographics of the digital divide between those who have and those…

This report compares the relative effectiveness of education systems across the developed world. Data come from the Programme for International Student Assessment, Trends in International Maths and Science Study, and the International Adult Literacy Survey. Overall, educational performance in some OECD countries is consistently better than others.…

Tens of thousands of students, especially those from low-income and minority groups, are unprepared academically for higher education, come from backgrounds in which college aspirations are not the norm, or lack the information they need to gain access. In addition, there is a growing difference in the rate at which students from different income…

A series of four policy seminars was held in 1999 to discuss suggestions to ensure that Latino children reap the benefits of standards-based accountability and to illuminate related issues for the educational system. This report summarizes those seminars. The first was "Educational Standards, Assessment and Accountability: A New Civil Rights…

This report presents the conditions of children of color in the state of Washington, with statistics about economic support, health, and safety. Comments from leaders of color and other true stories help explain the situations reflected by the numerical data. It is important to note that most children of color in Washington live in solid families…

The focus on schoolwide reform that grew from the failure of traditional Title I programs to raise student achievement overlooks one of the few effective Title I programs, the private remedial education partnership. Since the early 1900s, some public schools have begun relying on private remedial education companies, such as Sylvan Learning…

Alternative schools are defined in this report as schools or programs targeting students who are unsuccessful in the traditional school environment. These schools often see their mission as one of dropout prevention. Certain features are usually associated with alternative schools, including a clear mission, a small enrollment, a more personal…

In recent years there has been an international backlash against the status of girls as learners, with many people asserting that boys are suffering from new forms of educational disadvantage as girls achieve academically. This paper develops the notion of the space-between, a heuristic device to analyze and explain girls' experiences of…

Teachers, parents, and older students need to understand the mechanisms that have subverted honest efforts to give working class children in the United States a decent education. This book discusses why this has happened and suggests ways to develop a pedagogy that makes progressive methods, education that empowers, and powerful literacy possible…

This brief synthesizes seven papers commissioned for a series of meetings convened by Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning to discuss raising the achievement of low-performing students. The purpose of the brief is to identify some causes of the low performance of marginalized students, and then offer research-based solutions for what…

This document is a revised report on a "sensorium" organized in 1974 to encourage participants to sense and feel the effects of deprivation on disadvantaged people, with a focus on students in elementary and secondary schools and on educators involved in educational reform efforts. The interdisciplinary gathering gave professionals a chance to…

This article discusses how many state courts, using the "judicially manageable" tools provided by state academic standards, are meeting the challenges set by "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez" in 1973. A generation ago this decision was regarded as a major setback to education reform because, faced with…

This document is an updated version of the Title I Paraprofessionals Non-Regulatory Guidance. It has been reorganized so that all questions addressing similar topics are in the same section. In addition to a number of minor and technical changes, the following questions are new or have been significantly revised: (1) B-15 is revised to highlight…

The Guide to U.S. Department of Education Programs and Resources, commonly referred to as the Guide to ED Programs, provides an overview of all Department of Education programs authorized and funded under federal law. It also includes information on competitions administered under these programs as well as on the laboratories, centers, and other…

New Jersey GEAR UP has met, or nearly met, its recruitment and retention goals beginning in 1999-2000 and sustaining cohorts through 2003-2004. Student participants are members of low-income families and communities in four urban locations with high unemployment rates and high numbers of children living in poverty. The evaluator finds that New…