One of the keys to enabling children from disadvantaged backgrounds to be successful in school and later in life might be to provide them, through mentors, with exposure to literacy and numeracy, and to introduce problem-solving techniques to them early in their school careers. This study was concerned specifically with the mentorship experiences…

Issues related to educational equity and charter schools are discussed, and evidence is presented from a national study of equity in charter schools. Three standards of equity are discussed, and the equity provisions of state charter legislation are reviewed. To supplement existing studies of charter school demography, researchers at New York…

This case study chronicles the lives of 20 inner-city adolescents and their experiences in and out of school. It explores the social construction of reality among these seventh and eighth graders and refutes the myth that these disadvantaged students suffer from cognitive deficits. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "The…

A proposal is made to meet the requirements of a section of the Master of Science in Education degree plan with a special emphasis on alternative education. The requirements of the section of the degree plan can be met with recommended courses from the catalog of Western Oregon University. The proposed alternative education emphasis focuses on…

This report presents both a framework for understanding positive factors that contribute to the healthy development of young people, termed "developmental assets," and a portrait of 6th-to-12th-grade youth based on that framework. The report analyzes and interprets data from 99,462 youth in 213 communities collected during the 1996-97 school year.…

This paper describes the implementation and support of a data-driven decision-making evaluation system developed by the San Francisco (California) school district to assess programs within the district aimed at improving achievement for students of color, especially African American and Latino students. In 1982, a Consent Decree was established to…

This paper investigated whether educational reforms in England and Wales since 1988 have differentially affected schools serving socially disadvantaged communities, focusing on the impact of marketization and performance regulation in England. Data came from the Impact of Competition on Secondary Schools (ICOSS) project, a longitudinal study of…

This booklet summarizes findings from Just for the Kids' recent examination of promising practices in Texas Schools. It focuses on those schools that served disadvantaged students yet had high performance over 3 years. The key focus of Just for the Kids is on the students. Schools break down the goals of school reform into manageable chunks,…

This report is the first report from the National TRIO Clearinghouse on the topic of TRIO programs and technology. The focus is on the use of technology, particularly computer-based technology, by Upward Bound (UB) students and the role that UB projects play in providing access to that technology. UB is an intensive college preparatory support…

This CRitical Issues Bibliography describes resources that provide an overview of the issues involved for Native American college students, a minority group that is among the least likely to attend college and one that has a low graduation rate. The bibliography concentrates on cultural influences that affect the participation and success of…

Evidence provided by analysis of science scale scores on the McGraw-Hill CTB/4 science test for grades 2 through 8 in Tennessee, part of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), shows that it is possible for high achieving school systems to show continuous improvement from year to year. These results would tend to offset fears that…

This report describes the magnet schools in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and analyzes students' access to magnet schools based on their ethnicity and residential location within the city. It also examines change in CPS enrollment patterns that may be related to the development of new magnet schools and magnet school policies. The report begins…

This paper describes the economic status of the African American family in Cleveland (Ohio) and in the United states as a whole and describes a model of interactions of social forces and economic factors that have influenced the declining earnings of African American families. The proportion of African American families in poverty in the United…

This is a checklist of suggested systems, policies and procedures for supporting Mental Health and wellness services within Migrant & Seasonal Head Start programs. This checklist was developed in accordance with the Head Start Program Performance Standards and represents a comprehensive best practice model. In this checklist you will find…

In 2003, Congress was scheduled to reauthorize Head Start, a federal-to-local grant program for the provision of early childhood education and comprehensive services, including health, nutrition, parental involvement, social, and other services, for low-income preschool children and their families. This document provides section-by-section…