The Center for Peace Education is an ecumenical nonprofit organization that provides educational programs for peace and social justice in the Cincinnati (Ohio) area. In the 1980s, through a gradual process, the Center introduced nonviolence and conflict-resolution training into several urban schools in and around greater Cincinnati. In 1992 the…

The stories of five young black men growing up in the Roxbury area of Boston (Massachusetts) in the late 1960s and early 1970s illustrate the difficulties and coping required to reach adulthood in the city. The young men were part of the Pathways to Identity project of Harvard University, a longitudinal study that has, since 1966, interviewed 61…

In April 1996 the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Family and Child Well-Being Research Network convened their second annual research briefing on welfare and children's development. The briefing was intended to: (1) create a venue for productive exchange between researchers and policy makers; (2) maximize the usefulness of research…

As the case management approach has become increasingly popular, a new phenomenon has emerged. A client may have several case managers, each employed by a different project, and these managers may not be aware of each other. The National Center for Children in Poverty has recently conducted research on case management in service integration…

The National Center for Children in Poverty recently conducted research on case management in service integration projects. The core of the study's information comes from 16 projects around the country, all serving children living in poverty. This brief discusses the characteristics of case managers, including their demographic attributes, tenure,…

Two documents are presented that were used to organize, create, and review portfolio evaluations of 93 community-based social action programs sponsored by the National 4-H, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Kellogg Foundation. The first document, "Project Portfolio Design," was used to direct local program leaders to assemble…

Research for Better Schools, Inc., Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) is engaged in an effort to put meaning behind the words "all children can learn" by charting guidelines for the work it takes to change urban education. The result is a decision-making strategy, the Urban Learner Framework (ULF), which focuses on the education or teaching and…

Using 20 years of longitudinal data on nearly 900 children aged 0 to 6 in 1968 (19 to 25 in 1987) from the University of Michigan's Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the authors measure the influence of family background, individual characteristics, economic resources (or the lack thereof), and the experience of particular disruptive family events…

This monograph concentrates on the components of collaborative cultures and how schools develop such collaborative cultures. Urban schools face unique challenges in the frequent lack of resources and the special needs of their often disadvantaged populations. The school culture is a unique quality of the school that is a complex web of norms,…

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) Project was a 5-year effort to reform mathematics instruction in urban schools by empowering mathematics teachers. Targeting over 3,000 high school mathematics teachers in collaboratives in 11 urban areas, including San Francisco (California), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and New Orleans (Louisiana), the…

As part of an effort to correct major social problems, the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) was created in the State of Washington. The ECEAP offers comprehensive, quality preschool programs for children of families who have an income at or below the federal poverty level. An introductory section of the report provides…

A study compared the ninth-grade performance of students who were randomly admitted to New York City career magnet high schools to those who were randomly not offered seats in those schools. The research measured the effect of career magnets on students of average and low reading ability whose academic records were not strong enough to gain them…

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans and a White House Advisory Commission of leaders concerned with the education of Hispanic Americans sent a survey to 32 federal agencies. Results show that most agencies have not adequately monitored Hispanic participation in the educational programs they sponsored. The…

The SUCCESS Program of the Des Moines (Iowa) Public Schools provides employment, health, mental health, and social services in a comprehensive "one-stop shopping" manner at the most accessible location for children and youth, the public school that they attend. During the 1995-96 school year, the strategies of the SUCCESS program were…

The focus of this study is the effects of a School Improvement Plan (SIP) on an urban elementary school. The school's regular education teachers were required to participate in one of five committees designed to prepare the SIP, which specified goals for improvement and the strategies for reaching them. Classroom observations were used by the…