A residential program for 150 disadvantaged junior high school students from both urban and rural areas of New York was conducted at Skidmore College. A part of Programs to Excite Potential (PEP), this pilot project is based on the hypothesis that a multisensory art experience can stimulate academic motivation and strengthen the self-confidence of…

Proposed is a model for basic preconditions for "the design of effective programs in developmental learning." Such a program should include (1) a continuous psychocognitive diagnosis and assessment of each child; (2) a structured, coherent, sequential approach to content area; (3) a focus on symbolic manipulation and the essentials of a concept;…

Factors such as jobs, counseling, family backgrounds and relationships, adult associations, school personnel influence, and general poverty characteristics were analyzed within the Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) and comparative groups of youths. Focus was placed on how these elements influenced their adjustment to self and school. Although 84% of…

The Mexican-American Affairs Unit of the U.S. Office of Education was established to plan, develop, and coordinate improved educational opportunities for Mexican-American children and adults. Staff members of the Unit conducted a field survey in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas to discuss current programs and future needs.…

Although specific procedures for "participant observation" (PO) vary, it is always based on the principle that while the observer (O) will adopt preconceived structural outlines and dimensional scales in the course of his summary, he--rather than any outlines or scales--is the instrument for inferring data. Applications of modified PO…

The required annual report on compensatory programs funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I, describes California's efforts in the first full year of operation. In general, the programs sought to raise reading and verbal performance levels, improve performance as measured by achievement tests, and also improve students'…

This supplementary report on Project Concern, an educational intervention program in Hartford, Connecticut, which buses inner city minority group children to suburban schools, deals with the nonacademic aspects of the experiment. Described briefly is the typical low socioeconomic background of the elementary school children. The reaction of the…

A survey of program administrators, interviews with program personnel and State employment service officers, and a research review were conducted to develop guidelines for meeting the occupational and training needs of undereducated adults. Data from programs in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia,…

The final technical report summarizes the development, operations, and effectiveness of Project Concern, Hartford's program of suburban school placement for inner-city children. This approach to educational improvement through busing disadvantaged students to neighboring towns was funded in part by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title…

The purpose of this project was to establish a demonstration program to provide guidance services for: (1) non-college bound high school seniors, (2) recent high school graduates currently unemployed, and (3) former high school students who had dropped out of school within 3 years of initiation of the project. Specific objectives included: (1)…

The teacher and instructional objectives for mentally retarded children are discussed, and traditional bases for objectives are detailed, including treating deficiencies, compensating for deficiencies, training for social competence, teaching the academic tool subjects, and strengthening motivation and self esteem. New bases for instructional…

A group of rural sociologists initiated this 1958-1965 research project for the purpose of increasing knowledge about social and economic adjustments of low-income people in the rural areas of the South. Factors found to be associated with the adjustment of low-income families and individuals were anomia, level-of-living, joint decision making,…

The findings of several tests are used to describe some learning disabilities and patterns common in lower-class Puerto Rican and Negro children. In particular, perceptual dysfunction is pointed to as a major causal factor in the reading problems of the disadvantaged. In one urban slum school, 40 percent of first graders showed serious dysfunction…

A social psychological analysis of the school life of disadvantaged children indicates that conflicts result from the lower-class youngster's need to adjust to the expectations of middle-class society. A review of social psychological theory points to the implication that the cultural conflict is a fundamental one going to the very heart of basic…

A questionnaire of 50 items covering five categories of statements designed to determine their perceptions of office work was administered to 498 advantaged and 477 disadvantaged rural high school girls in six states, and to 326 city office employees throughout the United States who had attended a rural high school no more than three years prior…