Employs the case study approach to show how the Reagan Administration's assault on environmental policies more adversely affects blacks and other minority groups than whites. Reviews recent research that shows minorities heavily concentrated in dangerous occupations and communities where the risk of exposure to toxic pollutants is greatest. (JS)

Reports an interpretive study of curriculum differentiation which looks at a lower-track curriculum at a midwestern public high school. Examines the relationships among curriculum differentiation, classroom conflict, and social differentiation. Concludes that curriculum is a sociocultural construction, that student responses are crucial…

Improving public school education, especially for the poor, requires defining and articulating some vision of the common good. This article reviews key positions taken by liberals and conservatives regarding educational reform during the 19th and 20th centuries and critiques these positions with regard to their disservice to the poor. (IAH)

Discusses the impact of the City University of New York's open-admissions policy and its effect on academic quality. It examines the school's changing student demographics over the years and incoming-student quality. It raises the issue of lowering academic standards to meet the educational level of the changing student population. (GLR)

Discusses the problems associated with remediation in vocational education and job training and argues for the need to reform the current system. The authors explain that reform would require the coordination and referral mechanisms familiar to policymakers as well as pedagogical reforms that have rarely been considered. (GLR)

Discusses underestimation of women's skills as an issue of concern for all women and for socioeconomically disadvantaged women in particular. Factors contributing to underestimation are gender-biased expectations, socialization, gender-biased definitions of skills, discrimination, and low self-esteem. Presents interventions to increase skills…

This study examined contexts that influenced urban high school physical educators' conceptualizations of realistic student goals, noting how teachers changed curriculum content to handle student noncompliance. Field notes and interviews indicated that teachers substantially changed their programs over time, and many programs exhibited…

Thirty-six Hispanic high school sophomores were identified as academically resilient (from impoverished stressful background with a grade point average of 2.75 or above). Compared to their nonresilient peers, resilient students believed more in their own cognitive abilities and placed less emphasis on having close ties with family and friends.…

Children with HIV may develop a range of neuropsychological abnormalities associated with the direct effects of HIV on the central nervous system (CNS). Behavioral and social-emotional difficulties may also result from HIV infection. Those with HIV may experience learning problems and academic difficulties. Discusses neurological, cognitive,…

A study investigated effectiveness of a University of Southern Queensland (Australia) program to improve access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. Results suggest that, although the program improves access, it has inherent inequities, does not provide adequate student support, and does not consider student readiness for the demands of…

Magnet schools were created as a result of the failure of mandatory desegregation plans, but the magnet schools concept has spawned the ideas of controlled parent choice of schools and the chartering of public education. Implementation of the Goals 2000 Act could jeopardize trends magnet schools have set in motion. (SLD)

Explores whether England is developing an American-style underclass and argues that England faces transforming changes in the near term similar to that of the United States but faster and possibly more politically volatile. The author addresses the likely effects of the revolution on English society and comments on the political context in which…

Examines the demography and the social and health status of Latino children, focusing on the implications for the formulation of public policy and the implementation of programs. Significant health issues by developmental stages are discussed, from infancy through adolescence, as well as issues surrounding access to medical care and health…

Examined the quality of child day care provided at 11 day care centers affiliated with New Chance, a nationwide program serving teenage mothers on welfare and their children. Comparisons with national standards and the quality of similar day care centers indicated that children in New Chance centers received good, but not exceedingly high, quality…

Discusses the rationale and basic features of an educational partnership between Boston University (Massachusetts) and the Chelsea Public Schools (Massachusetts) designed to rebuild Chelsea's school quality. It reviews the reasons for the educational quality decline in today's urban public school system and highlights the underlying principles and…