A proposed paradigm for restructuring public schools has at least two essential components: (1) schools and school personnel must recognize the strengths that students bring to school and draw on these capacities to nurture achievement; and (2) schooling should be based on collaboration among its many constituencies, including school personnel,…

Materials are presented for conducting a workshop on increasing participants' awareness of how to integrate assessment options into a comprehensive plan. A typology for assessment options is provided that includes: (1) paper-and-pencil tests; (2) performance assessments; and (3) personal communications options. Assessment options are discussed in…

The One-Room-Drop-In-School (ORDIS) emerged as one of Tennessee's dropout prevention program innovations. A pilot ORDIS was started in Nashville (Tennessee), in a high density housing project where concentrations of poverty and illiteracy usually exist. A five-bedroom apartment in the housing project was set up as a school. A certified teacher,…

This essay examines the challenges that today's children and families face due to the rapidly changing nature of modern society, and suggests some solutions to help ensure the optimal development of children and adolescents. Rapid technological change, the decline of the extended family, the increased number of women in the workplace, and…

This book comprises 19 essays that attempt to tell the truth about urban poverty, social dislocation, and changes in American family life. They show that the rise in the percentage of children living in poverty is due to an increasing number of female-headed households and a decline in the earnings of young men. The following papers are included:…

Part of a 3-year study of the Chapter 1 Neglected or Delinquent (Chapter 1 N or D) Program, which provides compensatory education services to youth in state-operated juvenile and adult correctional facilities, this report presents descriptive findings in the following five areas: (1) characteristics of youth; (2) correctional education; (3)…

This special report from the National Commission for Employment Policy on coordinating federal assistance programs for the economically disadvantaged contains two parts. Part 1 includes recommendations for improving public assistance coordination programs in general and employment and training programs in particular. Eight recommendations focus on…

This book examines the threat to childhood development posed by living amid chronic community violence and the link between a child's response to growing up in an atmosphere of violence and danger and the social context established for that child by community and caregivers. The 11 chapters in the book are as follows: (1) "The Meaning of…

The Literacy and Health Project was set up to determine how reading and health problems were connected. A research phase documented the relationship between literacy and health. Information was collected from community organizations, literature review, three case studies in Ontario, and key informant interviews. The consultation process involved…

This regional workshop on teacher education at a distance met to review existing distance education modalities and identify common problems and issues; cooperatively develop innovative strategies and guidelines for meeting the needs of girls, disadvantaged groups, and those in remote areas; review existing networks in distance education for…

A study was done to examine the lived experience of conflict among students in a transitional class for returning long-term absentees in Walker Hill High School (a pseudonym), an inner city New York City high school. The project was a substudy of the New York City Dropout Prevention Evaluation Project. The theoretical framework of the study began…

Three essays put forth recommendations for improving various aspects of American education. The first essay, "Teacher Preparation," focuses on the impact of several social, global, and technological trends on American schools and teacher education. In light of these trends, it is concluded that teachers must understand the ways in which America is…

This kit contains a guide and materials for a workshop on the requirements of a schoolwide project under Chapter 1 (Hawkins Stafford Act of 1988). Included are the Presenter's Guide, nine transparencies, and one handout. Schoolwide projects are allowed to use Chapter 1 funds to upgrade the entire educational program of a school when several…

This paper describes six strategies for California teachers to consider in teaching the state's history-social science curriculum to educationally disadvantaged students. The six strategies are: (1) enriching history through literature; (2) connecting history with other learnings; (3) connecting history to personal experience; (4) adapting to…

This collection presents a cross section of research into the theme of equal opportunities in education in the Netherlands. The majority of articles are on the Dutch situation, which resembles that of other countries in many respects. Contributions include: (1) "Educational Inequality Research in the Netherlands. Conditions, Constraints and…