Established in 1989, the Birmingham (Alabama) Public Schools' Infant Care Training Project is an essential component of the Ensley Young Mothers' program, an alternative program for pregnant teenagers. Approximately 250 pregnant students aged 12 to 18 enroll voluntarily in the program each school year. Approximately 90 percent are economically…

Major policy, management, and program issues face the Congress and new administration in the area of labor. Many of the nation's youth are leaving school poorly prepared for the new work world. The nation already has a large group of economically disadvantaged people who lack necessary skills. Annually, 900,000 or more workers are at least…

This brief reviews and analyzes issues surrounding public school financing, particularly for Latino communities and elementary school and secondary school education. A review of the current legal debate notes that there have been legal challenges to school financing since 1967, and that rulings have indicated that government has a responsibility…

This paper discusses the key role of information in helping minority group parents and students gain access to postsecondary education and offers a descriptive framework for understanding information needs and availability. The framework is a taxonomy of the kinds and types of information needed by students and parents in order for the student to…

Discussions about rural children at risk of school failure require careful consideration of the economic and cultural contexts in which disadvantaged rural children live. These contexts frequently differ from those found in metropolitan areas. A literature review discusses: (1) images and realities of rural America today; (2) poverty and…

This study described ways in which two groups of urban, low-socioeconomic children remained the same and differed after a transition year in skills-based curriculum and a continuing year in whole language curriculum. Both groups had experienced whole language instruction in the first two years in kindergarten and first grade. This investigation…

Based on current research, the study reports on how students spend out-of-school time, addresses issues related to the integration of services and parent and family involvement, and suggests ways in which the Chapter 1 program can play a more active role than in the past. Research has indicated that placing more emphasis on primary services for…

An exploration of sources of gang activity in an urban area used ethnographic research with researchers posing as mathematics tutors for 1 year in a school comprising seventh and eighth grades. The "tutors" attended six eighth grade mathematics classes and acted as assistants to the teacher. The classes of 25 to 30 students lasted 40 minutes and…

In an effort to help disadvantaged preschool children develop emergent literacy skills and improve their chances of future academic success, a cooperative project was implemented in 1991-92 by McNeese State University in Louisiana and a local Head Start agency to provide tutoring to Head Start children. University students enrolled in a teacher's…

The University of Chicago's Chapin Hall Center for Children evaluated the progress of the Making the Most of Out-of-School Time (MOST) Initiative in Boston, Chicago, and Seattle. MOST's goals are to improve the supply, accessibility, affordability and quality of school-age care, especially for low-income children; and to strengthen the overall…

Congress will likely soon enact work force development legislation that consolidates education and training programs, reduces federal funding, and gives states greater discretion in program and services design. It may also adopt welfare reform legislation that creates a block grant commingling cash assistance and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills…

Information is provided for individuals wanting to start or improve Alternative Cooperative Programs (ACE). The ACE program model was developed in Colorado to enhance the educational opportunities for special needs youth, maximize their abilities to live independently, and reduce their risk of dropping out. ACE programs serve handicapped and…

This report outlines the overall design and implementation of Teacher Support Teams (TSTs), a concept developed under the auspices of the Massachusetts Board of Education to help administrators, teachers, and other school personnel and parents to identify at-risk students in regular education. TSTs, developed at individual schools and…

This book is a compilation of papers presented at a seminar on cognitive development in South Africa and one additional paper. The papers were intended to stimulate research and stress the need for program evaluations. Papers concerned: (1) an initiative to improve black primary school teachers' English language, thinking, and teaching skills, and…

An instructional project designed a module on job interview skills for the Introduction to Occupations course, recommended for high school students by the New York State Board of Regents. The target population consisted of 16 students in grades 9-12, in the Carle Place Junior/Senior High School on Long Island. The majority of the subjects were…