Drawing on a number of fields of educational research this article argues that girls come to school better prepared to meet its demands than boys. Parents encourage different skills in their children, as a result girls have more sophisticated communication skills, and are more likely to have been encouraged to participate in intellectual tasks…

Two booklets, "A Blueprint for Iowa's Young: Implementation Directions for the Framework Paper," and "Investing in Families, Prevention and School Readiness: Working Draft of a Framework Paper" present a framework for creation of a blueprint for implementation and management of community investment initiatives. The framework is…

Even Start is a family support program focusing on family literacy and school readiness. These first seven issues of the "Look at Even Start" newsletter cover topics such as transition between preschool and kindergarten, collaboration between programs and between parents and programs, ways Even Start programs respond to parents' needs…

This study compared the academic performance and classroom behavior of Hmong-refugee first and second graders to those of classmates from other ethnic backgrounds. Two cohorts of children and families from six inner-city Saint Paul (Minnesota) elementary schools participated in this ongoing longitudinal study, for a total of 528 children entering…

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) monitors the South's education reforms through "Benchmarks" reports, tracking progress toward 12 goals for elementary, secondary, and higher education that were endorsed by the SREB in 1988. The board collects state-by-state data every 2 years and compares how states are doing on over 60 different…

This handbook describes an alternative educational setting to prepare secondary students (usually ages 12 to 14) with behavior disorders or problems for full integration into regular secondary school programs in Peterborough (Ontario). In the program, the student's time is highly structured and closely monitored. Students receive individual…

Responding to increased interest in the development and education of children, many states have invested in initiatives to facilitate school success of prekindergarten-age children. Although national progress is encouraging, individual state initiatives are uneven, ranging from bold innovations with major funding to inaction and reliance on…

This booklet presents a short history of the Head Start program and discusses some of the challenges that the program will face in the 1990s. Project Head Start, begun in 1965, has helped 12.5 million children become better prepared to start school, and has grown to be the largest early childhood and family education program in the country. From…

Directed at the parents of preschool and elementary school children, this document consists of a collection of the informational brochures, catalogs, promotional materials, price lists, and order forms for a series of audiocassette tapes. All tapes are commercially available from Achievement Inc. Titles of tapes available are as follows: (1)…

A lack of education is a major cause of poverty among many Kentucky citizens. In 1986, Kentucky's dropout rate was the second highest of the 50 states. That same year, Kentucky established the Parent and Child Education (PACE) Program in an effort to combat the problems of insufficient education and poverty that tend to be perpetuated from…

The United States Education Department recognizes projects that effectively meet the special needs of educationally deprived students. In 1992, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Chapter 1 preschool program earned national validation as an "unusually successful" compensatory education program. The program has served as a statewide model, and…

This paper describes a project designed to facilitate and evaluate child and family mental health in the community, inside and outside of Head Start programs. Also detailed is a study of the effects of "Community Impact" programs and 6-week, focused, group interventions for children and families in programs predicted to increase…

Intended to enable parents to support and advocate for their children during transitions, this guide contains training activities and hands-on action tools to help parents and staff work in partnership as children transition into and out of Early Head Start, Head Start, child care settings, and elementary schools. The guide is divided into three…

The Arizona Head Start-Public School Transition Project was one of 31 federally created programs designed to improve low-income children's transition from Head Start to public schools through the third grade, making earlier interventions, and promoting continuity with the participation of parents, teachers, and community members. The Transition…

Abstracts of 46 projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Even Start program in 1990 are presented. Each project is from a different public school, public school district, board of education, or regional educational cooperative. Among the projects reported are the following: Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY)…