To help poorer students improve computer access, schools can provide computer instruction classes for local families, provide information sessions on how to purchase home computers, survey parents about access, maintain evening hours for student computer use, establish loaner programs for families, and develop neighborhood-access programs. (MLH)

These five articles consider some of the ways in which librarians work to ameliorate the circumstances that affect poor people. Topics include promoting access to the humanities to encourage people to become involved politically; serving the rural poor; homeless people; and library service to prisoners. (LRW)

Characteristics of hired farmworkers have changed little during the 1990s. These workers continue to earn about 58 percent as much as all wage and salary workers. Data tables and figures present characteristics of farmworkers and all workers: age, gender, race, educational attainment, citizenship, region, earnings, and occupations. (TD)

Discusses strategies to improve access to college and to increase the likelihood of academic success for economically disadvantaged and under-served student populations. Considers the use of technology and distance learning programs but stresses the need for integrated support services and college programming anchored in community-based social…

Directed at the chronically unemployed, poor single parents, and welfare recipients, microenterprise programs provide access to loans and technical training for the express purpose of creating small-scale self-sufficient entrepreneurs no longer dependent on public support. Lessons from international microenterprise programs, federal funding…

Argues that preschool intellectual enrichment is the key to closing the education achievement gap between children from minority and poor families and children from white middle-class families. Presents evidence that high quality child care contributes to school readiness. Discusses the emergence of education as one of the major issues in the 2000…

Presents the first in a series of articles discussing the implementation of North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement's Performance Accreditation framework in a school setting. Offers statistical information on Holgarth Middle School, a fictitious school "located" in a suburban area in a Midwestern state. (NB)

Suggests that higher education historians often ignore or minimize the history of developmental education. Argues that this memory distortion may be an effort to avoid the discomfort of facing the history of inequity in higher education. (Contains 28 references.) (NB)

Used a hierarchical linear model to examine contributions of neighborhood disadvantage, collective socialization, and parenting to African American 10- to 12-year-olds' affiliation with deviant peers. Found that community disadvantage had a significant positive effect on deviant peer affiliations. Nurturant/involved parenting and collective…

An ongoing longitudinal study of 558 focal youth and families was used to review mechanisms of resilience. Findings demonstrated how resilience to economic adversity for families was promoted by marital support, effective problem solving, and a sense of mastery. For youth, resilience was promoted by support from parents, sibling, and other adults.…

Describes group-counseling intervention used among homeless young people and their mothers designed to reduce conflicts by enhancing the participants' interpersonal problem-solving skills. Considers numerous factors (school, family, and residential) that affect psychological health and sense of well-being. Reports on comments generated by the…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the construct validity and reliability of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) in 1,115 low-income Latina mothers. Exploratory factor analyses conducted in half of the sample supported a one-factor solution, which was subsequently confirmed in the remainder of the sample using confirmatory factor…

Despite federal investments in student aid--plus tax credits exceeding $70 billion and state expenditures for institutions and students exceeding $65 billion--record high financial barriers erected by recent changes in tuition and financial aid have prevented hundreds of thousands of college-qualified high school graduates from enrolling in…

In this article, the authors discuss the importance of education policies that aim at diminishing social disparities in poor countries, focusing on a program in higher education developed in the state of Rondonia in the Brazilian Amazon. Rondonia is a region in which people have suffered deeply from the consequences of social inequalities. Many…

Wisconsin's Early Childhood Excellence Initiative was a $15 million public policy effort designed in 2000 to increase child care quality for low-income children. An evaluation revealed significant improvement in classroom quality, the quality of caregiver interaction, and caregivers' beliefs about children following a complex multi-faceted…