This applied dissertation was designed to evaluate a Reading Recovery program at an alternative school in Florida. The Reading Recovery program was used as an intervention for improving students' reading skills and performances on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) that is given each year to students in Grades 7 and 8. The…

The turnaround recommendations and framework in "The Turnaround Challenge" grew out of both new research and synthesis of extensive existing research, as carried out by Mass Insight Education & Research Institute and its partners since September 2005. If the main report is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, this supplement represents…

The educational achievements of children in foster care have been determined to be below average in individual studies. In the present investigation, 31 studies were examined via four meta-analyses to answer questions regarding the educational status of children in out-of-home placements in multiple countries. Data analysis encompassed the…

Focusing on failure experiences, two studies explored the attributions of self-blame and responsibility and the motivational patterns of avoidance and increased diligence in elementary and middle school students. In the first study, 298 third through sixth grade students and 396 sixth through eighth grade students completed a self-report…

Because relatively few black males successfully complete college, this study sought to determine how black male freshmen at a predominantly white university differed from other freshmen in their values, aspirations, and assumptions about college life. In the fall of 1989, the ACT Entering Student Survey, plus 30 locally developed questions, was…

Findings of a study that examined the relationship between student demographic characteristics and at-risk status are presented in this paper. Demographic characteristics likely to place students at risk include low family income, low parental education, single-parent family, and limited-English proficiency. Data were derived from the National…

This newsletter issue contains 10 articles focusing on failture to thrive and the feeding of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Articles have the following titles and authors: "The Feeding Relationship" (Ellyn Satter); "Cultural Dimensions of Feeding Relationships" (Carol Brunson Phillips and Renatta M. Cooper);…

Elementary students who are overage due to retention are compared with those who are overage for other reasons on both at-risk indicators and demographic factors. Records of 127 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders were examined with respect to student performance on academic indicators of at-risk behavior. Findings indicate that overage students…

Many of the first-wave reform initiatives of the 1980s have been successfully implemented on a widespread basis and are having an important influence on the schooling process. The reform movement was expected to fail because of strong financial, political, and organizational arguments. Reform initiatives were said to be insufficiently funded,…

To investigate unsuccessful principals, those individuals who have been fired, transferred, or "counseled out" of a principalship by the superintendent, nine Washington school superintendents were interviewed. Based on the conclusions from these initial interviews, a self-response questionnaire was developed and administered to 30…

This short 3-page article presents four examples of innovative higher education programs that failed because the ideas were imported from other institutions without understanding the substructures that were needed for success. In the first case study, a Writing Across the Curriculum program was implemented through writing-intensive courses…

Although grade repetition is prevalent in U.S. schools, recent research indicates that this practice does not work as intended to ensure basic skills mastery, avoid failure at higher grade levels, or lower dropout rates. This report, based on "Flunking Grades: Research and Policies on Retention" (London: Falmer, 1989), edited by Lorrie A. Shepard…

The objective of a study was to determine if academic achievement in nursing courses could be used to predict success on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). It investigated the relationship between NCLEX outcomes and academic achievement in theory and clinical courses and the relationship between NCLEX…

Ethnocentric racism is especially evident in American schools. In educational institutions, Black children learn that schools do not like them, do not respond to them, do not appreciate their culture, and do not think they can learn. Research indicates that such attitudes are realistic. For several reasons, schools are ideal places to support and…