The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) requires Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to establish Youth Councils as a sub-group focused on low-income youth at risk, ages 14-21, who face barriers to school completion. Youth Councils present an opportunity to develop a comprehensive employment and training system. The WIA's vision of a…

The Transition Class is an alternative model to the traditional college sequence of developmental courses. Offered as an option to prospective students before they complete the college application and financial aid procedures, the 12-week Transition Class is nongraded and free of charge. By taking the class before they fully matriculate in the…

Innovative programs of school reform and research for diverse student populations have tended to focus on specific cultural, linguistic, or ethnic populations and on specific local communities. Findings from this body of research over the years have resulted in a core of principles for designing and implementing programs for at-risk students. Five…

This study skills curriculum is part of a "pipeline" program designed to recruit, matriculate, and graduate educationally disadvantaged students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (UMDNJ-RWJMS). It is an integral part of the Biomedical Careers Program (BCP) and the Science…

This complete Kids into Health Careers (KIHC) information package contains guidance materials to use when working with local school systems. It provides operating instructions on how to choose and address an audience, either at a school or community-based organization. (KIHC is an initiative being developed to supplement the pool of qualified…

Focuses on the impact of weak labor force attachment on grade retention by the ninth grade among urban black children. Suggests that higher risks of grade retention are associated with welfare dependency only when income is obtained from welfare alone and receipt of welfare is persistent. (MJP)

Utilizes questionnaires to examine the various approaches to assessment used by inner city London, primary grade teachers. Specifically investigates assessment in English, mathematics, and science. Discovers a wide variety of approaches, both formal and informal. Discusses these findings in light of recent policy developments. (MJP)

School-based media provide information, help organize information and ideas, help create values and attitudes, help shape expectations, and provide models for action. Schools should continuously involve students in analyzing media message systems and help students develop critical thinking (including media literacy). (RLC)

There is growing concern in the United States about the education of the students regarded as least likely to succeed in school. Indeed, a major thrust of U.S. President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation is designed to meet the educational needs of those students who traditionally have struggled the most in school. Variously labeled as…

Primary school learners' first encounters with mathematics in a traditional learning environment often create lifelong "math phobia."(Papert 1980) The situation in a country emerging from an oppressive education system designed to educationally disempower the majority of the population is much worse. The typical scenario in a previously…

This report reviews approaches that federal, state, and local governments have used to integrate the delivery of health and other educational and social services to at-risk families, and examines barriers to designing and implementing integrated service delivery systems. The report contrasts "system-oriented" integration efforts, which…

This collection of six essays and six case studies analyzes efforts at reform and the changes that have taken place in Indian higher education over the past four decades. The six essays describe several innovative and interesting programs and analyze key policy areas. After an introduction by Philip G. Altbach and Suma Chitnis, titles include: (1)…

Title I is a compensatory education program supported by funds from the Department of Education to enable high-poverty schools to provide opportunities for educationally disadvantaged children. In 1995-96, Title I provided funding to 38 campuses in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) (Texas) through schoolwide programs and…

Child labor, which is children's work that is exploitative and dangerous, poses a major human rights and socioeconomic challenge. Universal primary education may be the most effective instrument for meeting this challenge. The expansion of compulsory primary schooling could reduce hours of work by children and help them protect themselves against…

A look at the figures in a recent report, "The State of Learning," reveals that for the students in New York City, who are almost one third of all those in the State's public schools system, the state of learning is deplorable. The children who are most at risk receive fewer resources than their more advantaged peers. Minorities…