This booklet was developed to assist agencies and groups in developing effective programs for single parents in rural areas. Most of the concepts also apply to urban and suburban settings, but rural parents carry the extra burden of great distances and geographic and social isolation. The handbook is organized in six sections. The first section…

In September 1985, the Prince George's County Public School System located in the Washington metropolitan area east of the District of Columbia, began implementation of a Milliken relief program to revamp its equity strategy. Initially, 10 of 117 elementary schools in the system were targeted for relief, but by September 1988, the Milliken program…

This study investigated factors that play a role in the fading effects of prekindergarten programs for economically disadvantaged children. The school adjustment of 1,284 low-income, minority children in prekindergarten and kindergarten programs funded by the government (i.e., Child Parent Center; Head Start) was traced through the third year of…

An experienced art teacher working with students in grades two through six implemented and evaluated a practicum intervention designed to improve the self-images of male black students, their academic accomplishments, and their feelings of pride in their school. Five actions were taken to attain the objective: (1) cultural materials produced by…

The involvement of 61 at-risk parents in a teacher-parent partnership project which was implemented among families of kindergarteners and first graders in three poor, rural school districts in South Carolina was assessed. Core questions were: (1) What are the parents' participation levels and patterns of home and school learning? (2) What is the…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop a program to increase high school juniors' and seniors' academic achievement by one grade level, their self-esteem by one level (as measured by the North York Secondary School Self-Concept Inventory), and to increase parent positive responses and interest in the program and its continuation. Examination…

This study examined alumni giving as related to undergraduate involvement, student housing, academic success, and satisfaction with the education received. Two hundred alumni donors from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale's College of Education were surveyed, with a 70% response rate. The study found that alumni donors had not been as…

The need to provide elementary school teachers with effective parent involvement strategies for hard-to-reach parents was addressed by designing an inservice for teachers which presented research-based strategies. Strategies included using a positive, non-threatening approach, employing personal, two-way communication, providing guidance and…

This paper describes a study that consisted of interviews with 38 elementary school principals in 21 Western and Midwestern states. The sample was made up of 27 men and 11 women with an age range of 35 to 64, all of whom worked in small-town schools. The paper describes the various challenges faced by these principals, including academic deficits,…

Over 12 million dollars was allocated to Delaware during the 1986/87 school year to fund compensatory education programs for educationally disadvantaged students under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. Chapter 1 supplemental services are targeted at low-income children; the children of migrant workers; and handicapped,…

The Attendance +Plus program was initiated by the Fabens Independent School District to address the problem of high student dropout rates in west Texas schools. Aspects of the successful plan include cultivation of caring attitudes; emphasis on individual importance; rejection of myths about minority students and dropouts; and encouragement of…

Based on the results of a survey of administrators of exceptional student education, a Florida task force examined methods for increasing the involvement of minority parents in the education of their exceptional children and for providing outreach to parents who are isolated. The report centers on parents of exceptional students who are from low…

Modifying the classroom behavior of passive college students is central to the task of improving education. At Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, an Academic Orientation Workshop for freshmen was designed to communicate the college's expectations of high student involvement in classes from the outset of the student's college experience, in order to…

This paper, by the President of the Detroit Board of Education, discusses aspects of the school choice issue, providing examples from recent developments in the Detroit (Michigan) public school system. The paper argues that freedom of choice in an educational context is a critical right of parents, and that schools of choice offer the best…

Parental choice is seen as a promising approach to school improvement. This report supports choice by suggesting answers to the following questions that reformers might ask: (1) is school performance poor enough to justify wholesale change? (2) what have schools done about troubling trends in student performance? (3) what do other researchers say…