Intended for elementary school teachers and supervisors, this collection of articles focuses on creating meaningful learning through an integrated language arts approach. Divided into three sections, the articles discuss the theoretical and practical frameworks that support program integration; examine real programs, tested procedures, and actual…

The testimony presented in this report addresses the effects of recent reforms on the achievement of disadvantaged students, their dropout rates, and their enrollments in vocational education. An evaluation of programs in four large-city school districts revealed that educational reform has been neither a disaster nor a boon for the performance of…

The Instructional Aide Program of the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools trained instructional aides to provide direct instruction to selected underachieving pupils in the classroom setting. The aides attended in-service training sessions and were provided with supplementary materials and numerous instructional activities in the areas of oral…

To determine the relative contribution of team competition and peer group practice sessions to the effectiveness of a classroom instructional technique, Teams-Games-Tournament (TGT), 299 seventh grade mathematics students participated in an experiment varying reward system (team vs. individual competition) with practice mode (group vs.…

Demographic, biological, psychosocial and environmental data on 400 black and white families of lower middle and lower socioeconomic backgrounds were collected and synthesized to determine the factors influencing the development and acculturation of children born in urban Baltimore. A research team of pediatricians, epidemiologists, psychologists,…

This manual deals with the Lau Center's technical assistance approach for assisting school districts in their efforts to develop an educational master plan to meet compliance guidelines of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act as it pertains to limited or non-English-speaking students. The following areas are addressed: (1) impact of "Lau v.…

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN INSTRUCTIONAL-VOCATIONAL PROGRAM FOR ABOUT 50 TEENAGE MALE STUDENTS WHO ARE EITHER LOW ACHIEVERS OR ACTUAL DROPOUTS. THE CHIEF PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM IS TO ASSIST THESE STUDENTS TO COMPLETE THEIR EDUCATION OR TO BE MEANINGFULLY EMPLOYED. IN ADDITION TO RECEIVING INSTRUCTION IN READING, MATHEMATICS, VOCATIONAL, AND SOCIAL…

The report of sampling techniques used in "A Study of the Sustaining Effects of Compensatory Education on Cognitive Skills" is briefly summarized. The sustaining Effects Study is a large, multi-faceted national study of issues in the compensatory education of elementary school students. Data describing the characteristics of the students…

A FIVE-YEAR LONGITUDINAL STUDY WAS CONDUCTED OF 1550 CHILDREN, 384 OF WHOM WERE INTENSIVELY STUDIED AFTER BEING IDENTIFIED BY THEIR TEACHERS AS DEMONSTRATING SOCIALLY APPROVED OR SOCIALLY DISAPPROVED BEHAVIOR. AFTER 5 YEARS, THE SOCIALLY DISRUPTIVE GROUP OF 192 STUDENTS WAS LOWER IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT THAN THEIR APPROVED…

Numerous reports have noted the difficulties inner city children have in the typical public school environment. The inner-city child, whose basic skills are often less advanced than those of his suburban counterparts, drops further behind as he grows older. Furthermore, few programs are directed toward changing the basic attitudes and academic…

This study of a role change intervention, a type of cross-age tutoring, was conducted as a "true" experiment. Forty tutors from four low-achieving ninth-grade general math classes and 68 tutees from three fourth-grade classes were randomly selected. The classes were in inner city schools in which about ninety percent of the students were black and…

In a survey of 304 teachers selected randomly from Alaska's rural schools, significantly fewer teachers in Native communities thought students would attend or graduate from college or could achieve at or above national norms. Many Native leaders view these attitudes as evidence that prejudiced attitudes create school failure among Native children.…

This report draws heavily on the material already written about the programs and sites that were visited, as well as speakers at forums, presentations at roundtables, and summaries of discussion groups, available on the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) website. This report describes some of the common approaches, strategies, and policies that…

States are engaged in serious efforts to raise student achievement, paying particular attention to narrowing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing students that has persisted in public schools for decades. The achievement gap is particularly troubling because, all too often, those at low achievement levels are minority, special…

In cities across the country, educators and civic leaders are taking on the challenge of transforming large, failing high schools where graduation rates have remained below 50 percent for many years. They are replacing these high schools with small schools that will prepare students in underserved urban communities to meet the high standards…