This Kids Count data book provides statistics on the well-being of children in Louisiana. Data are provided for the state as a whole and for each of Louisiana's 64 parishes. An introduction summarizes findings for 1999, and a final section summarizes trends in the data over the past several years. Indicators used in the report to measure child…

Student financial assistance has long been a means to promote access to postsecondary education and attainment of college degrees. Numerous types of financial aid programs have proliferated over the years, including a relatively new concept that specifically targets high-risk, low-income students, focusing not just on getting them to go to college…

The purpose of "Focus" is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Changing poverty and changing antipoverty policies…

Background: This applied dissertation was designed to increase the awareness of a parent resource center located in an urban community. The center had been in existence for 10 years. Due to a massive urban renewal project, the original residents were relocated to other areas of the city. When the replacement housing was constructed, a different,…

Throughout Arizona and the Southwest, the odds are against high achievement in schools with a mostly Latino, mostly poor student enrollment. Some schools, however, "beat the odds" and achieve consistently high results or show steady gains. Why do these schools succeed where others fail? Using the methodology of business guru Jim Collins…

This study examined barriers to utilizing services for children, birth to age 3, through in-depth individual and group interviews with 70 parents and direct service personnel of provider agencies in seven Washington counties. Part 1 of this report offers examples and discussion of the difficulties parents have accessing services and how localities…

This data book examines statewide trends in the well-being of California's children. California is the only state where the majority of the children (56%) come from African-American, Latino, Asian, and Native American families. The report begins with summary tables of general state facts, including: (1) California's children under 18; (2)…

This Kids Count data book examines statewide trends in the status of Pennsylvania's children. The statistical portrait is based on 18 indicators of child well-being: (1) low birth weight; (2) lack of early prenatal care; (3) births to single teens; (4) infant mortality; (5) child deaths; (6) child violent deaths; (7) substantiated child abuse; (8)…

This Kids Count data book examines statewide trends in the well-being of Wisconsin's children, focusing specifically on child health. The book provides a baseline on child health at the point of elimination of the Aid to Families with Dependent children program and the adoption of Wisconsin Works (W-2) program. The statistical portrait is based on…

Secondary data sources, including the ERIC and National Dropout Prevention Center databases, were reviewed to identify programs and strategies effective in keeping at-risk youth in school and helping them make successful school-to-work transitions. The dropout prevention model that was identified features a system of prevention, mediation,…

This publication provides a model curriculum with a focus on welfare-to-work, school-to-work, and first-time employees. It emphasizes the basic competencies most valued by employers for the current and future domestic and global work force. Section 1 presents an overview of LifeWork, a performance-based transitional program that uses the…

This paper describes ethnographic research in a community college banking and finance program in the context of the opposing positions of the need for basic skills and preparation for jobs and the need for critical skills and preparation for citizenship in a democracy. After these positions are reviewed, research is described on students in the…

Project Discovery is a community-based educational intervention program for low income and minority students. It operates outside the traditional public education system. The following projects comprise the program: (1) Project Discovery for ninth to eleventh graders, which is a College Option Orientation program; and (2) Discovery Groups for…

An assessment is provided of the ability of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) prime sponsors and local educational agencies to cooperate in the development of innovative educational and training programs for low-income youth. The data presented are based on observations and interviews conducted at 40 of 47 operational sites…

This factbook on youth employment contains 58 graphs and tables of data concerning social and economic indicators of the employment and employability development of youth aged 14 to 24 as per 1979. Indicators examined are population growth and distribution, marital and family status, educational status, labor force and employment status by…