In this article, the author focuses on the Washington, D.C. school system and Antonio, a child victim of violence, to discuss the background problems that affect the school performance of children from troubled neighborhoods. People who work in schools know that children--even kindergarten and preschool children--don't come to them as blank slates…

A mental health clinic was developed for toddlers with developmental disabilities and significant behavior problems from families living in poverty. The clinic was a collaborative effort between a community-based Birth-to-Three agency and a university. The purpose of this clinic was threefold: to provide direct mental health services for these…

State policies to equalize educational spending, cap bond and levy rates, require common teacher salary schedules, and consolidate school districts are geared toward improving quality and attempting to resolve problems of inefficiency. However, despite the use of state policy to equalize educational quality, educational gaps persist. Yu and Lau…

Hispanics are one of the largest and fastest-growing minority groups in the United States. Projections indicate a need for an increase of 20% of practicing engineers by 2010. Despite the growing number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers in the American economy, education statistics suggest that too few Hispanic students…

The "National Index of Violence and Harm" (NIVAH) tracks levels of violence and harm in the United States and identifies trends over the study period 1995-2003. NIVAH is comprised of nineteen variables in the areas of interpersonal, intrapersonal, institutional and structural violence and harm as experienced by people in the U.S. Two…

Too often, African American elementary school students, including the gifted, disengage academically and underachieve in public schools. Increased research on the underachievement and low achievement of African American students in gifted education programs has suggested that an array of educational, personal/social, and familial factors (e.g.,…

The Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means asked the General Accounting Office for information on characteristics of single-parent families receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and whether the characteristics of this population have changed in recent years. This report examines how certain…

This paper provides a review of the literature on the needs of young children in the United States who are at risk for failure and offers suggestions for early intervention and societal change. The problem is documented in sections concerning: a definition of "at risk," the importance of the first years of life, prevention, successful programs of…

This study used longitudinal data from the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP) to examine three issues regarding effects of economic deprivation on child development: (1) the effects on children's developmental outcomes of poverty and such poverty correlates as single parenthood, ethnicity, and maternal education; (2) the developmental…

Roughly 600,000 families are homeless today in America, while over 2.7 million children are in foster care or out-of-home placements. Few policymakers have examined these issues together, or understood that they are interrelated and must be addressed jointly to break the cycle of family disintegration, violence, and poverty. A recent survey by the…

The difficulties facing teachers in the largest urban school districts in the United States are different from those in smaller districts. It is especially important to identify the success stories of teachers and students in demanding urban classrooms. Star teachers are those who are outstandingly successful in terms of student achievement and…

This is a step-by-step guide to developing a social skills curriculum and designing its instruction. It teaches how to construct assessments and plan interventions to address problems in student social behavior using procedures that can be used to set instructional goals and develop interventions for almost any student who has trouble with social…

This unit uses six activities to examine questions of world hunger as seen in an African context and the related policy issues. Each activity allows students to explore a case study demonstrating a factor that affects hunger and grapple with some of the challenges facing policymakers today. Students should come to understand the nature of hunger,…

This unit introduces students to the diversity of rice culture and rice-based farming systems in Asia and the Pacific. Students examine issues related to the needs of the future global population. Six rice-producing countries are under study: Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, and Thailand. The lessons include: (1) "Rice in…

Designed to improve Massachusetts' children's healthy development and success in school, this plan discusses high quality early care and education programs that are responsive to the needs and preferences of families, and that provide parenting education and family literacy and support. The goal of the plan is to create a coordinated system of…