Introduces background issues regarding the education of homeless children in urban areas, focusing on problems of definition and identification and sociological factors related to homelessness. An overview is provided of the articles of the special issue. The challenges are how to meet the needs of an amorphous and troubled population. (SLD)

Presents the case study of a transitional school for homeless children that specifically targets their educational needs through an interagency attempt to serve poor families and children in an inner-city setting in Charlotte (North Carolina). Findings and recommendations based on this interagency approach are discussed. (SLD)

Considers the nature of the urban crisis and proposed solutions. Policy ideas are presented that center on a level metropolitan playing field, one in which neither governments nor residents of cities and suburbs would be hostage to their municipal profiles and would have no incentives to seek comparative advantage. (SLD)

This interview with Billy Tidwell, Director of Research at the National Urban League, discusses contemporary issues in education, training, and urban development, beginning with an overview of educational reform. Minority education and the role of the National Urban League are considered in light of social problems that affect the ability to learn…

Describes a qualitative research project examining homelessness's effects on children's schooling, highlighting a South Carolina intervention program's success. Research disclosed an informal homelessness "caste system," the political unpopularity of providing homeless services, homeless kids' high rates of academic failure and problem…

Examines U.S. public schools' changing demographics and their effects on barriers to equal opportunity for racial and ethnic minorities. Disabilities of poverty, inadequate income, denied access to shared American values, and collective discrimination obstruct these groups' high educational attainment. Equity plans and monitoring must eliminate…

Provides a starting place for teachers to learn more about the needs of homeless children, and to incorporate this information into lesson plans. A list of instructional activities and projects gives students, teachers, and parents a compassionate perspective. Includes a list of resources on homelessness and housing around the world. (MJP)

An Edmonton (Alberta) adult learning center developed a participatory education program that integrated literacy development with health promotion. Low-income women learned skills and strategies to access health information and resources, as well as related literacy and language strategies, and subsequently reported improved eating and exercise…

Suggests that distancing is the dominant response to poor people by those who are not poor and that distancing, separation, exclusion, and devaluing operationally define discrimination. Examines U.S. classism in the context of theoretical propositions about the moral exclusion of stigmatized others. Describes cognitive, institutional, and…

While studying 16 middle schools engaged in "Turning Points" reforms, authors confronted a contradictory American culture that embraces democratic ends for schools, but resists democratic means to achieve them. Three demographically different schools struggled and compromised to incorporate civic virtue, thematic learning, social…

Following decades of mutual disengagement, coordinated school health programs (CSHPs) are emerging in response to the current state of children's health and education. CSHPs usually feature staff health promotion; health education; school health services; counseling, psychological, and social services; nutrition; physical education; a healthy…

Argues that teacher trust in students and parents is critical to school success. Details study showing that even after accounting for variation among schools in student demographic characteristics, prior achievement, and school socioeconomic status, trust was a significant positive predictor of differences among schools in student achievement.…

This article discusses the poor reading achievement of African-American children in urban schools and argues that prevention efforts must begin prior to kindergarten. Key variables influencing young children's performance, including poverty, general oral language skills, dialectal variations, home literacy practices, standardized testing bias, and…

Education for All (an international movement of governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society and the media) set objectives in Jomtien (1990) and reaffirmed in Dakar (2000) that, among other things, work towards all children having access to free, compulsory, good quality primary education by 2015. School dropout may hinder the…

Science education standards established by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) urge less emphasis on memorizing scientific facts and more emphasis on students investigating the everyday world and developing deep understanding from their inquiries. These approaches to instruction…