This publication is comprised of the two 1999 issues of "News and Issues," a newsletter devoted to identifying and promoting strategies to reduce the young child poverty rate, and to improve the life chances of children still living in poverty. The Winter/Spring issue includes the following articles: (1) "Innovative Strategies Help…

This paper examines the associations between food insecurity, participation in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and children's well-being. We address problems of selection by restricting our sample to children in families in which at least one child participates in the NSLP. Results suggest that food insecurity is associated with…

Reviews textbook by Christina Szanton Blanc and others, incorporating viewpoints of students. Analyzes chapters focusing on particular countries, noting that the book sheds light on the old problem of disadvantaged children in postindustrial cities while also shedding new light on the more recent challenge of supporting human development in the…

Proposes teaching only language arts for three years for children from poor families who do not emphasize reading. Suggests methods including teacher and student story telling; story reading; practicing letter formations; singing or talking along with records or videotapes; discussing word meanings; reading poetry; and story writing with corrected…

Reviews evidence from preschool education programs to determine what impacts quality programs can have on poor children's intellectual and social competence. Reviews evidence from Head Start to determine whether preschool programs of national scope have produced the same effects as those produced by model programs. (Author/BJV)

Examined health and social factors associated with early grade retention. Factors found to be independently associated with increased risk of grade retention were: (1) poverty, (2) male gender, (3) low maternal education, (4) deafness, (5) speech defects, (6) low birth weight, (7) enuresis, and (8) exposure to household smoking. (HTH)

Summarizes the articles in this special issue on child poverty, policy, and welfare reform. Introduces and discusses the four major themes addressed by these articles: (1) poverty and economic policies affecting children; (2) consequences of poverty for child well-being; (3) qualitative research on family life and child poverty; and (4) programs…

Argues against the Bush administration's school choice proposal from historical and sociocultural perspectives. The Bush approach to education reform espouses educational excellence without addressing needs of children who are at risk of school failure. Equity for minority groups has never occurred as a by-product of a focus on excellence. (SLD)

Estimates costs of (1) full public funding of part-time and full-time programs for children under five who live in poverty; and (2) public and private funding for full-time programs for children under five who are not poor. (LB)

Examines the impact of children's attendance at preschool on teaching and learning in 77 low-income Hawaiian families' homes. Data from the families (18 participating in a year-long series of interviews) illustrate the development of 2 parental scripts, 1 for skills used in the home, and 1 for preparation for school. (SLD)

Describes two middle schools (IS 218 in New York City and Hanshaw School in Modesto, California) that stand out as models of how to put together innovative schooling plus help children and their families by providing health and social services on site. Both schools are located in poverty neighborhoods and enroll mostly students from disadvantaged…

Conventional explanations attributing the high infant mortality rate in United States to the prevalence of poverty and lack of adequate health care do not tell the whole story. Contributions of parental behavior, lifestyles, and public health care availability versus utilization must be examined in determining public policies to address the…

Provides statistical data and state rankings related to day-care center enrollment and financial support. Includes data on population, state expenditures, child care, corporal punishment, poverty, working parents, family income, single parent families, teen births, church-operated centers, and educational attainment. (PAM)

Comments on "The Timing of a First Birth and High School Completion" (Dawn M. Upchurch and James McCarthy) (1990). In considering relationships between adolescent childbearing and completion of high school, Upchurch and McCarthy misinterpret socioeconomic data. Their conclusion that young mothers are no less likely to graduate from high school is…

Demonstrates how several factors interact to diminish the chances of academic success for the children of public housing, and suggests how these chances might be improved. A first step is renewed commitment to housing conditions. Reduction of class size is a strong option for increasing achievement for children. (SLD)