Intended to inform policymaking in the public and private sector, this booklet compiles secondary data for 53 health status indicators and service needs of America's children. The book provides both a graphic and textual summary for the data and addresses long-term trends, where applicable. Some statistics indicate the extent of progress toward…

In Kentucky, high stakes assessment of schools and school districts resulting from the state's educational reform initiative raises the issue of fairness. Should educational officials and teachers be held accountable for student performance despite vast differences in the socioeconomic conditions of the surrounding communities when extensive…

The importance of a skilled and highly educated workforce to economic well-being is widely recognized, and the relationship between skills and income is becoming stronger over time. Largely as a result of growing demand for skilled workers, state-level training programs are becoming increasingly important as complements to federal programs.…

James B. Duke established the Duke Endowment in 1924. This document examines what the Carolinas have accomplished since that time--both through the endowment's investments and otherwise--and what remains to be achieved. The first chapter describes the Carolinas' of the 1920s. While the rest of the nation enjoyed economic prosperity, the rural…

This report on the educational systems in China and South Africa compares the policies and processes of the two countries as they attempt to expand and improve rural education. Both countries experienced a major political upheaval, and even though there is a 50-year time lag between these events, political changes ushered in radical educational…

This KIDS COUNT data book examines national and statewide trends in the well being of the nations children. Statistical portraits are based on 10 indicators of well being: (1) percent of low birth weight babies; (2) infant mortality rate; (3) child death rate; (4) rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide, and suicide; (5) teen birth rate; (6)…

With increasing unemployment in the United States, the nation has seen a drop in the percentage of children in poverty with one or more parents in the workforce, a reverse of trends evident in the late 1990s. This research brief presents a statistical snapshot of working poor families with children in 2001. Analyses revealed that in 2001 children…

This book offers educators and parents who work to forge authentic partnerships between home and school new insights based on the author's experiences with family literacy projects. During an 8-year study, the author examined the experiences of adult participants in school-based family literacy programs, exploring what accounted for sustained…

This report uses the national Baccalaureate and Beyond longitudinal database to look at the early career paths of 1993 college graduates. The results provide information on which college graduates became teachers, where they taught, and whether they left teaching within 3 years. Overall, it is not easy to predict who may be potential teachers when…

This report details the impact of the changing health environment on children's health and access to health care in New York state. The report links key measures of child health with recent policy changes, such as expansions in health insurance coverage, Medicaid managed care, and welfare reform. Data from 1997 are used as a baseline measure for…

This third biennial "Map and Track" examines state-level efforts to promote positive outcomes for young children, including efforts to enhance children's economic security, healthy growth and development, and school readiness. The report provides information about the following types of state-funded child development and family support…

These 11 issues discuss concerns related to child advocacy and provide information on problems in children's lives in the United States. Regular features include the editorial column "A Voice for Children," a status report on federal legislation related to children, descriptions of Children's Defense Fund activities, news from the Black…

Portions of this paper were presented at a research briefing, sponsored by the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. Results are presented from evaluations of several early intervention programs, all of which provided high quality, center-based early childhood education and…

Review of recent educational research compares academic outcomes of poor rural students and poor urban students and explores rural community characteristics and rural school characteristics that may affect students' opportunity to learn. Information specifically on poor rural students, schools, and communities is sketchy, unfocused, and not…

Employed a method for assessing material well-being and social resources using a set of observable indicators such as adequacy of food, quality of housing, financial assets, consumer goods, and social resources. Identified two dimensions, consumption and social/financial capital, which when used to assign SES were predictive of a family's ability…