Describes the challenge and dilemmas facing administrators and school boards in recruiting exemplary teachers for low-performing schools. Provides examples from several urban school districts. Lists some of the political, managerial, and instructional dilemmas that superintendents' face trying to redistribute exemplary teachers and administrators…

Describes a public school model that gives historically underserved urban and rural middle schoolers an improved chance at college and life. KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) uses a five-pillar plan that focuses on: more time in school; choice and commitment by teachers, parents, and students; power to lead for the school leader; high expectations…

Urges two-year colleges to refocus their mission and goals in light of their poor image and status in higher education; their largely urban location; and their nontraditional, often high-risk, student population. Argues for cohesiveness in institutional mission, and new curricula more sensitive to students' urban context, demographics, and career…

Analyzes economic and social costs of functional illiteracy in industrialized countries, highlighting Canada and the United States. Identifies the functionally illiterate and the illiteracy-poverty cycle. Estimates the cost of Canadian illiteracy is between $4.2 and $10.7 billion. Suggests measures for preventing adult illiteracy, including…

A study of the effects of an academic support program for educationally disadvantaged, mostly Black engineering students found the interventions were effective in improving academic achievement, particularly when used early in the college experience. Implications for admissions, identification of potentially high-risk students, and intervention…

Formulates a conceptual framework to assess the iatrogenic effects of human services. Discusses the structurally negative effects incorporated into the system, when these services are used inappropriately, and what methods might test the iatrogenic potential of these services. (JS)

Argues that textbooks legitimate selective forms of knowledge underlying supposedly democratic reforms heavily influenced by conservative economic/political forces and eclipsing the historical experiences and cultural expression of the less powerful. Views textbooks as part of social construction of reality. Calls for politicized, multiple…

There is an implicit general plan currently uniting federal and state financing policies, however, it is inefficient, inequitable, and ineffective, involving obsolete state financing policies and mistaken federal responses. Implementation of another plan available would require federal intervention in state financing policies. (MLW)

Examines the relationship between the underrepresentation of Black students in gifted education and particular school-related and socioeconomic-status-related variables. Suggests that the recruitment of additional Black teachers and investigation of alternatives to present placement practices can achieve proportional Black student representation…

The effects of aid offers on enrollment decisions by college applicants from the classes of 1972, 1980, and 1982, and the effects the type of aid offered had on minority students are analyzed. All types of aid had a positive impact on decisions by college applicants including minority students. (Author/MLW)

Describes how an elementary classroom teacher discovers and explores the power of aesthetic experience in an educational context. Discusses how the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh helps an exceptionally difficult class of 11-year-old female students in suburban Dublin, Ireland, become interested in their education. (KM)

Reviews the literature on home-school disjunctures in language use. Argues that social inequalities are the true source of the academic failure of minority students and that attention must be given to the political link between school and society. (FMW)

This longitudinal study assessed differences in classroom arrangements (peer tutoring versus teacher instruction) and student behaviors for students of low versus high socioeconomic status (SES). Results with 94 teachers and 416 students indicate that peer tutoring was more effective in increasing academic engagement of low-SES students than…

Describes activities conducted in a fourth-grade classroom in Cincinnati (Ohio) with low-income students through the AT&T Learning Network. Students' developing interest in subject areas including national news, environmental issues, child support, coping with death, computer literacy, school rules, cultural awareness, and local history is…

Describes the theoretical framework and structure of the Teaching Excellence for Minority Student Achievement in the Sciences (TEMSAS) program and presents the outcomes for 483 preadolescent youths, 86% of whom were at-risk of low academic productivity. The paper discusses the program's efforts at building student confidence and academic…