This report examines the wealth of Pennsylvania school districts, the effort districts exert to support education, school expenditures, and the effects of district wealth on students. Important findings related to disparities in wealth and spending on education include: (1) the polarization of wealth distribution during the 1980s made over 90% of…

This conference address discusses New York State programs for children and families, focusing on a mentoring program. New York State has 44 rural counties, which comprise 80% of the state's total area. Rural schools face limited financial resources and access to services. Rural school children are more likely to face failure than urban or suburban…

This report of a hearing on the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (U.S. Department of Education) focuses on programs that may help the plight of black males in the country's educational system, i.e., ways in which educational research and reform can address the problems of equal education, high dropout rates, poor student attitudes,…

An alternative high school program was evaluated. In 1990 the Program for Alternative Comprehensive Education (PACE) enrolled 40 students in grades 9 through 12 from 20 school districts in Nassau County (New York). Students had been assessed as being at risk for dropping out. The curriculum emphasized self-paced learning in an individualized,…

New Futures, founded in 1987, is a multicity foundation-funded initiative designed to reduce the school dropout rate, teen pregnancies, and youth unemployment. The foundation's expectations for a 5-year agenda and program strategies are described in this implementation guide. Based on institutional change, the project utilizes community…

As part of the School Action Effectiveness Study, 406 Milwaukee inner-city, unemployed dropout youths were surveyed seven months after intake into an employment counseling and placement center. Personality characteristics were assessed at intake. At follow-up, personality characteristics, employment and schooling status, and self-reported police…

This report analyzes a set of interlocking placement and labeling practices that heavily influence access to educational opportunities in the nation's largest urban school systems. The practices analyzed include high school admission, within-school tracking and grouping, and grade promotion and retention. Study conclusions and related…

This first of a series of four interrelated studies reviewed the current participation rates of Western Australia's Aborigines in technical and further education (TAFE) courses, surveyed 101 students in the Aboriginal Access course to identify problems they had, and surveyed teachers in the Access course and in mainstream vocational courses to…

This publication presents a summary of the research obtained from senior high schools in Minnesota that used the Minnesota Secondary School Follow-Up System to collect data on the class of 1987. Data were collected from 84 high schools, plus a sampling of Minneapolis, with responses received from 10,705 students (76.8% of those surveyed). Of the…

Presenters at a public hearing testified about strategies that were working and those that were considered not to be working in the Wisconsin vocational education system. The strategies that were cited as "working" were: education provided to businesses by VTAE (Vocational-Technical Adult Education district) colleges; interaction between…

How the nature of the campus culture helps determine the levels of enrollment and retention of African-American students is examined in this study conducted at Oberlin College, Ohio, a college that has shown relative success in enrolling and retaining African-American students. The study provides excerpts from numerous interviews with students,…

This manual contains a complete set of program formats, activities, and references covered by the Dare to be You Training Program. The program, piloted in a rural Colorado County, is designed for use by parents, youth, teachers, church, and service organizations to help them deal with adolescents' problems and to assist youth in developing skills…

The Center for Urban Research in Education (CURE), jointly conceived by the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools and Portland State University, was established in 1987 by the Oregon State Legislature to explore solutions to the educational problems of at-risk student populations, especially those in urban settings. This paper shares the results of…

New Beginning is a transitional program for limited-English-proficient (LEP) secondary school students in Dade County, Florida whose prior school experience was interrupted or limited. The program currently serves 102 students in four schools. Most participants are Hispanic or Haitian. Students are selected by district-wide criteria and grouped in…

Designed as a channel for communication among City University of New York faculty regarding initiatives to reduce attrition and promote student success, this publication contains articles on various aspects of student development and bilingualism. The volume contains: (1) "The Process Is the Purpose," an introduction by Anthony F. Russo,…