Although schools administer many assessments, there is a lack of consensus regarding the best way to combine different pieces of information to facilitate evidence-based decision-making, particularly within multitiered systems of support. Although largely unheard of in education, the nomogram is an evidence-based assessment tool that is widely…

In this article, I serve as a secretary for the critical policy analysis presented by hundreds of teachers, parents, students, and community members during 19 public hearings on school closures in New York City. In testimony at hearings, community members rejected the narrow, statistical approach they felt the Department of Education was using to…

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of the Class-Wide Function-related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) program, a group contingency intervention for whole classes, and for students with disruptive behaviors who are at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). The CW-FIT program includes four elements designed from…

This investigation examines child and teacher perceptions of teacher-child relationships among 157 children (M age = 6.1) who attended 12 full-day kindergarten classrooms in a large urban school district. Children and teachers completed comparable assessments designed to measure perceptions of social support from teachers and they also completed…

Equipping youth with and without disabilities for the world of work has been the focus of ongoing legislative and policy initiatives. The authors examined the extent to which career development and vocational activities were available to and accessed by youth with severe disabilities or emotional and behavioral disorders attending 34 urban,…

This article offers description and interpretation for understanding the exercise of leadership in teacher collaboration. Data gathered in two urban high schools through observations and interviews were coded and categorized following Miles and Huberman's modified analytic induction technique. The analysis contributes to emerging theory on…

In this study we examined the relationships between family demographics and level of satisfaction with school contact as possible determinants of multiple dimensions of family involvement in early childhood education. Participants included 171 urban, Head Start parents (108 mothers and 63 fathers). Results revealed that for mothers, having less…

Although teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States declined for ten straight years during the 1990s and were less than half of comparative figures from 1957, the year of the all-time high of teen pregnancy, nearly one in ten teenage young women still became pregnant in 2001, with half of these young women giving birth. Teen pregnancy…

John Marlowe, currently working with the Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt, highlights the lessons about education that he has learned in Cairo. Closer to home, Judie Glave describes how love and discipline are the hallmarks of the Children's Storefront School in Harlem, New York. Its pupils come from homes scarred by drugs and violence.…

School-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) has been identified as an effective and efficient method to teach students prosocial skills. It requires both effective behavior support practices and systems that will support these changes, including data-based decision making among the school leadership team. There are many practical and systemic…

Describes several administrative-community alternatives for governing metropolitan schools: (1) administrative decentralization, (2) community participation, and (3) community control. (CT)

In order to develop a teacher selection process which could be utilized by the personnel department of the Birmingham, Alabama, school system, this study reviewed data obtained from the literature, comparable school districts, and selected materials in use in Birmingham. The resulting 10-step process is outlined. (Author/SJL)

States that central to any efforts to improve urban schools is the relationship between the school managers and the teachers' union. Recommendations include creating learner-centered schools; focusing on improving the knowledge and skills of teachers; negotiating "Living Contracts"; and expanding school choice by making public schools…

Describes field trips and related activities in which nearby institutions, local celebrities, and distinctive aspects of community life are employed to enrich the Schools Reaching Out project at the David A. Ellis School in Roxbury (MA). (DM)

Compares the Schools Reaching Out programs at two elementary schools in Roxbury (MA) and New York City with four similar projects elsewhere. Describes how an intervenor not involved with the ordinary operation of the school can help design, direct, motivate, and assess a school outreach program. (DM)