The authors investigated a comprehensive set of predictors of high school completion and years of completed education for youth in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an ongoing investigation of over 1500 low-income, minority children who grew up on high-poverty neighborhoods. The study sample included 1286 youth for whom educational attainment could…

Used model of mediated effects to test processes of influence from parents' and teachers' expectations to sixth-grade outcomes. Results revealed that perceptions only partially mediated the effects of expectations to sixth-grade reading and math outcomes, yet added unique independent variance to these outcomes. Prior achievement emerged as…

Investigated the relationship between participation in special education in grades 1 through 6 and academic achievement among 1,234 low-income children participating in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Controlling for several factors, children in special education had lower reading and mathematics achievement scores, especially in grades 4-6. (SLD)

This study assessed the effects of an intensive 64-hour Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) coaching program on urban, gifted students' test scores. Ninety-seven students participated in the summer coaching program; 47 formed the comparison group. Results are discussed and analyzed. (JL)

Conducted a cost-benefit analysis of a federally financed comprehensive early childhood program, the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers. Used data for 1,539 program and comparison group children. Findings show that an established public program can provide benefits that far exceed costs. Outlines key elements of program effectiveness. (SLD)

Provides overview of the Chicago Longitudinal Study which traces the educational and social success of a large sample of low-income children from high-poverty neighborhoods in the Chicago area. The articles in this special issue highlight the contributions of school mobility, parent involvement, educational expectations, and other family and…

The effects of participation in the Chicago (Illinois) Child-Parent Center and Expansion Program from ages 3 to 9 on early school dropout at age 17 were studied. The Child-Parent Centers offer a government-funded educational intervention program in preschool through second or third grade in 20 locations in Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. Using…

Studies protective factors that inner-city high school students consider salient in overcoming adversity. Content analysis shows that the internal attributes such as perseverance, determination, and having the awareness to learn from the risk-attrition process surfaced. States that motivational support from family members and teachers was also…

This report describes how a longitudinal study was conducted, which examined 1,235 at-risk sixth-grade students (95 percent Black and 5 percent Hispanic) in the Chicago (Illinois) Public Schools and their schools and families. The longitudinal study traced the children's patterns of school adjustment since their enrollment in government-funded…