The study described in this book was designed by the Southwest Regional Laboratory as part of a proposal to create a Metropolitan Center for the Far West Laboratory. The Center would focus on the challenges facing urban educators in its service area. Metropolitan school districts, characterized by high numbers of minority students, successfully…

A qualitative study, presented in the form of an analytical narrative, examined children's symbolic and social use of superhero stories--popular media stories that vividly reveal societal beliefs about power and gender, which are themselves interwoven in complex ways with race, class, and physical demeanor. A second-grade classroom in an East San…

A study investigated how schools and teachers attempt to meet the needs of language minority students and to utilize literature as a means to teach English language reading to students while building their English language capacities. Language arts and reading instruction was observed in 12 third- through fifth-grade classrooms in three elementary…

This study summarizes the theory and the available evidence on the effects of size on the responsiveness and efficiency of local government. For each of four important sections of the California Code bearing on the structure and authority of cities and school districts, the study summarizes (1) the primary provisions of the present Code, (2) some…

The contents of this document are organized in five parts, as follows, Part I, a "Preface" entitled "The Dilemma," by Florence May, discusses the anxiety felt by teachers who are, for the first time, trying to teach people about whose culture and background they know little or nothing, and how educational change could deal with…

PRESENTED IN THIS CONFERENCE REPORT ARE HIGHLIGHTS FROM POSITION PAPERS, SPEECHES, AND DISCUSSION GROUPS. COMPLETE INTEGRATION RATHER THAN MERE DESEGREGATION, AND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL WERE THE MAJOR EMPHASES OF THE CONFERENCE. POSITION PAPERS INCLUDED (1) A REPORT ON HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT'S PROJECT CONCERN, IN WHICH INNER-CITY STUDENTS ARE…

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) project has the goal of contributing to the improvement of mathematics education in the inner-city schools by identifying models to enhance the professional lives of teachers and encouraging the entry of high school mathematics teachers into a larger mathematics community including mathematicians from…

In response to a California State education reform bill that requires professors of methods courses to return to the classroom once every three years, a university profesor of 15 years taught 9th-grade English in Watts. This essay presents nine tips for others who anticipate their own return to teaching. (IW)

The development and implementation of a humanistic educational management system in a large urban school district has been associated with demonstrable changes in organizational climate. The management system is humanistic in that teachers and principals select their educational priorities based on student needs and mutually agree with supervisors…

One of the goals of the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students (TRUCCS) project was to understand how the community college fulfills its multiple missions. This article uses qualitative data collected through a series of focus groups with students, faculty and administrators held at the nine Los Angeles campuses during the Fall…

This paper describes the Head Start Primary Continuation Learning Project, a demonstration project designed to investigate whether continuity of relationship with an assistant teacher from Head Start through third grade can help children maintain gains made in Head Start and provide smooth transition into public school. Ten assistant teachers…

To help students through the difficult process of transfer, many institutions nationwide have developed Transfer Centers, physical locations where students can come to learn more about the transfer process. The mission of Transfer Centers is to promote and support community college students who are seeking to transfer to four-year institutions.…

Two conference papers describing various collaborative arrangements within the educational community among teachers, students and others are presented in this document. The first paper, "Successful Collaborations" (Eugene Cota-Robles), describes the following projects in California that seek to forge collaborations to improve the…

Our schools are environments of race and class and these school environments structure opportunity based on race and class. This paper explores how students' lives and their access to postsecondary education are framed and structured by the influences of race and class. The college choice decision process of three female Black students from a…

This is a transcript which documents 1980 hearings of the House of Representatives Committee on the District of Columbia. The transcript compares past and present conditions in Washington, D.C. and other American cities; surveys how Federal assistance has helped or hindered the ability of cities to confront urban problems; and explores how Federal…