This study attempted to determine whether better predictions of school-level achievement scores than have been reported for big city school districts could be attained by determining whether concentrations of poverty and related social characteristics are related to achievement in such a way as to make it possible to identify specific threshold…

One way to find common ground in the midst of cultural diversity is to focus on parents' most fundamental educational desires for their children. The Alliance for Achievement Network helped one Chicago elementary school council select the values of reading, studying, self-esteem, and international pride. Special projects embodying these values…

Describes the results of an intensive study of Chicago elementary schools on how relational trust among teachers, students, parents, and principals influences school-reform efforts. Relational trust is grounded in respect, personal regard, competence in core role responsibilities, and personal integrity. Describes the benefits of relational trust…

Examines the effects of decentralized governance on instructional and curricular organization for disadvantaged pupils at the classroom level. Using descriptive information gathered from four inner-city elementary schools in Chicago and Albuquerque, this study finds that strong professional control over program decisions remains intact regardless…

This document comprises a progress report on the 1987-88 activities of Corporate/Community Schools of America (C/CSA), a not-for-profit coalition of business executives, concerned educators, and community leaders working to reform urban public education by setting standards for higher quality and by demonstrating successful instructional methods…

In September 1988, the Corporate Community Schools of America (C/CSA) opened its first model school in Chicago's North Lawndale, an innercity neighborhood scarred by deprivation, violence, and hopelessness. After briefly describing the school's laboratory approach, this report defines C/CSA's philosophy, goals, and educational plan and refers to…

Based on a two-year study of four elementary schools in a poor, crime-ridden section of Chicago, this article finds the public school an island of relative safety in an ocean of danger. Community-wide approaches are needed to stop lawlessness and fear in innercity schools. Includes seven references. (MLH)

In many urban areas, educators rely on magnet schools to strike a delicate balance between the need to create opportunities for equity in education and the need for parents to have greater choice among schools. But, are magnet schools successful? This document considers whether they fulfill the promises of high achievement and desegregation in…

This document comprises a progress report on the 1988-89 activities of the Corporate/Community Schools of America (C/CSA), a not-for-profit coalition of business executives, concerned educators, and community leaders working to reform urban public education by setting standards for higher quality and by demonstrating successful instructional…

A parent-involvement program was set up in a black, inner-city public school in South Chicago through a partnership sponsored by an Illinois Board of Education Even Start grant. The program, with afterschool, home-visiting, adult-literacy, and field-trip components, proved rewarding for participants. (23 references) (MLH)

Whether or not progressive educational practices are commonplace in American schools is explored, moving between descriptions of progressive education at the national level and close studies of several local school systems in the Chicago (Illinois) area. The focus is on elementary schools. The first half of the book centers on progressivism in the…

The voluntary transfer policy that is part of the desegregation plan of the Chicago (Illinois) public schools appears to have negative effects on the "sending" schools that students elect to leave. Fourteen sending schools were selected for study from a population of 105 low-achieving, low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood…

Several years ago, a coalition of Chicago civic groups met to determine the scope of the urban dropout problem and develop strategies for dealing with it. The resulting research program rejected both attrition and survey analysis approaches in favor of direct examination of all student records for three graduating classes (1982, 1983, and 1984)…

In response to the tradition of examining a new test's validity by comparing it with a well-established multiple-choice test, a study investigated whether multiple-choice tests with one right answer can measure the reading comprehension process as defined by constructivists. The study compared the information obtained from two different…

This publication considers the role of urban, non-public elementary schools, particularly in Chicago (Illinois), in breaking the cycle of inner city poverty and also offers information and guidance on how to support and strengthen such schools. Following an introduction, the first section details the proliferation of such small, non-public schools…