This paper outlines several policy and program suggestions for improving Connecticut's urban schools which build upon the States's current intiatives and incorporate the current research findings emanating from studies of effective schools. The author first provides a framework for his suggestions by reviewing research to delineate the…

Two cases of planned curriculum change are examined to illustrate the limits and possibilities of curriculum reform. One case used upgraded mathematics curriculum for low achieving, urban, U.S. secondary students. The other examined a national curricular reform in Scotland where secondary curricula and national examinations were closely aligned.…

Traditional schooling falls short of preparing students for real-world experience in failing to incorporate informal, "in-context" learning situations. Reviews the literature on experience-based education and cites several successful urban programs that involve students in the educative community through learning experience, career…

To project the future of schools in the 1990s, current societal trends are discussed--from the Swedish perspective--that have resulted in dramatic problems of large urban schools. School institutional changes are needed to meet societal changes. The inherent conservatism of the school can result in a mismatch with society. (SLD)

Current research on the relationship between home, school, and community is reviewed and juxtaposed to perspectives on communities developed by scholars of families and child development, community developers, and urban sociologists. Research findings suggest the importance of learning more about the communities in which family involvement…

This report presents 28 conference papers, which represent different thematic and scientific perspectives designed to create an educating city theory. The translated titles of the articles include the following: (1) "Foreword" (P. Maragall); (2) "Introduction" (J. Trilla Bernet); (3) "Conceptual Itinerary Through the…

This report presents the evaluation results of the Queens Tri-School Confederation magnet programs in New York City: programs designed to reduce minority-group isolation among high school students in three high schools and simultaneously improve the quality of their education through the sharing of resources and expertise. These programs, which…

Currently there is a strong movement to make schools more effective by raising the quality of instruction, program design and organizational management. This paper reviews recent research in adolescent development as a major focus for determining the success or failure of specific practices in secondary schools. Factors of school effectiveness are…

This journal edition focuses upon the many resources for teachers to draw upon in order to infuse law-related education (LRE) into their classrooms. Isidore Starr explains the reasons behind the LRE movement, while Mabel McKinney-Browning describes the existing American Bar Association's programs in LRE. Judith Zimmer covers the Street Law…

This report examines some myths and stereotypes in the light of factual information about cultural and learning characteristics of minority group children in urban school settings. Cited among the most prevalent myths are that the academic failure of urban children results from genetically determined intellectual inferiority, and that the failures…

Despite increases in teacher education enrollments, urban schools continue to suffer from serious staffing vacancies, due in part to the shortage of prospective minority teachers. This article lists representative programs operating on Federal, state, higher education, and school district levels designed to recruit teachers for placement in urban…

Challenges the following assumptions: (1) parental choice will motivate schools to improve programs to compete more effectively for students; (2) private not-for-profit schools will respond to marketplace incentives; (3) research indicates an advantage of private over public organizations; (4) public choice theory promotes school improvement; and…

The difficulties of social complexity in discipline in large urban schools and other multiethnic schools may be treated as a resource for curriculum. This paper describes social communications curricula, strategies for their development, their usefulness particularly in large multiethnic urban schools, and a list of resources. The first of three…

This report examines factors in high and low academic achievement among Hispanic females in public schools, based on three data sources: student interviews, parent interviews, and classroom observations. The first part of the report, Student Interviews, is subdivided into five sections. Section 1, "Cognitive," covers the following: (1)…

This book analyzes the ways in which majority and minority interests interact in the educational system. It begins with an examination of the excellence movement in American education, and then discusses an alternative approach through which, by emphasizing adequacy rather than insisting on excellence as an institutional requirement, minority…