This qualitative work analyzes selected major literature on self-esteem from the standpoint of urban youth education. It defines and describes elements of self-esteem, and links self-esteem to self-worth, learners' social environmental cues, teacher attitudes, and other variables. At-risk youth carry the additional burden of internalizing…

Two contrasting educational responses to cultural diversity are discussed. One is a core curriculum education movement and the other is a multicultural education movement. It is argued that neither of these responses will have an appreciable effect on the school-learning problems of minorities who have not traditionally done well in school.…

Reviews research on the relationship between youth employment experience and later employment opportunities. Discusses the effectiveness of subsidized work experience programs and emphasizes the need for evaluation research on such programs in order to determine whether they truly prepare disadvantaged youth for the exigencies of the labor market.…

Reviews recent research on school effectiveness to identify the behaviors of effective principals. Maintains that effective principals emphasize achievement, set instructional strategies, provide an orderly atmosphere, frequently evaluate student progress, coordinate instructional programs, and support teachers. (Author/JM)

This paper explores in depth the possibility that learned helplessness and depression may explain the gap in academic performance between middle-class children and children from minority and poverty backgrounds. Emphasis is placed on Black Americans, because more data is available about this group. (Author/SJL)

Suggestions are made for a new paradigm for identifying talent potential in underserved populations. Suggestions focus on dynamic assessment of gifted behaviors within students' own sociocultural contexts, more varied and more authentic assessment, and integrating identification processes with learning opportunities. (Author/PB)

Reviews what is known about the overall effectiveness of Title I programs and discusses how Title I can become a more effective intervention. Makes three policy recommendations for fostering better research and better programs, centering on accountability, continued research and development, and randomized experimental studies of promising…

A tax increase is necessary to improve Illinois public schools, as this analysis demonstrates. When Illinois is compared to the rest of the United States, it has high wealth, low taxes, and low commitment to education. In fact, it has the financial capacity to have much better funded schools. Illinois ranked 12th nationally in average buying…

Issues pertinent to the positive and lasting reform of innercity school systems serving disadvantaged minority youth are explored in this paper. Current and past reforms to improve school effectiveness have dealt primarily with instructional deficiencies of the school. However, three clusters of problems must be addressed: institutional…

Catholic schools have had astonishing success in working with inner-city children. Recent research has confirmed that the performance of students in Catholic schools surpasses that of urban public school students, usually at lower cost. A recent survey also indicated that 83% of public school parents and 82% of inner-city poor parents want…

This paper aims to analyze entitlements designed to guarantee equal educational opportunity rights for Latino students in Massachusetts public schools, review policy debates on these issues, and recommend areas for research. The primary interest is threefold: (1) entitlements could be expanded; (2) to show where their limits lie; and (3) to…

Three case studies investigated the school day of disadvantaged rural students with severe disabilities. Subjects were severely disabled girls, living in families with no income other than public assistance, and attending elementary or middle school in three poor rural school districts. A constant comparative method of single and cross-site data…

Say Yes to Education is a scholarship guarantee program that pledges to young children and their families a fully paid, post-secondary education along with academic and social supports that follow children throughout their elementary and high school careers. Since its inception in 1987, the Say Yes to Education program has "adopted"…

The ways in which educators and schools in the United States have responded to the children of immigrants are explored, and the patterns, causes, and consequences of educational outcomes on immigrants are reviewed. The literature on which this paper draws is diverse, encompassing the work of historians and social scientists. Results of scholarship…

This issue brief discusses the most recent and reliable research on early care and education and its implications for policy making. The brief summarizes recent discoveries about early brain development and then reviews research evaluating: (1) child care; (2) small-scale model early education programs providing enriched services to disadvantaged…