In the 1995-96 school year, seven Colorado school districts, including urban districts, received grants under the federal McKinney Program for the homeless (Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act). The grant awards totaled $225,580 and served a total of 2,100 children. Although the same number of districts were funded as in the preceding…

This document reports the potential student retainee rates for the Austin (Texas) Independent School District at the close of the 1990-91 academic year in eight figures and 21 tables. The following are the report's major findings: (1) the retention rate for 1990-91 for kindergarten through grade 12 is 4.7 percent (0.4 percentage points lower than…

Student mobility is a topic that frequently surfaces in discussion about the problems of urban schooling, but it is one that tends to fade from the agenda as discussion continues. Using data from the Chicago (Illinois) public elementary schools, this paper first describes the extent of urban school instability. Many schools, in fact, do not have…

An evaluation was done of compensatory educational programs in reading and mathematics in the Saginaw (Michigan) School District. The elementary Compensatory Education (CE) program is both a push-in format (grades 1 and 2) and a pull-out format (periodically taking students out of regular classrooms) that serves 2,045 students in grades 1 through…

The history of Thomas Jefferson High School, Richmond (Virginia), is traced from its opening in 1930 through the city's social changes. The school developed a culture of academic excellence that it struggled to defend against decades of challenges such as desegregation, white flight, leadership changes, and budget cuts. The history of the school…

This document provides a compilation of information presented at the "Cause for Applause" conference sponsored by the Urban Education Network of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) and the Chicago (Illinois) public schools. The first section, "Strategies for Urban School Improvement," describes programs…

This paper presents a comparison of performance auditing and evaluation. It is the product of a collaboration between the senior evaluator from the Office of Research and Evaluation in the Austin Independent School District (Texas) and the senior auditor of Austin's City Auditor's Office. These officials were required to work together when the…

This report describes and evaluates Chapter 1 schoolwide programs in the School District of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) since the reauthorization of that legislation in 1988. A brief description of the history and philosophy of Chapter 1 legislation and of the Philadelphia district opens the document. This district serves a population that is 77…

This report presents longitudinal data on enrollment and performance patterns in Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools (APS) from 1970-71 to 1990-91 for early childhood development programs and an analysis of selected performance indicators for kindergarten and first grade students in 1989-90 and 1990-91. An introduction describes the history and…

An after-school program for elementary students, LA's BEST, in Los Angeles (California) that was planned and implemented by local civic, education, and community leaders was evaluated in 1990-91. The program intends to provide a safe environment that fosters students' academic, physical, social, and emotional growth; and promotes future business,…

The dropout problem in the nation, in the Council of the Great City Schools (GCS) school districts, and in the central cities is reviewed. Annual, single-year, four-year, and status dropout rates are examined. During the decade from 1982 to 1992, the gap in dropout rate between Whites and other ethnic groups has narrowed. The majority of the GCS…

Explores the role of the urban school superintendent with regard to each of the six National Education Goals of 1990. Superintendents must mobilize their forces to fulfill the reforms outlined in the goals and must focus on specific needs of urban children. (SLD)

By comparing resource expenditures of academically high achieving school districts in the Chicago (Illinois) suburbs with those of the Chicago Public Schools, this study contends that Chicago's schools are asked to perform at a high level with far fewer resources than the highest performing schools in the region. This analysis linked high school…

This paper examines traditional regulatory concerns of urban educators in administering Chapter 1 programs, tracks the impact of a recent deregulatory provision (school-wide projects) enacted in 1988 and other amendments to Chapter 1 legislation, and discusses the reform's effectiveness given the increasingly severe problems facing many urban…

The Research for Better Schools Urban Education Project is working with teachers in Baltimore (Maryland) and Washington (District of Columbia) to reduce the alienation of many urban students by exploring how to align what students bring to school with classroom learning. This effort is centered around the concept of learner experience, an…