Describes several successful programs for raising the achievement of disadvantaged students. Holds that since instructionally effective schools do exist, and they have known features which provide useful operational guidelines, it is possible to achieve further advances in successful pedagogy for poor children. (GC)

Master teachers working in real urban classrooms have shared their exemplary teaching practices in an After-School Pedagogical Laboratory (L-TAPL), a program for elementary students that aims to improve the achievement of urban students and the competence of their teachers. The L-TAPL enrichment program curriculum includes language arts, math,…