The eleven papers presented at a 1985 conference on school-to-work transition are collected in this volume. The papers focus on school-business partnerships, school programs, and community projects. Their titles (and authors) are: (1) "Investing in Our Children: Business and the Public Schools" (Sol Hurwitz); (2) "From School to…

This document contains the proceedings of a conference on improving the academic skills of urban students. Titles and authors of the twelve included papers are: (1) "Academic Skills and the SAT," George H. Hanford; (2) "New York City Promotional Gates Program: Implications for Instruction of Academic Skills," Charlotte Frank;…

Considerable disagreement remains between white and black Americans as to what are permissible and effective policies for the desegregation of public education. Research findings exist to support almost every point of view, and desegregation strategies tend to reflect the social beliefs and educational assumptions of those in power. Efforts made…

The Urban High School Reform Initiative was a Federal effort designed to review the educational and related needs of large city high school students, explore the Federal role in urban secondary education, and develop recommendations for a more effective Federal response to the continuing needs of these students and schools. This report contains…

Outlines three effective schools projects: (1) Project RISE (Milwaukee), (2) the Effective Schools Project (Chicago); and (3) Project SHAL (Saint Louis). For each project, details administrative and instructional support arrangements, system-wide initiatives, outcomes, and future directions. Summarizes the main issues in creating effective…

Reports on the events leading to the court order placing control of the Cleveland (Ohio) school district in the hands of a court-appointed administrator. Discusses the desegregation plan and educational improvements that should be implemented. (SK)

As public schools are failing inner-city children, school choice offers a promising solution. This paper presents research that shows how school choice (public, private, or parochial) has a positive effect on minority, inner city children, noting that school choice is the only reform mechanism that would offer schools immediate and measurable…

The study described in this summary explores school and community factors that encourage parent participation in decisions that affect the quality of children's schooling. Its primary objective was to identify and compare factors that foster parent networks around school issues in suburban and urban areas. Five groups mobilized by middle class…

The theme of the conference reported on here was school reform and related issues. An introductory statement, "Thoughts on School Reform," by Jerome Bruner, and a list of conference participants are followed by a group of papers on education and politics. The papers are "Reform and Partnership in Education," by Albert Shanker;…

This paper reviews the literature on urban school dropouts and the experiences of superintendents in attempting to lower the dropout rate. The paper is divided into two major sections. Part I examines how a mixture of societal, community, family and other influences increase the chances that an at-risk student will experience little success in…

Discusses studies showing that, contrary to the view overwhelmingly supported by research of over a decade and a half, some urban schools, through principal leadership, high teacher expectations, and rigorous academic programs, are able to raise the achievement of low-income students. (CMG)

Presents an annotated bibliography directing readers to additional publications about urban education, addressing four issues of particular importance to today's urban community colleges and their nontraditional, underprepared student body: workforce preparation, institutional assessment, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and remedial education,…

This paper on teacher hiring for 1989-90 addresses differences among the geographic regions of the province of Alberta, as well as the differences between the urban and rural school boards regarding the proportion of new teachers on staff, teacher turnover, teacher vacancies, teacher recruitment, teacher mobility, teacher hiring by specialty…

This final report for the PUSH-EXCEL project was designed to provide readers with an idea of the major actors and events that shaped the project's history and implementation, and to describe results of a 3-year evaluation of its impact (Chapter 1). Chapter 2 describes the original impetus for PUSH-EXCEL as arising from the Reverend Jesse Jackson's…

The prospect of simultaneous cuts in Federal and State aid to public school education in some States poses a serious threat to large cities which suffer financial stress and face the added responsibility of educating large numbers of poor black and Hispanic children. Financial needs that might result from cuts in Federal aid cannot be met by State…