To improve basic skills in a New Jersey school district, Outcome-Based Education was introduced. Six years later, students' basic skills scores have risen above the national norms. (MD)

Discusses the national trend toward full-day kindergarten scheduling and a 2-year experiment involving alternate-day and half-day programs in Pasco, Washington. Early findings show no significant differences in children's achievement, classroom study habits, or social skills. Poor and minority children benefit from increased conversational…

Gifted students come from all socioeconomic backgrounds. A broader definition of giftedness and improved assessment methods will help remove barriers that keep poor and minority students out of programs for the gifted. (TE)

The large achievement gap between white and minority children cannot be bridged by only improving schools. The factors which need to be looked into are health need of the children, providing stable housing to low-income families and increasing the number of professional caregivers during the out-of- school hours.

Presents the results from a 1984 national survey of high school community service programs. Findings include: 27 percent of high schools offer some kind of community service programs, enrollments vary greatly, females outnumber males, more than half of the programs have no hispanics, and 36 percent have no black students. Includes tables,…

A review of the literature and a survey of practitioners' views show that the educational reform movement has done little to promote educational equity or to close the gender achievement gap. (Author/TE)

Annandale High School, Virginia, has come up with an International Baccalaureate (IB) program for high-achieving students, which also provides essential support for diverse students. The IB program is just one facet of a school culture at Annandale High that aims to increase opportunities for all students.

Criticizes the concept of structured immersion presented by Gersten and Woodward in the previous article. Points out questionable areas in the methodology and in interpretation of results in the research relating to implementation of structured immersion in Canada. (MD)

Compares and contrasts the composition of the Carnegie Task Force and the Holmes Group, their reports on teacher education, and their effect on the reform movement. Both groups recommend abolishing undergraduate degrees in education, raising teachers' salaries, increasing the number of minority teachers, and other improvements in the teaching…