Examines the social context of schooling of a cohort of 115 black males attending an urban high school between 1986 and 1989. The article draws on chaos theory to explore the systematic methods of avoidance schooling behaviors invoked by these students. It shows how school actions, policies, and procedures resulted in poor academic preparation and…

E. A. Hanushek analyzed the possibility that the St. Louis (Missouri) school district could operate a quality school system with the resources it would get under the state's transition plan that would phase out state financial support for school desegregation. The witness projected no adverse effect on the quality of education in the city. (SLD)

Reports findings and conclusions from taped discussions with third- and sixth-grade African-American, inner-city students concerning their response to violent events in their communities. By using the triangulated methodology of ethnographers, it reveals how these experiences affected children's school performance, behaviors, and aspirations. (GR)

Summarizes research on instruction-related practices and policies and their implementation in effective urban schools. Discusses outcomes-based instruction, effective organizational arrangements for low achievers, instructional coordination, avoidance of overemphasis on lower order skills, operationalization of shared values, "organic"…

In this address, the District of Columbia Public School System superintendent refers to several recent educational studies and comments on the need for school/student discipline, computer literacy, standards of performance, and the formation of coalitions and partnerships with outside groups. (CJM)

Examines the response of a large racially mixed urban California school community to the tension between excellence and equity in public education and describes how 319 African American students experienced school reform, including detracking. Findings indicate the potential of detracking for real educational improvement. (SLD)

Examines the viability of black male involvement in preparing for the technological innovations of the next century's work force. Results from 2 urban elementary schools and 16 black males in these schools reveal that black males are being placed at risk for failure in the Information Age. Lack of support systems and resources are primary…

Explains why desegregation is an important practice that must not be allowed to lapse and discusses some pressures that have often made it less than satisfactory for African American children in local contexts and national patterns. Also discusses magnet schools as a tool that can help or hurt. (SLD)

Describes the Padeia schools of Chattanooga (Tennessee), where the Padeia movement has taken root. In keeping with the founding proposal of Padeia (the Padeia Group, 1982), the course of study is generalized and has a single-track curriculum. Concepts of democracy, participation, and responsibility pervade the schools' climates. (SLD)

This review of literature examines the status of education in high-need, urban schools. The article begins with a discussion of the issues and challenges experienced in these settings including the resources available, community context, quality of teachers, preparation of future teachers, and the characteristics of students. Following this…

Describes a program in the Kansas City (Missouri) school district for seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade students with reading scores significantly below grade level. Presents findings that the program resulted in gains in basic skills, attendance, and reading comprehension. (MW)

The movement to reform the Chicago (Illinois) public schools faces a host of problems in the classroom and a sea of social ills outside the classroom. Without support from the African American community and largely cut off from the reform process, neither significant progress nor progressive change can be made. (SLD)

This report provided the U.S. District Court hearing the Liddell case about school desegregation in St. Louis (Missouri) in 1996 with a review of research on promising programs, reform designs, and school components that have been found to support or enhance achievement among historically disadvantaged students. Specific steps are proposed to…

Examines business/education partnerships formed to bring about science and mathematics education improvements for Black students, focusing on needs such partnerships meet for both business and schools, and on factors affecting their potential for success. The Urban Schools Science and Math Program is studied as an example of such partnerships. (AF)

Discusses the implementation of desegregation since Brown v Board of Education, focusing on the practical difficulties and promises associated with helping to make desegregation a reality from its beginnings to today's focus on achieving unitary status in formerly segregated school systems. Discussions include issues of freedom of choice, student…