Investigated the impact of neighborhoods on student achievement using demographic data from school officials, 4th and 6th grade achievement scores, and the 1990 Census from two mid-sized urban school districts. Neighborhood type affected the students. Students who dealt with higher levels of certain socioeconomic, environmental, and neighborhood…

Studied programmatic features associated with successful after-school programming at the Manchester Youth Development Center, an urban center with 25 years of experience. Identifies six salient elements in program success that might be used in holistic prevention and intervention planning. (SLD)

Discusses the Directed Learning Program in Hempstead, Long Island, one of 13 compensatory education programs across the country recommended for emulation by other school districts by the ERIC/Information Retrieval Center on the Disadvantaged. (Author/JM)

Examined the relationship between the quality of school, family, and community partnership programs and student performance on Maryland's state-mandated achievement tests. Data from 82 urban elementary schools indicated that the degree to which schools were working to overcome challenges to family and community involvement predicted higher…

Analyzed the Accelerated Schools Program (ASP) in two schools in New Orleans (Louisiana). ASP believes schools should pursue simultaneous, interactive changes in curricula, instruction, and organization for the changes to have lasting effects. Racial, social, and ideological conflicts must be resolved for change to take root in inner-city schools.…

Examined student teachers' conflict resolution and growth toward efficacy while interning in inner city schools. Interviews, written reflections, and group discussions indicated a sense of culture shock upon entering schools. Students were concerned about children's home lives, relationships with cooperating teachers and students, and teaching…

Examined urban teachers' efforts to embrace mathematics reform with culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse student populations, noting teachers' roles in providing accessible and valuable mathematical learning opportunities to diverse students. Data from two third grade teachers indicate that such work is complex. However,…

Examined African American elementary school students' interpretations of culturally relevant teachers within urban contexts. Student responses indicated that culturally relevant teaching strategies had a positive effect on student effort and engagement in class content. Students preferred teachers who were caring, who established community- and…

Examined the experiences of two African American preservice teachers who interned in an inner city elementary school. Data from interviews, written reflections, and group discussions indicated that their self-efficacy increased as they interacted with mentoring teachers and students and learned to cope with doubts about their abilities. As they…

Evaluated an in-school mentoring program for underserved elementary students that emphasized personal and social responsibility (self-control, respect, effort, participation, self-direction, and helping others). Student interviews and teacher and mentor journals indicated that students were able to apply the goal of effort to classroom learning…

Examines the extent to which retaining low achieving students affects the average reading scores of the grade in which they are retained and the next higher grade. Analyzes data from one elementary school in Kansas City (Missouri). (FMW)

Reports on the achievement of the first Waldorf public elementary school in Milwaukee (Wisconsin). Early experience indicates that Waldorf pedagogy, with its emphasis on the natural rhythms of everyday life, is an effective model for predominantly African American children in an inner city. (SLD)

Describes a study which focused on two aspects of the significance of employing parents as teachers aides in schools with educationally and socially disadvantaged children: (1) the problem of satisfying educational requirements; and (2) the approach of new career innovations to improve the community through the incorporation of paraprofessional…

School-based mutual support groups (MSGs) are proposed to enhance school involvement of parents from lower socioeconomic and ethnic minority backgrounds. A school-based MSG format is presented with results of a survey of interests from 62 parents (36 respondents and 26 nonrespondents) and a discussion of a pilot demonstration in 3 urban elementary…

Presents case studies of the leadership behaviors of four elementary school principals in rural, suburban, and urban schools. Argues that principals' success in maintaining potent instruction depends largely on their context: the community and school district; the school climate; realities of the instructional organization; and student needs. (KH)