This paper is an ethnographic study of African American male students at an urban high school and an examination of the quality of education received by those students. The study population was composed of 115 African American males in the high school class of 1989 observed from January, 1987, through the December following their expected…

This publication presents data and descriptive information on the status of poor children and families in Milwaukee (Wisconsin). The analysis of the information suggests that the children are poor because their families are poor and that only providing their families with adequate employment and family supports will lift these children out of the…

The National Science Foundation's Statewide Systemic Initiative (SSI) program attempted to address concerns about student performance in science, mathematics, and technology education. The SSIs were supposed to increase and improve student learning in these areas by having challenging academic standards, a hands-on approach to instruction, the use…

A study was done of the association between the psychological sense of school membership (PSSM) and measures of motivation and achievement among urban adolescents. The study was conducted among 301 students in 2 multi-ethnic urban junior high schools. African American, White, and Hispanic American students each comprised roughly one-third of the…

This report is a comprehensive study of the status of children and their families in New York City. It measures how well children are doing by using widely recognized indicators of well-being, and it measures the need, use, and accessibility of services to help children. "Keeping Track" focuses on community-level data, examining the 59…

Using data collected from a stratified random sample of South Carolina high school seniors in 1969, the study compared the patterns of occupational choices among white and black boys and girls, and examined the relationship among race, sex, and teacher recruitment. Social class origin, local residence place, and scholastic performance were…

The Conference on Improving Minority and At-Risk Student Achievement was convened to help educators, parents, community, and business leaders in North Carolina focus in strategies and ideas that work to raise student achievement levels for low-performing students. This report summarizes the remarks of Michael Garrett, the keynote address of Asa…

Project Discovery II was based on a previous highly successful Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) project called Project Discovery. Teams of high school teachers and college faculty in the project planned and implemented an integrated, discovery based curriculum with groups of block-programmed students in New York City…

This brief report addresses two issues. One is the stagnation in the rate at which young people are receiving 4-year college degrees, and the increasingly high financial barriers to attending college. The other is the large, and increasing, inequality in opportunity to achieve a college education. At the same time, economists have warned that our…

This report provides an assessment of the progress of Sacramento START, an after-school learning program, for the period from September 1996 through May 1997. Evaluation instruments included standardized test scores for students in grades three through six and interviews with 18 principals from 20 START schools and teachers from 18 schools. Test…

The New York Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a grass-roots community organization representing 20,000 mostly low-income residents of New York City. This report presents evidence uncovered by ACORN of institutional racism in the New York City public schools that prevents parents of color from making informed…

The Ninth Grade Restructuring Program of the Detroit (Michigan) public schools was designed to restructure the ninth grade in ways that improve academic performance, develop positive attitudes toward learning, improve the school environment, reduce the dropout rate, and increase the graduation rate of students. Features of the program were…

The Ninth Grade Restructuring Program of the Detroit (Michigan) public schools was designed to restructure the ninth grade in ways that improve academic performance, develop positive attitudes toward learning, improve the school environment, reduce the dropout rate, and increase the graduation rate of students. Features of the program were…

Investigates the informal curriculum of a state-funded after-school dropout prevention program for adolescents. The program's goal is to resocialize them into their schools and enable them to achieve academic success. The paper proposes that the program fails to achieve its goal because of its ideology, and it recommends an alternative perspective…

The influence of stress as mediated or moderated by locus of control, family environment, social support, and coping style on psychological adjustment and school performance was studied for 164 urban ninth graders. External locus of control increased vulnerability for both sexes, but gender differences in other protective functions are discussed.…