Investigates the relationship between Chapter 1 and regular classroom teachers' estimates of test content coverage (opportunity to learn) and mathematics achievement of 89 fourth graders (65% were African American and 35% were white) in Chapter 1 mathematics instruction. Results indicate the importance of measuring students' opportunity to learn…

Student distribution among institutions of higher education corresponds more to the socioeconomic status of institutions than to the test-predicted performance levels. Aggregate data shows that the more costly institutions recruit wealthier students with higher test scores. Traditionally black institutions rely far less on test results, preferring…

This analysis of the educational crisis in New York City schools discusses some characteristics of de facto segregation in ghetto schools, the social background of Negro slum children, and the failure of teachers and curriculum to educate these students. A large portion of the article traces the various Board of Education attempts to integrate the…

Educational practices in tracking and ability grouping are reviewed, and it is suggested that cooperative learning strategies are effective alternatives for students who need preparation for the challenges of citizenship in the future. Research studies have given rise to many criticisms of tracking, particularly as it relates to minorities,…

Schools are not serving our Black and Hispanic youth well, as standardized test scores reflect. The problem of educating these students must be addressed. This book offers suggestions to educators who have the interest, intent, and inspiration to facilitate achievement motivation among these students, but who may lack the information or teaching…

This paper argues that school practices that put at-risk students and limited-English students with grade-appropriate students in heterogeneous groups may in fact be abusive and discriminatory. Significant access to instructional content can occur only if the material matches the skill level of the children. If a lesson is presented to a group of…

Large representative samples of Negro and Mexican-American children from Kindergarten through 8th grade in largely de facto segregated schools were compared with white children in the same California school district on tests of mental abilities and scholastic achievement, personality inventories, and indices of socioeconomic and cultural…

This review examines African American students' access to science and mathematics education, their status and achievement in these fields, factors influencing achievement, and strategies to address the current situation. African Americans are highly underrepresented in the scientific and technical fields. This situation should be corrected because…

A comprehensive study on the past gains, present status, and future prospects of blacks, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and American Indians in higher education is examined using data compiled by the Higher Education Research Institute for the Commission on the Higher Education of Minorities. Separate chapters cover the following: (1) the purpose of the…

This study examined differences in educational experiences and performance of white, black, and Hispanic graduate students. The 1,352 students in the sample were selected from four large public research universities and were polled using a 142-item questionnaire, organized in the following categories: (1) demographic characteristics (sex, gender,…

Reviews the determinants and selected consequences of academic sorting practices. Concludes that tracking and ability grouping disproportionately affects Black and low-income students by stereotyping them as less intelligent and less able to achieve, which in turn creates low teacher expectations. (FMW)

Analyzes base-year and first follow-up data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 to determine the extent to which African-American, Latino, American Indian, and Asian-American students are maldistributed across curriculum tracks and ability grouped classes relative to their Anglo counterparts. Policy implications of the results…

Current experiences and practices that exist in some colleges and universities that violate the Civil Rights Act and affirmative action legislation are discussed. Treatment of the average black, other minority, and women candidates as compared to the average white candidate is questioned in regard to staff recruitment, assignment to line as…

Utilizes data from the Metropolitan Opportunity Project to examine trends in White and minority experiences in the high schools, community colleges, and universities of Los Angeles (California) since the mid-1970s. Concludes that Black and Hispanic access to higher education has been severely hampered. (FMW)

Spurred on by such discussions of education as Jenk's "Inequality" and Coleman's controversial pronouncements on desegregation orders and "white flight," this anthology focuses on the efficacy of educational reform. The articles were compiled from two issues of the journal "Social Problems." The introductory essay by…