Recent experiences teaching in inner city schools indicate they are structured in ways that increase failure probability. Absences, some related to students' poverty, and some administrative policies greatly reduce actual class time. Repeated classroom interruptions decrease instructional effectiveness. Inflexible instructional policies and…

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)

Reviews competing explanations for disproportionate rates of school failure among poor, minority students, advancing a culture-centered framework that locates the problem in the complex interaction between nonmainstream students and mainstream schools. Chronic school-based inequalities exacerbate existing differences between poor and middle class…