This book is a collection of essays on the problems of vocational education for the disadvantaged. These papers were originally commissioned as part of a more general study of urban education. The essays concern the concept of functional education, the role of the public schools in preparing youth for employment, strategies for success in…

Appendix One, items pertinent to the hearing of September 21, 1971, includes material supplied by Dr. Robert W. Blanchard concerning allocations from Oregon's basic school support fund. Appendix Two, items pertinent to the hearing of September 22, 1971, includes material supplied by Joel B. Berke on "The Current Crisis in School Finance:…

Discusses advantages of programmed instructional materials and suitability for use in inner city schools, programmed instruction in shorthand, and pertinent research in using programmed materials in shorthand instruction; concludes that these materials and techniques have been and can be successfully used. (TA)

Describes the purpose and operation of the Illinois State University Urban Education Program, an innovative, community-based program designed for teacher trainees planning to teach in urban secondary schools. Some student reactions are included. (Author/SF)

Implications for teacher educators preparing teachers for inner city schools. (Editor)

Proposes that the process of education be studied as a process, using the qualitative methods of anthropology and sociology, and including longitudinal investigations of the processes by which exceptional teachers and schools succeed in the education of impoverished youth. (JM)

Proposes eight imperatives for meeting the inner-city crisis. (SB)

Reported were data on the classroom functioning of 602 high school students attending eight different urban ghetto schools, including assessments of reasoning ability, verbal productivity, original and independent thinking, anxiety, rapport, obstreperousness, negativism, withdrawal, and expression of inability to cope with achievement demands.…

A group of independent schools developed summer remedial and enrichment programs for disadvantaged urban youth which were conducted with the cooperation of the communities, public schools and State Department of Education. Funding was through Title I and Title III, poverty agencies, and individual contributions. (JB)

Describes the new directions, or paradigm shift, that schools must learn to deal with under the 1994 Improving America's Schools Act as subsumed under five headings: (1) standards; (2) focus on teaching and learning with an accelerated curriculum; (3) flexibility for local initiative; (4) links among schools, parents, and communities; and (5)…

Reports on research on peer helping programs and describes a peer tutoring program in three New York City high schools. Results illustrate the importance of youth participation in meaningful roles. Notes that programs in which youth help youth could do many positive things, especially in urban schools. (SLD)

High school teachers often have difficulty motivating struggling students to complete homework--especially in inner-city schools in which many students are discouraged by stressful living conditions. The authors consulted with successful urban educators who were involved with innovative, small high schools in New York City, and asked what…

This paper describes preliminary results from a study at the Crisis Control Ministry, a poverty relief organization in Winston-Salem (North Carolina). The intent of the study was to explore the nature of and influences on contemporary urban poverty by having the investigator serve as a volunteer interviewer at the Crisis Control Ministry. Another…