Recommendations and an action plan for improving Wisconsin public schools' focus on teaching and learning, rather than on changes such as vouchers and privatization. Positive strategies designed to promote achievement are favored over punitive strategies or remedial actions. The action plan includes financial help to implement the recommendations.…

This descriptive study examines the operation of youth mentoring programs in New York City. In particular, the study maps the experiences of developing and operating youth mentoring programs as articulated by the organizers or directors of 21 such programs; reviews and analyzes the research and descriptions of mentoring programs nationally to…

This report describes the disproportionate incarceration of minority youth in the state of New Jersey. It opens with an introduction followed by a section, "Problem Statement," which describes the plight of New Jersey's Black and Hispanic children, research in this area, recent historical trends, state and community programs, and the…

This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of a preschool project designed to serve children between 3 and 5 years of age in a disadvantaged inner-city area in Dublin, Ireland. The preschool, established in 1969, emphasized the development of children's cognitive skills and established structures to increase parents' involvement in their…

This book explores the U.S. gang problem, based on the author's 35 years of experience as a high school and junior high school teacher, principal, and community organizer in Oakland and Los Angeles (California). Chapters discuss the subculture of gang worlds, reasons why youth are attracted to gangs, how educators can reach out to students, the…

Profiles of the 1995-96 implementation of the Stewart B. McKinney Act's Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Programs in 37 states are presented in this document. In these 37 states, at least 173,082 homeless children and youth were served through programs funded by the McKinney Act, and at least 465 local education agencies received…

This paper discusses finding a balance for the use of tracking in school that benefits both high and low achieving students. Tracking can arguably be traced to the pervasive mythology of biological determinism and the advent of IQ testing. As time passed, schools increased the use of testing to separate students into different ability levels, but…

Although education in England is dominated by the rhetoric of "standards," this paper attempts to show that the overall shape and drive of English education reform has remained largely consistent. The annually published School Performance Tables continue to be assigned a special place in the reforms, as a means to and as an index of…

This report examines the technology gap in low-income communities, assesses the barriers that are slowing the spread of new technologies to the underserved, and describes some of the most promising efforts to produce a more equitable distribution. Chapter 1 of the report discusses what is known about the extent of the technology gap and its…

The Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) is an innovative 4-year year-round pilot program that provides learning opportunities, development opportunities, service opportunities, and summer jobs to small groups of youth from families receiving public assistance. In 1994, the Ford Foundation commissioned an evaluation of the QOP. Between 1989 and…

As part of a 4-year research initiative on adult/youth relationships programs, this study assessed relationships between elders and at-risk youth at the following four Linking Lifetimes intergenerational mentoring demonstration sites developed by Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania): (1)…

The United States Senate's Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice heard testimony on minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system and the sentencing of minorities within that system. In particular, the Subcommittee heard testimony from eight witnesses who suggested short- and long-term approaches for helping to eliminate racial bias in the…

This publication provides examples of diverse local initiatives that represent approaches to serving young people, particularly disadvantaged African Americans and Latinos. This report includes a forward emphasizing the background and current need for the types of programs highlighted, and an introduction that argues for the effectiveness of…

A study was done of 5 selected domains of self-perception held by 60 urban black male 10th graders in North Carolina. The domains were scholastic competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, and job competence. Each domain was transformed into a research questions. Achievers (n=30) and potential achievers (n=30) as…

The Rand Institute on Education and Training, in consultation with the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives, undertook an analysis of federal policy options to improve education in low-income areas. This analysis focuses on Chapter 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the federal program for…