The School for the Physical City (SPC) is 1 of 50 new public schools established in New York City since 1993. Like many, SPC offers small classes, greater teacher-student interaction, and a rigorous curriculum, but depends on some private financial support. However, it remains questionable whether the City cares enough about reform to finance…

This report describes the ways in which the Center for Minority Achievement works to reform public education for early adolescents in six New York City schools. It consists of edited conversations among the three central staff members of the program and vignettes and quotes from a school student and from staff affected by the program. These…

A comparison of educational inputs and outputs in 1975 and 1985 indicates that the current system of financing, organizing, and regulating America's public schools has failed. The following inputs are examined: (1) school buildings; (2) teachers; (3) administrators; (4) support personnel; (5) supplies; and (6) students. The following outputs are…

Three fundamental changes in state focus are needed to improve urban education and prepare many more students to participate in society and the world. First, state boards of education must act upon the belief that all children can learn. Urban students need rigorous, top-quality curricula and instruction delivered by highly trained and competent…

The National Advisory Council on Educational Research and Improvement sponsored a conference to take a close look at the practical ways in which education is being reformed, and perhaps transformed, with the assistance of private-sector advice and innovations and with certain business disciplines. Following are the titles and authors of the papers…

There is a growing national movement in which schools and businesses have become allies in efforts to improve education. Many school-business partnerships focus on disadvantaged youth in urban areas. Three popular models for these collaborations are the following: (1) the pairing of a business with a single school; (2) collaborative efforts that…

The articles in this report describe efforts at using varieties of process consultation to stimulate renewal in urban schools. Process consultation is a strategy for improving the group and intergroup procedures used by school personnel to reach their educational objectives and to solve their own problems. Emphasis is on the ways teachers,…

The aim of this guide is to aid sixth-grade teachers whose classes participate in the San Diego City and County outdoor education programs. The guide enables the teacher to improve the quality of outdoor education through suggestions for better planning and preparation procedures for the camping experience and for more active student participation…

This chapter notes organizational and political constraints that have prevented productive urban-State relationships and suggests policies and strategies for eliminating these constraints. The report posits an emerging role for State education agencies in establishing collaboration relationships with cities. The authors suggest that those…

Describes a few carefully focused interventions and concerted efforts between schools, colleges, and the community that have been experimented with and have been found to be very successful in improving the standards in both primary and secondary schools in the urban areas of England. (CMK)

This report provides an assessment of the Central Park East (CPE) elementary school (in New York City) effort, an effort by teachers who believed that the "progressive education" that worked for the children of the wealthy and privileged in many private and suburban schools could work equally well for poor and working-class children.…

This special serial issue is based on the proceedings of an invitational conference on "Next Steps in Inner-City Education" held in Racine (Wisconsin) in October 1995. The three articles in this publication attempt to offer effective and practical recommendations for educational practitioners and policy makers who seek to transform the country's…

Increasing concern about the overall quality of America's schools has altered federal and state education policy priorities. This shift has resulted in a reduction of federal support, an increase in state-level initiatives, and development of new policies aimed more toward improving the education system generally than toward solving the problems…

The number of dropouts is increasing and is particularly high in urban areas and among minority students. Dropouts earn less over their lifetimes, are in poorer health, and do not have the technological skills needed for newly-developing jobs. The federal government, the private sector, and educators have made serious commitments to bring down the…

This compilation from a seminar to provide inservice education for large city directors of vocational education across the Nation contains the 21 position papers, working synthesis reports, and position statements presented in the following topic areas: (1) Vocational Education in the Large Cities: The Context; (2) The Role of the City Director in…