Presents the history and focus of the Urban Community School (UCS), an alternative community school in Cleveland, Ohio. Highlights innovative programs to address such issues as racial diversity, alternatives to violence and gender bias. Discusses funding sources in terms of UCS' growing budget and sliding scale tuition rates. (BCY)

Argues that, even for young children, composing of both oral and written texts is sociocultural process. Highlights variation in kind of oral and written genres child uses, in kinds of discourse traditions child draws upon, and kind of relationships child author enacts with others. Discusses implications of sociocultural perspective on young…

This study evaluated a prevention program using "universal" interventions (i.e., classroom management, social-skill instruction, peer tutoring) for at-risk students and those with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in urban schools. Direct observation and teacher reports indicated targeted students improved significantly in on-task behavior,…

Not all of America's public schools have benefited from recent efforts to improve education, because the problems of schools and of their communities are deep and complex. By 2000, when one of every three pupils in the public schools will be nonwhite, America's major cities could become an educational Third World. To avoid a deepening crisis,…

This article describes a study that analyzes elementary and secondary teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the organizational climate of their school systems. (PD)

This notebook serves as a guide for learning activities in environmental education. Twelve themes are treated in four groups: (1) sense of place includes history and landscape; (2) the natural environment covers air, water, energy, and landforms; (3) the built environment includes architecture, transportation, and housing; and (4) the social…

This paper discusses two areas of knowledge that educational professionals must develop to help resolve the crisis in the city and the suburbs. One area concerns key urban economic factors affecting elementary and secondary education. Eight factors are discussed: (a) the flight to suburbia, including some implications of the flight of the middle…

The article concludes that if all large cities carry out their projected plans for expansion of the guidance program at the elementary school level a personnel shortage appears to be forthcoming, a shortage not only in quantity, but also in quality of personnel. (Author)

Points out the methodological inadequacies and problematic interpretations of a negative assessment of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children that was performed by J. B. Hardy, D. W. Welcher, F. D. Mellits, and J. Kagan. (Author/RL)

The relationship between three measures of locus of control and eight dimensions of reading attitude were investigated for a sample of inner-city children. Finds that inner-city children who are willing to accept personal responsibility for negative events in their lives also tend to experience more anxiety about their reading. (Author)

A vignette about a reading program operated by Sylvan Learning Systems for seventh- and eighth-grade remedial reading students at a school in Washington, D.C. (MLF)

Weldon, Menacker, and Hurwitz studied teacher-student relationships and student behavior in four Chicago inner-city elementary schools. Findings indicated that, although students and teachers reported mutual respect, each school had severe discipline problems. The authors present several possible explanations. Commentary on the study by Guinagh…

A community resource program, Minds in the Making, was designed to expand the existing elementary program for gifted and talented students in an urban district to include typically underserved populations. Qualitative assessment by students, teachers, and the community indicated the program met its goals. The program was also successfully…

Explores the relationship between intrinsic motivation and self-perceptions and academic achievement and attendance in 47 Black elementary school students. Suggests that some Black urban elementary students may find improving their standard English vocabulary and preferring challenging work to be socially undesirable. Implications for urban…

Explores the roles that preference, comfort level, and training play in teachers' willingness to provide environmental education opportunities in natural settings. Suggests a strong relationship between personal preference and comfort levels and teachers' willingness to take their students to a particular natural setting. (CCM)