Predictors of parental school involvement were examined within a sample of 159 economically disadvantaged, African American parents living in an urban setting. School involvement was defined in terms of parent activity within the school. Parent demographics, attitudes about education, and community engagement behaviors as well as parent…

The authors examined the perspectives of African American boys on topics related to culturally responsive teaching, cultural discontinuity, and differential treatment. Participants in focus group interviews were 19 elementary and middle school students identified as having emotional and behavioral disorders or chronic behavior problems.…

Middle school transitions can cause a decline in academic achievement and motivation in learning for many students. Low income underrepresented students are especially vulnerable to this transition. Parental involvement also tends to decrease during the middle school years. This qualitative study examined the elementary to middle school transition…

US majority (European-American) and minority (African-American, Latin-American, Asian-American) children were interviewed regarding race-based and non-race based reasons for exclusion in interracial peer contexts (N = 685), evenly divided by gender at 9, 12, and 15 years of age (4th, 7th, and 10th grades) attending 13 US public schools. All…

As everyone enters the 21st Century there is a great deal of discussion in business and education circles alike about the type of skills the youth will need to survive and thrive in this century. At the same time, there is little known today about the level of 21st Century skills students currently have. In part this is because, as a nation,…

Rarely in educational research do researchers have access to data that allow them to empirically explore the impacts of programs on individual student learning over long periods of time. This element of Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) evaluation of the America's Choice comprehensive school reform design is one of those…

What are the thoughts of exemplary teachers from high poverty schools on linguistic diversity and cultural responsiveness? What do inner-city children say about their best teachers? In focus groups, faculty and students from high poverty schools were asked about the qualities and characteristics of exemplary urban teachers. One focus group…

A middle school teacher asked her students how they felt they learned best and how they felt a teacher could assess what they learned. Students perceived a large gap between their learning and what tests reflected they had learned. They provided suggestions for a more effective tool for measuring learning. (SM)

The continued implementation of Chapter 1 Schoolwide Projects (SWPs) within the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) School District during the 1989-90 school year is evaluated. A 5-year achievement summary is also presented. Data on attendance, report card grades, and normal curve equivalent (NCE) gains for 37 schools from the first SWP cohort are…

This review of the literature on women of color in mathematics, science, and engineering helps define the need for a national agenda for equity in these fields sponsored by the Educational Equity Policy Studies Program of the Center for Women Policy Studies, and for a comprehensive research program that examines barriers to the participation of…

This practicum was designed to develop a transition program and social activities for sixth-graders to help ease the passage from elementary school and increase their sense of belonging in a sixth- through eighth-grade junior high school. The students were surveyed concerning their degree of self-esteem, connection to school, perception of…

The second year of "Keep the Promise" Research--an in-depth, three-year study of academic remediation programs in Massachusetts' three largest school districts--is producing an array of evidence demonstrating the severely negative impact of the Commonwealth's 80% cut in MCAS remediation funding in the F'04 budget. This report--a…

Examines specific approaches to the acquisition and teaching of word, syntax, and text attack skills in foreign language (FL) classes. The role played by computers in second-language reading is considered, and a discussion of problems currently facing the teacher who wishes to allocate reading a more prominent place in the FL learning program is…

Summarizes 11 ERIC documents and journal articles on teaching conflict resolution to students, particularly students in the middle grades. Includes discussions of conflict among students and strategies for dealing with violence in schools, descriptions of conflict resolution programs and projects implemented in schools, and an analysis of the…

A case study of one female middle school student examined her tendency toward learned helplessness. Observations and interviews with the student and her teachers indicated that she lacked confidence; her belief that she could not change her intellectual and social situation was pervasive. Approaches to intervention are discussed. (SM)