Prior to 1975, students in Chicago Public Schools were assigned grade level tests, a practice that in 1974 resulted in 42 percent of the students scoring at the equivalent of a "chance" level. In 1975, the schools switched to functioning level testing. The change caused lower average test scores, but the percentage of chance scores…

This article describes two major issues of national significance in New Zealand: remediation of reading problems in young children and solution of the problem of meeting educational needs of urban minority groups, particularly students from urban Polynesian communities. (BW)

Beginning on the front cover, the superintendents of schools in four urban areas describe successful programs in their districts. They explain why individualized instruction improved reading achievement in Detroit (Michigan), while it was phased out in Red Bank (New Jersey); why Milwaukee's (Wisconsin) school organization is unique; and how…

This report on the Urban, Rural, Racial Disadvantaged Educational Programs (URRD) conducted in Seattle, Washington in 1977-78 examines the effectiveness of the programs on raising student achievement levels. Data presented in the report lead to the following conclusions: (1) the programs met two of the four objectives that the State of Washington…

Identification of ingredients of successful urban reading programs in order to effect an increase in reading achievement in urban schools is the purpose of this paper. An historical-sociological framework is established. Pertinent literature which seeks to explain the causes of reading failure in urban schools is reviewed. Among the topics…

A study conducted by the School District of Philadelphia and that city's Federal Reserve Bank, entitled "What Works in Reading," was used as a case study to determine what factors influence the translation of research findings into educational policy. The Philadelphia study, which examined variables associated with achievement growth in…

Describes and assesses different explanations for the low reading achievement level amongst Afro-American children and critiques traditional attempts to remedy this dilemma. Recommends a holistic approach that fuses cultural difference and social structural approaches to reading and acknowledges that motivational processes are central. (RDN)

Fifth in a series of studies examining reading discrepancies in Cleveland, Ohio public schools, this report analyzed the spring 1986-1987 reading data so that accurate and usable information and recommendations would be available to decision-makers for related planning, curriculum design, and implementation functions of the district. Students in…

The Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools administers the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) districtwide to document the learning which has occurred and to guide classroom teachers and administrators as they establish curricula which is responsive to student needs. This report presents the results from the tests administered in April, 1986 to…

The culmination of work by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's (ASCD) Urban Middle Grades Network, a special Advisory Panel on Improving Student Achievement, and the Improving Student Achievement Research Panel, this book proposes a repertoire of tools for educators meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse student…

This report examines the correlates of successful social and educational strategies of a dropout prevention program for minority children in an urban school district. In 1986, Fordham University's Graduate School of Education and Social Services became partners with a heavily-populated minority public school district in New York City. This paper…

This final project report describes three related studies that examined reform efforts in a major metropolitan school district. Emphasis was on seven schools that had developed collaborative service approaches to reduce fragmentation of service delivery, increase accountability for students "at risk," and eliminate duplication of services. In…