The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee's (BRAC) Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) Program is a nongovernmental rural development organization founded, managed, and staffed by Bangladeshis. In 1985 BRAC began a primary education program for the poorest rural children untouched by the formal school system. BRAC has developed well known and…

Swedish longitudinal studies of twins support Scarr-Salapatek's explanation of nature-nurture influences on intelligence. This model predicts more genetic variance in test results for advantaged than disadvantaged groups. Jensen's work, however, suggests equal amounts of variance among different social classes. (Author/CP)

Studied the plight of marginalized children in urban Russia, including orphans, children with some family ties living in group homes, and street children. Found that changing public views toward these groups since WWII have led to a deterioration in lifestyle for these children, further contributing to criminal activity and poverty in urban areas.…

Describes how an elementary classroom teacher discovers and explores the power of aesthetic experience in an educational context. Discusses how the artwork of Vincent Van Gogh helps an exceptionally difficult class of 11-year-old female students in suburban Dublin, Ireland, become interested in their education. (KM)

Explores the background and context of the Australian federal government's new postcompulsory education and training policies. Examines the social, economic, and political context surrounding policy development and the "stitching together" of competing interests. The resulting policy directions, linking goals to equity issues, represent…

For many poor children in Latin America, successful adjustment to primary school is impeded by child, family, and school characteristics. Early intervention efforts have been moderately effective, but their initial effects are often overwhelmed by structural features of primary schools. A coherent, carefully supervised educational program with…

Reports that the debate over class size in schools has become more heated in recent years. Examines recent research and attempts to answer three questions regarding class size and academic achievement. Concludes that there is a link between the 2, but only in the early years and only with classes smaller than 20 students. (CFR)

Includes 14 reports on events, projects, and new publications on a variety of topics, including science and society; environmentally related indicators affecting human welfare; laboratory programs for European science journalists; programs for disadvantaged adolescents at science centers and youth museums; peer review in biomedical publication;…

Liberals and conservatives agree that it is best if teenagers delay reproduction, but they disagree over how. Comparisons with Sweden and Great Britain suggest that America's difficulties with teen childbearing and abortion can be traced partly to combined cultural ambivalence about chastity, childbearing, and working. (SLD)

For 25 years, the Trinidad and Tobago nongovernmental organization Servol has bridged differences of class and ideology to forge private and public partnerships that build up the nation by investing in youth given up for lost. Servol has expanded the culture of philanthropy, promoted corporate support of trade schools and apprenticeship programs,…

Youth First conducted focus groups and participatory "youth tribunals" across New Zealand, examining experiences of growing up rural. Common themes included "not being listened to," exclusion from citizen participation, and anxiety about the future. Remarkable differences in experience and views were often found in the same…

In almost every dimension, South Africa has undergone dramatic changes since the end of apartheid. Public education in South Africa has been completely transformed from an amalgam of separate and highly unequal educational systems, defined in terms of the race and place of residence of students, into a unified system based on the principle of…

The number of black children "excluded" each month from schools in England and Wales is greatly out of proportion to their relative enrollment. Exclusion includes suspension for a fixed or indefinite term or expulsion from a particular school, and can include in-school exclusions of isolation. The term "black children" is taken…

In British schools, and in the United States, black boys are both the heroes of a street fashion culture that dominates inner cities and students who receive a disproportionate amount of punishment in school. A central thesis of this book is that teachers in elementary and secondary schools cannot escape the wider social perceptions about young…

Born in the aftermath of social upheaval in 1970, Servol (Service Volunteered for All) is a grassroots community development organization working with preschoolers and adolescents in the Caribbean nations of Trinidad and Tobago. This booklet describes the efforts and successes of this program, founded through the intervention of a Catholic priest…