This report compares the educational performance of Asian and Hmong students with that of other students in six urban school districts across Wisconsin. These six districts were chosen because Hmong students are the largest minority group in each of the districts. Data from standardized tests given in grades 3, 4, 8, and 10 in these districts…

This study assessed the impact on student learning outcomes of the Integrated Center of Public Education (ICPE), an innovative program in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) for at-risk students; and compared school educational programs of the ICPE and a regular public school serving the same low-income community and focusing on critical thinking competence…

Focusing on urban students, this report discusses approaches taken and programs implemented by school libraries in the Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) School Division in response to at-risk students. While the programs span the range of grade levels, several of those highlighted are specifically for at-risk preschoolers, dropouts, and adult learners.…

This document combines a review of the literature on Hispanic high school dropouts and urban dropout prevention initiatives with an analysis of the findings of a study of the individual, family, school, and community characteristics of Hispanic ninth grade students in predominantly minority high schools in American cities. The study was designed…

The Reconnecting Youth (RY) program offers a carefully designed, research-validated model for building strength and competence in at-risk students, transforming risk into resilience. This manual was written to assist group leaders in implementing the RY program. The overall purpose of the program is to reach high-risk youth, who are on a potential…

A teacher's journal reflects her experience of designing and teaching writing courses at a Massachusetts alternative high school for high-risk students, her experience of using writing for personal healing, and the resistance she encountered when encouraging students to use writing as a means for personal growth and overcoming trauma. (LP)

A survey of 531 tenth graders in an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epicenter confirms their risk of acquiring the AIDS virus. Because socioenvironmental factors may strongly influence AIDS risk behavior, elucidation of the social influence process among adolescents should become a prevention research priority. (SLD)

Focuses on issues relevant to educating homeless adolescents, including barriers to education, historical trends in homelessness, and reasons adolescents become homeless. The unique problems of this group, such as victimization and street life, are discussed with implications for educators. Recommendations are made for program and policy in this…

Examined teacher/student interactions and relationship quality among poor, urban, African-American third through fifth graders expressing differential school satisfaction. Found that perceptions of a caring, supportive relationship with a teacher and a positive classroom environment were related to school satisfaction as early as third grade.…

Mentoring has a mystique that only good can come from it, that at the worst, mentoring programs will not accomplish all that they could, but the youth served will at least be better for the experience. Both impact and process evaluations are needed to answer questions about the real benefits and any potential adverse effects of mentoring. The…

Mentoring is now a very popular, but loosely defined, feature of many programs for youth. The heart of mentoring is the relationship between the youth and the mentor, but little is actually known about this relationship. Mentoring should not be limited to at-risk youth, since many average students or underachievers from stable backgrounds may…

This study examined receptive and expressive language as a precursor of maladaptive behavior in African-American, inner-city children. It compared the adaptive and maladaptive behavior scores of 202 children--most from single-parent and low-income families--from District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) at age 12 to their scores on similar…

This monograph explores strategies and programs that use both traditional and emerging resources for educating at-risk students. In general, schools have responded to student diversity with various systems of sorting and selecting students into more homogeneous learning groups. Ability grouping and tracking exemplify this approach. Retention, or…

A research project has been conducted to examine the transition from school to work, to explore how this transition does or does not work for inner-city high school and other at-risk students, and to propose school policy and program changes to increase the likelihood of a successful transition. Data were derived from the High School and Beyond…

A study was done of two Minnesota State "second chance" program options designed to help at-risk students to complete high school. The options are: (1) private urban alternative programs, administered by non-sectarian, community-based organizations principally serving teenagers from Minneapolis and St. Paul (Minnesota); and (2) the Area…