Based on theoretically driven models, the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) targeted low-income children's school readiness through the mediating mechanism of self-regulation. The CSRP is a multicomponent, cluster-randomized efficacy trial implemented in 35 Head Start-funded classrooms (N = 602 children). The analyses confirm that the CSRP…

The study examined whether frequency of adolescent reported family routines moderated the relation between caregivers' perceptions of financial resources and adolescents' behavioral and academic outcomes among a sample of inner-city African American families. The sample consisted of 115 adolescents (average age = 15.95) and their female caregivers…

TAP™: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement was launched in 1999 as a comprehensive educator effectiveness model to offer career advancement and leadership opportunities for educators, a fair and transparent evaluation process linked to job-embedded professional development and performance-based compensation, which culminate in improved…

This commentary on articles by Masten, Fantuzzo, Herbers, and Voight (and their colleagues) summarizes the findings of each study and discusses their respective contributions. The author of this comment relates his own experiences in conducting similar research with homeless and other low-income youths and reports lessons he has learned that can…

This article reviews the extent to which effectiveness strategies have compensated for social disadvantage, explores the reasons offered over time for the association between disadvantage and less good student outcomes, and argues that contemporary optimism and pessimism about change and progress relate to a neo-liberal paradigm that has little to…

There is a distinct class difference in the way that children are taught school behavior. Teachers in affluent schools use more implicit teaching techniques while teachers of low-income children are more explicit in their teaching of behavior. This stems largely from the alignment of the home culture of middle class children to school behavior and…

For socioeconomically disadvantaged children, a positive experience in kindergarten may play a particularly important role in fostering the behavioral adjustment and learning engagement necessary for school success. Prior research has identified supportive student--teacher relationships and classroom emotional support as two features of the…

In this amended excerpt from "Hope Against Hope", educational reform in post-Katrina New Orleans is considered from a journalistic perspective in presenting the story of Geraldlynn Stewart as she and her family navigate the new school system. In providing voices of lived experiences of Stewart as well as other individuals within this new…

Raising academic standards while eliminating achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students are among America's primary national educational goals. According to a growing body of research, America will attain its goals of equity and preparing students to function effectively as citizens and productive workers only through a…

One of the enduring problems in education is the persistence of achievement gaps between White, wealthy, native English-speaking students and their counterparts who are minority, lower-income, or English language learners. This study shows that one intensive technical assistance (TA) intervention--California's District Assistance and Intervention…

Illinois' youngest children--nearly half-a-million infants and toddlers--are at the leading edge of a demographic transformation. They herald a state, and a nation, more diverse with respect to race/ethnicity, country of origin, language, and family type than at any time in recent history. Yet, this is a generation notable for marked inequities,…

This case disrupts some of the prevalent myths about families from low-income and poor households held by educators. Recognizing the inherent tensions, this case demonstrates the importance of creating equitable and inclusive learning environments. We presented some of the challenges faced by Marcus, a progressive principal, as he attempts to…

This study was designed to experimentally examine how supplemental vocabulary instruction provided in either whole-group or small-group settings influences low-income preschoolers' word knowledge and conceptualdevelopment. Using a within-subject design, 108 preschool children from 12 Head Start classrooms participated in an 8-week intervention,…

Policy, financial, and transportation barriers have limited participation in dual enrollment for marginalized (low-socioeconomic, first-generation, and ethnic minority) students in Oklahoma. This chapter presents a collaborative effort by education and community leaders that has successfully eliminated these barriers and increased the number of…

Judith P. Hoyer Family Learning Centers, also known as Judy Centers, serve all children birth through kindergarten who live in designated Title I school zones. There are twenty-seven Judy Centers and three satellites throughout Maryland serving forty-four elementary school zones. The Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA) is conducted in the…