The DOVACK Reading System was field tested on 391 low income, minority, elementary and secondary students over a period of 3 years. The objectives were to test the system for its adaptability to the populations for which it was designed, its effectiveness in meeting goals and objectives, and its economic feasibility on a larger scale. Using five…

Discusses the problems of disadvantaged youth and presents suggestions for solving them, including offering prevocational and career exploration experiences in grades 7-9, identification of student skills and abilities in these grades, expanded social and family counseling, vocational and academic educator cooperation in improving students' basic…

Describes strategies implemented in New York City to make vocational education available to more students: (1) creating vocational programs in comprehensive and academic high schools and (2) expanding and diversifying programs and facilities in vocational high schools. Several alternative programs among the schools provide for sharing limited…

Although youth apprenticeship models appear to have great potential, the following problems must be addressed before the strategy can succeed: (1) securing employer involvement; (2) assuring and improving the quality of on-the-job learning; and (3) confronting equity issues in public policy in incorporating work into the core educational system.…

The S.M.I.L.E. (Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences) Program is a partnership between Oregon State University and eight rural Oregon school districts to provide science and math opportunities for disadvantaged students. Students in this program work on a problem that involves them in a real-world environmental issue. Describes an…

The Florida Association of Voluntary Agencies for Caribbean Action (FAVA/CA) was formed to provide on-site, overseas technical assistance and training in health, agriculture, social services, and education. This paper reports on the beginnings of an evaluation of the New Life Organization (NEWLO), a vocational training institute in Grenada, West…

This 2-volume set contains 10 papers, 5 in each volume, that review and evaluate findings from the Youth Research and Technical Assistance Project, whose purpose was not only to explore studies and evaluations related to youth training and employment programs but also to provide a broader synthesis of evidence, findings, and research from related…

The Phi Delta Kappa Study of Students At Risk assessed who is at risk, what puts students at risk, what schools are doing to help those students, and how effective these efforts are. Data were provided on at-risk students in 85 U.S. and Canadian communities by teachers who knew each student best and had access to a student's school records. This…

This paper reviews the research on the social dimensions of literacy acquisition and use, and applies conclusions to the provision of improved literacy training for adults and young people with hearing impairments. Discussion of the social context of literacy considers the ethnography of communication, literacy as cultural practice, and literacy…

This report contains case studies from six countries on local efforts to ease the transition of youth from school to work and to stop or prevent them from regressing to semiliteracy or illiteracy. The countries studied are Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe. A short summary of each of…

This report describes the expansion of the Select Program in Science and Engineering (SPISE) to provide participants with a second year experience designed to increase the impact of the program on college and career selection by enabling students to select an area of special interest for study. The target population for SPISE is economically…

The American Library Association's Carroll Preston Baber Research Award supported this project on the use, impact and feasibility of a computer assisted writing facility located in the library of Stetson Middle School in Philadelphia, an inner city school with a population of minority, "at risk" students. The writing facility consisted…

A study examined the Harbor City Learning (HCL) Program in Baltimore, Maryland to determine how educational programs sponsored by the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) could better prepare inner city youth to perform successfully in a number of jobs or occupations. Specifically, the study investigated the characteristics of the…

Higher Horizons 100 (HH 100) is a compensatory program in the Hartford, Connecticut public schools designed to provide underachieving and undermotivated secondary school students with an integrated program of academic, cultural, and counseling services. HH 100 services were designed to develop and improve the basic skills of language and…

Joshua Miner recounts his 30 years' experience with people and places significant to the history of Adventure-Based Education and Outward Bound in the United States. Fourteen Outward Bound schools visited or assisted by Miner are described in chapters recording events such as the school's inception, daily activities, individuals enrolled, and…