Based on current research and conventional wisdom, financial education should begin at an early age. With the exception of a few generally underutilized in-school banking programs, Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore, like so many other areas across the nation, has few or no school-based financial literacy programs. A partnership with 23 public,…

Previous research has documented a substantial decline of standardized test scores of children from low-income backgrounds, relative to more advantaged peers, in later elementary grades, the so-called "fourth-grade slump." This article examines changes in reading achievement from first to fifth grade for students in a large urban school…

The authors of the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" anticipated that a majority of school districts or schools would not be able to attain state and national achievement standards without assistance. Consequently, the Act created a major tenet known as Supplemental Educational Services (SES) programs to improve the learning outcomes of…

Increased emphasis has been placed on children's ability to enter kindergarten ready to learn, a concept referred to as "school readiness." School readiness has been defined by the Maryland State Department of Education as "the stage of human development that enables a child to engage in, and benefit from, primary learning…

Project Keeping All Pupils in School (KAPS) is a dropout prevention program designed by officials in the Baltimore City Public Schools, supported by Federal funds under the provision of Title VIII of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act (PL90-427). The KAPS Program consists of six components. They include: Daily Program, Service to Aid…

As part of the broader policy debate on how to reform K-12 education, particularly high schools, basic questions about career and technical education are on the table. "Remaking Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century" begins with a summary of what researchers know--and do not know--about the value of high school…

AN EXPERIMENT SOUGHT TO DETERMINE WHETHER SPECIFICALLY SELECTED READING MATERIALS AND SPECIALLY DEVISED INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY WOULD MOTIVATE CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED COLLEGE FRESHMEN AT A PREDOMINATELY NEGRO COLLEGE TO IMPROVE THEIR READING AND WRITING SKILLS, AND WHETHER THE EXPERIMENTAL STUDENTS WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY ACHIEVE AT A HIGHER LEVEL…

A middle school reform initiative, sponsored by the Program for Disadvantaged Youth of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation 4 years ago, has taken hold in 12 urban middle schools nationwide. The article discusses that reform, noting the lessons about change to accommodate student diversity that urban middle schools can teach. (SM)

Discusses differentiation in terms of the instructional program, school organization, staff development, and extensions beyond the classroom. Suggests learning activities with differing levels of cognitive challenge as vehicles for differentiated classrooms. Focuses curriculum on global citizenship and themes of identity, connections,…