Philadelphia's Out-of-School Time (OST) system has identified K-3rd grade literacy support as the focus of the first phase of its strategic plan, launched in 2017. Research shows that OST programs can have an impact on early literacy skills, and this plan views OST programs as an important "delivery system" for addressing critical needs…

Theorists have begun to explore the ways in which the narratives our children read influence the democratic ideals we wish to impart. In a nation so stratified along both racial and socioeconomic lines and with a long history of various forms of systemic oppression, this issue is particularly relevant to how children in the most inequitable…

This Teaching Tips describes a yearlong process of facilitating meaningful discussion groups about literature with first-grade students in an urban Title I school. At the beginning of the year, the teacher provided explicit instruction in speaking and listening skills to support students with the social skills needed for thoughtful discussion. She…

This research was done on primary school students who are able to understand mathematical concepts, but unable to apply them in solving real life problems. Therefore, this study aims to improve primary school students' mathematical literacy through problem-based learning and direct instruction. In addition, the research was conducted to determine…

This article reports on a teacher inquiry project in a primary school that serves disadvantaged communities on the outskirts of a de-industrialised city in the north of England. Of particular concern is a small group of white British boys in receipt of free school meals, who are identified by the school as disaffected and as a consequence…

This article examines the quality of primary school inputs in urban settlements with a view to understand how it sheds light on benchmarks of education quality indicators in Kenya. Data from a school survey that involved 83 primary schools collected in 2005 were used. The data set contains information on school quality characteristics of various…

The article describes an eight-week program in which gifted first graders at Hunter College Elementary School (New York) design and build a model of an urban home of the future. The program develops creativity and synthetic thought, raises awareness about the homeless and housing problems, and improves fine motor coordination. (DB)

Examines the impact of shared reading experiences with predictable books on 24 inner-city African-American first graders' attitudes toward reading. Finds no significant differences in reading attitudes after eight weeks of intervention. (RS)

Described is the third year of a Paterson, New Jersey, urban early childhood education project for disadvantaged children; and summarized are achievement data on entering third level (grade) children in 10 performance areas. Noted are revision and reordering of performance objectives, development of summary sheets for recording each child's…

This paper presents a case study as an illustration of the need to probe issues and assumptions that arise when outsider staff developers work with teachers from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. After tracing the historical and sociopolitical context of urban school reform, the paper examines the author/educator's experience of…

Reports on an ethnographic study of five primary school principals that was conducted to show what principals actually do and to illuminate the ways in which they and their work are seen by themselves, some members of their staff, and some of their pupils. (Author/IRT)

Examines the "whats" and "hows" of first-grade urban children's appropriation of sports and sports-related media material for participation in unofficial peer worlds and official academic ones. Reveals the potential hybrid nature of even the earliest of children's written texts. Suggests that learning to write involves work of the imagination on…

Reports early findings from a longitudinal study of low socioeconomic status urban African-American kindergarten/first-grade children's emergent readings of literature. Finds that these children showed similar developmental patterns to those in previous studies, but they initially declared vehemently that they could not read. (RS)

Compares selected language features of urban, first grade children in five different reading programs: Lippincott, Language Experience, Houghton-Mifflin, Open Court, and Ginn 720. Finds significant differences among the programs on number of predictions and average length of T-unit, but no program emerged as significantly superior in two or more…

Explores the types of responses of urban first graders when asked to predict a narrative ending and to determine whether there were differences in responses from fall to spring. Indicates that first graders are capable of responding with both convergent and divergent predictions at the beginning and end of first grade. (MG)