During the 1989-90 school year, Descubriendo la Lectura, a Spanish-language adaptation of the English Reading Recovery project was implemented in a large urban school district in Arizona. The program is designed to identify first-grade students at risk of becoming poor readers and to provide a series of intense short-term learning experiences that…

A study was done to investigate the coupling of perceptions of organizational climate together with the values of students in a multiethnic middle school. The study used data on cultural variables and information on perceptions of organizational climate and values priorities of 617 students from different ethnic groups (Black, White, Hispanic,…

Project Data Tech targeted Spanish- and Haitian-speaking students of limited English proficiency at a high school in Brooklyn. Students who were admitted scored at or below the 40th percentile on the Language Assessment Battery, were new arrivals into the country, and wanted to join the computer-aided drafting (CAD) or cosmetology programs.…

The lives and places in society of urban youth at risk of dropping out of the Los Angeles (California) Unified School District schools are explored through interviews of adolescents whom the author met when doing field work in Los Angeles County. Data come from interviews conducted in the course of the 1991 Drug Use Forecasting Study (DUF) and the…

In response to state legislation specifying criteria by which schools should identify elementary school and secondary school students at risk of dropping out, schools in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District reported students who were at risk in 1990-91. The operational definitions for the state criteria for grades 7-12 include age,…

This study examined what low income parents perceived about their involvement in their children's education and what teachers needed to know about teaching in urban schools. The study also investigated whether, given explicit instruction and practice, prospective teachers would positively change their perceptions about interacting with low income…

The disparity between the ethnic and cultural makeup of our teaching force and the ethnic and cultural makeup of the student population demands initiatives on the part of teacher preparation programs. Preservice teachers need to learn about the various cultures of their students in order to increase communication and understanding. As preservice…

The author examines the relationship between accountability and militarization of urban US schools and social and economic processes in cities. The focus is the role of education policies in the production of inequality and racial oppression in the context of a new geography of centrality and marginality in world cities. This analysis is developed…

This study examines the October 1991 exit-level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) mathematics results of 18,290 11th-grade Hispanic Americans, African Americans, and White non-Hispanic Americans from Texas urban districts. Substantial differences existed in the passing rates of the three ethnic groups. The passing rate for White…

An evaluation was conducted of the third year of a 5-year program at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn (New York City), Project Pride, designed to provide Haitian-speaking students of limited English proficiency with instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Native Language Arts (NLA). The project planned to offer content area…

Under Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Project Alternative Learning Methodologies through Academics (Project ALMA) in New York City was evaluated. It was designed to emphasize acquisition of English language and mathematics and computer skills. High school students were to take English as a Second Language (ESL) and…

An ethnographic study was conducted of the first year of implementation of the Accelerated Schools Project in a pilot middle school. The interaction between intervention and the existing school culture is studied through multiple interviews with teachers, support staff, administrators, students, and parents as well as observation and review of…

An ethnographic study is presented, which attempts to gain a better understanding of the gap between California high school students who are at-risk, who eventually drop out, and who are academically successful. Focus is on families, teacher student relationships, peer influence, and social context. A sample of 10 high achieving and 10 low…

Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York, developed a course in practical writing skills for bilingual students as a means of reducing the dropout rate among vocational students, the largest group of Hispanic students in the institution. The objective was to provide writing skills through source materials with a…

This chapter uses data from the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students project to provide evidence of success among racially diverse students in the Los Angeles Community College District. Through interviews with student services personnel, it also describes the specific efforts that may be responsible for this success. In…