The City of Austin (Texas) provides funds for an educational initiative to involve minority high school students in water quality issues and to reduce the dropout rate through positive role model interaction with academically successful students. Principal program activities were testing river water for pollutants and tutoring at-risk students by…

The National School-to-Work Office in collaboration with the National Association for Gifted Children, the Council for Exceptional Children, the Association for the Gifted, and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted have identified 11 gifted education/school-to-work (GT/STW) models that are either best practices or unique…

This paper reports on a project aimed at improving academic achievement at a predominantly Latino elementary school in the metropolitan Los Angeles area. Project activities were guided by a school change model that helped provide a coherent, sustained focus over a period of several years. The model suggests four elements that can be used to…

The New York City Board of Education formed the Latino Commission on Educational Reform to examine issues of concern to Latino children who comprise an increasing segment of the students in the public school system. An interim report was submitted on the dropout rate, curriculum and instruction, support services, parent and community empowerment,…

This study presents the case of a preservice science student teacher with a desire to make science education more accessible to all students. The paper highlights her cross-cultural student teaching experience in an urban middle school with a predominantly Hispanic-American population. Data were gathered from interviews conducted throughout her…

This report examines preschool and early primary education in the Chicago (Illinois) public schools, and its impact on disadvantaged minority children. Statistical data were gathered by a survey of 196 kindergarten teachers. For comparison, the survey was also sent to kindergarten teachers in Wilmette (Illinois), a Chicago suburb. Part 1,…

Utilizes data from the Metropolitan Opportunity Project to examine trends in White and minority experiences in the high schools, community colleges, and universities of Los Angeles (California) since the mid-1970s. Concludes that Black and Hispanic access to higher education has been severely hampered. (FMW)

This collection of papers by ethnic scholars highlights the complex struggle for equality and power. It begins with a series foreword, "Beyond Psychologizing Multiculturalism" (Donaldo Macedo), and an introduction, "Democracy Sabotaged by Democracy: Immigration under Neoliberalism" (Peter McLaren). The 14 papers are: (1)…

This book presents a collection of papers by educators and researchers who discuss various methods of improving minority student achievement. The 19 chapters highlight the achievement of students from kindergarten through college as follows: (1) "Discrepancies between Aspirations and Preparation of Low SES Elementary Students" (Dianne L.…

Special education instruction in the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) for students with learning difficulties is shamefully ineffective. These students, usually classified as having a "Specific Learning Disability" or "Speech and language impairment," comprise more than half of all children receiving special…

Students with disabilities across the nation, including Baltimore City, are failing to achieve their academic potential. Inadequate instruction and other inappropriate or unlawful practices cause and conceal the dysfunction of special education. At long last, the illusion and broken promises of special education have been publicly exposed. Under…

A growing number of American students are nonnative English speakers. These students are vulnerable to early school exit and schools are facing more and more such students each year. Presently, about 56% of all public school teachers in the United States have at least one English language learner (ELL) student in their class, but less than 20% of…