This article considers the possibility that school-based uses of new technologies might actually exacerbate the educational disadvantage of already disadvantaged social groups--particularly, learners from low socio-economic status populations. It draws on some recent international studies that indicate how minority, poor and urban students may be…

The Language Vocabulary Acquisition (LVA) Approach is a revolutionary method of reading instruction for emergent and developing readers. It is an intense reading program with high levels of student participation, engagement, and interaction with print text, that yields high outcomes in phonological awareness, reading and writing fluency, and…

Researchers at the Policy Information Center of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) have analyzed information from the National Center for Education Statistics; data from state, city, and other sources; and results from recent surveys of high school students to present a summary of the current dropout situation. The 1995 ETS report, "Dreams…

This volume describes actual programs that are based on the idea that family connections are substantial resources for healing and recovery even when the family is a very troubled one. With a focus on severely damaged families, these programs attempt to keep children connected with their own families even when circumstances prevent their living…

The Urban Education Project at Research for Better Schools, Inc. has developed an integrated knowledge base that incorporates and disseminates the most current and promising research for improvement and reform in urban schools. This knowledge base has been organized into a decision-making framework, the Urban Learner Framework (ULF), that…

The clan principle, the informal determination of human groups by totem characteristics, commonly accepted standards for self-definition, valued knowledge, and regulation of behavior, is a reality for American Indian and Native Alaskan cultures and for the mainstream urban, suburban, and industrial society as well. The tendency to group…

The Chicago (Illinois) School Reform Act of 1988 set in motion a chain of reform efforts that have been the subject of considerable study. The plan emphasizes returning control of the schools to parents and the community through school-based management and local school councils. This book reports on studies of the implementation of the reform…

Papers in this collection result from an 18-month exploration of ways to reform services for children and families in big cities, a so-called "rolling seminar" searching for ways to provide supportive and nourishing communities for city children. Contributions to this collection include: (1) "Themes and Viewpoints" (Editors);…

This report addresses widespread beliefs about the performance of urban students, and their family and school environments. Using data from several national surveys, it compares urban students and schools with their suburban and rural counterparts on a broad range of factors, including student population and background characteristics, afterschool…

This study is the first effort to produce a systematic description and analysis of the experience and performance of immigrant children and youths in the U.S. educational system. Data from the High School and Beyond (HSB) study initiated in 1980 were complemented by 1970, 1980, and 1990 U.S. Census figures to compare the performance of immigrant…

This book is reissued as part of the Innovators in Education Series, which brings back into print books that are both historically significant and that speak to today's educational concerns. Originally released in 1971, the book presents lessons that still apply to what doesn't work and what could work in the schools. The study of five inner-city…

This book traces the histories of two Chicano gangs in East Los Angeles since the early 1940s, when common gang stereotypes were created by the media and law enforcement agencies. In an unusual collaborative effort, researchers worked with former gang members to make contact with and interview members of various "cliques" (cohorts) of…

This paper identifies conditions in the lives of poor urban high school students that may cause classroom management problems. Urban student teachers are urged to look at these conditions from a humanistic perspective to help them understand their students and deal effectively with those problems. Specific urban secondary classroom management…

Several studies recently conducted by the Federal government and private organizations have produced new information about dropouts. Findings from these studies are summarized so that parents can have up-to-date information when talking to their children about dropping out. Urban and minority students are more likely to drop out of school. The gap…

In British schools, and in the United States, black boys are both the heroes of a street fashion culture that dominates inner cities and students who receive a disproportionate amount of punishment in school. A central thesis of this book is that teachers in elementary and secondary schools cannot escape the wider social perceptions about young…