This booklet presents statistics concerning the well-being of Illinois' 3.3 million children between 1980 and 1990. Statistics are compared county by county for each of the state's 102 counties, and statewide statistics are compared with those of the entire nation. A statewide analysis focuses on spending per pupil on education, the percentage of…

Problems that beset urban education in general are analyzed, and solutions are discussed and evaluated by a policy working group of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. The most acute problem in American education involves the unmet needs of disadvantaged students, who are heavily concentrated in urban school…

The experiences of the first middle school to pilot the ideas and concepts of the Accelerated Schools Project are described. The school is an inner-city public school with a population of at-risk students presently scoring below district and state achievement averages. The 689 students are 53 percent Hispanic, 23 percent Portuguese, 17 percent…

Project Survival was a special innovative project conducted by the Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools in the summer of 1991. By combining instruction in basic skills, opportunities to learn and practice conflict resolution strategies, and work experience, Project Survival addressed some of the major problems associated with high dropout and…

An evaluation was done of a precollege intervention program that aimed at introducing ninth graders to the idea of going to college, and to challenge them to think about and make a commitment to attending college. The program brought 450 mostly Black and Hispanic ninth graders from an inner-city school district to visit a mid-sized rural…

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…

Vocational staff from 10 Pennsylvania vocational schools were given information and instructional materials to enable them to create effective programs for disadvantaged populations. A needs assessment was conducted to identify specific needs of the participating vocational staff pertaining to programming for disadvantaged students. After…

The development, care, and education of children from birth to age 5 has been the focus of rapidly increasing public interest, and numerous early childhood public policy initiatives have focused attention on a major problem of coordination and collaboration of services for young children. Four segments of services for young children--(1) child…

A holistic analysis of the dropout problem is presented in this collection of essays, which critically examines a variety of research traditions. The book examines the major groups within the dropout population, factors within schools that contribute to dropping out, and the larger social and economic context within which dropping out occurs.…

A Minnesota study examined how the federal law was implemented and federal funds were distributed under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984 and the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 (JTPA) and reported on the coordination between the two acts in the state for fiscal years 1986 and 1987. Information was gathered from the…

A study examined the effectiveness of the Louisiana State Youth Opportunities Unlimited (LSYOU) program. (LSYOU is an intensive 8-week residential dropout prevention program held at Louisiana State University that provided work experience, academic training, counseling, supportive services, recreation, health care, team support, and training in…

A survey of officials in 52 cities in the United States gathered information on the conditions and issues relating to urban children, on how city governments are structured to respond to those needs, and on city programs and initiatives which benefit children. Information provided by the cities was supplemented by data from the Bureau of the…

The undereducation of at-risk youth is a critical issue overlooked by the education reform movement of the 1980s, as represented by the report, "A Nation At Risk." This group, whose members are predominantly economically, culturally, racially, and ethnically disadvantaged, is leaving school unprepared for further education or available…

The Youth Incentive Entitlement Pilot Projects (YIEPP) demonstration, which was in full operation from 1978 to 1980, was established to test the efficacy of work combined with education as a remedy for high unemployment, low labor force participation, and the excessive school dropout rate of teenagers. YIEPP offered Federal minimum-wage jobs…

Examined in this book are issues related to the education of at-risk children and youth. Part 1 of the volume consists of 12 original papers presented and discussed at the Council of Chief State School Officers' (CCSSO) 1987 Summer Institute. Papers concern: (1) values, standards, and climate in schools serving students at risk; (2) schools and…