The relationship between success on proficiency tests and poverty has been widely discussed. This study explores the use of a neighborhood indicator of socioeconomic status based on school lunch participation of elementary school students in that neighborhood, and examines the relationship of poverty to success on a high school proficiency test in…

The Elementary School Curriculum Efficacy Program (ESCEP) of the Detroit (Michigan) Public Schools is intended to improve the academic performance of students through the development of positive attitudes toward learning. The ESCEP introduces students to a process of self-exploration that better enables them to understand their personal…

"Snapshot '97," the 10th edition of this publication, provides information about students, student performance, staffing, and the financing of Texas public school districts. This annual summary is a useful source of information for anyone interested in the demographics of Texas schools, the resources available, and the improvements that…

This report describes the administrative structure and program design for an after-school program for school age children (aged between 5 and 13 years) in the 1990-91 school year in the Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools (APS). The program took policy and regulations from the pertinent Board of Education policy and guidelines and was administered by…

The Southwest Regional Laboratory's Metropolitan Educational Trends and Research Outcomes (METRO) Center processed 17 descriptions of exemplary sites that addressed the needs of language minority, limited English proficient students. Data were collected regarding program features; schools' and districts' size, geographic location, grades served,…

For the past year, 12 social studies, English/reading, bilingual, and library teachers at an urban middle school have collaborated with 2 professors and 2 graduate assistants from Michigan State University (MSU) to create the concept of "multiple literacies" in themselves and among their students. The purpose of the work is to extend the concept…

This report describes the aggregated reading and mathematics performances of students in years 5 and 7 in urban Northern Territory (Australia) schools on the Primary Assessment Program (PAP) tests. The aggregated results are encouraging, with apparent gains in some reading tests over the preceding year, and no evidence of decline in the others.…

Despite a high attrition rate among urban teachers, some have remained and have proven to be effective with the urban population of learners. This paper determines the perceptions of urban teachers and university faculty of the role of an effective urban teacher and compares these perceptions to the natural behavioral styles of candidates for an…

Two studies were done to explore factors associated with the rate at which students move from one school community to another in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. The first study sought to learn the demographics of mobile students. The second study examined the relationship between student mobility and achievement. The first study…

A final evaluation was conducted in the 1989-90 school year of New York City (New York) Board of Education's project, Higher Achievement and Improvement Through Instruction with Computers and Scholarly Transition and Resource Systems (HAITI STARS). The project served 524 limited-English-proficient Spanish-speaking students at Far Rockaway High…

This report provides baseline information on the education and employment activities of the class of 1989, the last class to graduate before the implementation of school reform in Chicago (Illinois). The survey prepared by the Chicago panel, asked graduates whether they were enrolled in school, whether they were employed, and where they were going…

This paper analyzes prevalent methods of comparing schools' performance and recommends alternative measures more helpful toward understanding how schools might be improved. The influence of two factors--resource availability and financial need--on the level of school programming is explained in light of Michigan's system of educational finance.…

This study investigates the effect of cooperative learning on students' self-perceptions. Areas explored include students' perceptions concerning their: (1) achievement, regardless of present achievement level; (2) personal worth; (3) friendship formation with different ethnic groups and sexes; and (4) enjoyment of school. Interviews were…

This study is an analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) School Questionnaire administered across three grade levels (grades 4, 8, and 12) during the 1987-88 school year. The data obtained from the school questionnaire represent one level of NAEP's data collection activities, in addition to the teacher questionnaires and…

This report discusses three major issues in urban education: dropout prevention, secondary education for Hispanic Americans, and urban teaching careers. Current studies on dropping out attempt to locate the responsibility for high dropout rates in policies or practices that schools initiate and have the power to change. Findings of these studies…