Describes a study that provided slum children in New Delhi (India) with unsupervised and unguided access to the Internet via an outdoor kiosk. Concludes that children seem to understand and use the technology fluently and that language and formal education do not seem to make any significant difference. (Author/LRW)

Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988, seeks to gain a better understanding of what factors assist economically and sociologically underprivileged Americans to ready themselves for college. (Author/EV)

Investigated the creation, development, contributions, and limits of Project Hope, a government-endorsed education project in rural communities in China. Identifies shortcomings of the program and the misleading nature of its curriculum. (SLD)

Describes efforts of the federally-funded TRIO Student Support Services program at Kankakee Community College in Illinois. The program helps simplify the educational process for low-income, first-generation, or disabled college students. Describes how the program helps students through encouraging career clarity, intensive academic planning,…

Examines the philosophical underpinnings of substantive conception of equality of educational opportunity. Discusses the liberal, meritocratic, and prospect-regarding ideals of substantive equality of opportunity and discusses the implications for socio-structural reform. Notes the connection between educational opportunities and subsequent…

The present study investigated relationships among false belief, emotion understanding, and social skills with 60 3- to 5-year-olds (29 boys, 31 girls) from Head Start and two other preschools. Children completed language, false belief, and emotion understanding measures; parents and teachers evaluated children's social skills. Children's false…

The purposes of this study were to determine the extent and types of parent involvement in Head Start programs, and to examine the relations between parent participation and family, teacher and classroom characteristics. Parents (n = 1131) and teachers (n = 59) from four Head Start programs participated. Data were gathered through volunteer logs,…

In the past, attempts to explain the disparity in academic achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged students have generally focused on the ability, aptitude and motivation of the youth themselves. Some theorists have even suggested that heritable differences in intelligence among students from different social origins may account for this…

For long now, the urban child has been considered to be more likely than his/her rural counterpart in being able to realize the dream of fully participating in school. This observation has mainly been attributed to what is commonly known as the "urban advantage." This "urban advantage" is associated with increased access to…

A former teacher with a message on educating children from poor backgrounds is influencing school leaders anxious to close the achievement gap. Ruby K. Payne is in demand for keynote speeches and seminars at annual conferences like the one hosted by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. A million copies…

The purpose of this article is to summarize what is generally known about talent development and schooling by stating some propositions about the way such programs are structured. This article sets the stage for a series of stories of programs that attempt to address the challenge of talent development in diverse low-income populations. The…

In a sample of underserved youth, this study examined the relationship between achievement goal theory and affect and attitudes. The study also explored if constructs of Hellison's taking personal and social responsibility (TPSR) model mediated the relationship between goal constructs and the dependent variables. Participants were 135 multiethnic…

Parents are children's first and foremost teachers. In today's world, a second significant influence on children ages 0 to 5 is the teachers or caregivers who provide child care and early education. Wisconsin's young children typically spend significant amounts of time in early care and education (ECE) programs, like family child care homes, child…

MDC's mission is to help organizations and communities close the gaps that separate people from opportunity. The organization has been working to create positive change in disadvantaged communities for 40 years--by conducting research and demonstrating effective programs at the community level. MDC focuses on three areas: education, economic and…

Recent research shows that variation in teacher quality has large effects on student performance. However, this research is based entirely on student test scores. Focusing on high-school math teachers, this paper evaluates teacher quality in terms of another educational outcome of great interest--graduation. I use a unique instrumental variables…