The Alan Rufus Tonelson Teaching and Learning Center was established in 1988 to explore the nature of urban elementary education through research focusing on classroom, school, home, and community variables that affect the education of high-risk urban children. The results are used to train teachers to work more effectively in urban schools. The…

The conference reported in this document focused on the issues surrounding the progress of urban public schools in bringing about reforms aimed at providing the nation's future workforce with marketable skills, obtainable only through education. Section 1, "Perspectives on Educating Tomorrow's Workforce," contains the following articles:…

This study was designed to document the key factors in the success of 12 urban high schools that prepare students for specific occupational fields as well as for college entrance. Case studies were used to gather information from the schools in the New York City, Chicago, and Metropolitan Los Angeles school districts. The research yielded 10…

This book describes the innovative teaching style and methods of Marva Collins, the founder and principal of the Westside Preparatory School in Chicago (Illinois). The book traces Collins's career at Calhoun South and Delano Elementary Schools and the development of her distinctive approach, which involves teaching the total child, developing the…

A study explored the effectiveness of "rap music" as a method of instruction for urban preschool children. It was hypothesized that urban preschool children would learn more new content (10 unfamiliar names of body parts) in a classroom environment through the use of rap music for instruction, than would children who received instruction…

The issue of educational access affects persons who live in urban areas more than any other single group in the country. The vast majority of such persons are black and economically and socially disadvantaged. A look at enrollment by geographic regions across the nation shows over 50% of all black students are concentrated in less than 2% of the…

In 1985-86, LaGuardia Community College (LCC) completed the developmental phase of a project aimed at increasing the number of minority, low-income urban students who transfer from LCC and complete a baccalaureate degree. During the year, the program had the following achievements: (1) linkages were established with the City University of New York…

Drawing from a study of the progress of minority students to the baccalaureate degree, this report raises questions on how institutions and states can intervene to speed the process of reducing inequities that are clearly the product of past differences in minority access to education and jobs, and identifies practices of particular promise.…

The Roosevelt School District, with the lowest wealth per pupil of the 56 districts located in Nassau County, Long Island, New York, worked with the Urban Education Department of the University of Massachusetts' Division of Instructional Leadership to design and implement a degree-granting staff development program centered around identifying and…

The Urban Education Network is comprised of the largest school districts in 14 states. In December 1985 the Network hosted a conference for its members on efforts to improve teaching and learning in urban schools. The following papers presented at the conference are included: (1) "Thinking about the Undoable: Dropout Programs" (Dale…

This collection includes 13 essays on various aspects of learning and elementary education. Individual essays describe, discuss, evaluate, or make recommendations about: (1) the urban school curriculum; (2) individually guided education; (3) in-service teacher education; (4) design of the science curriculum; (5) use of psychology in mathematics…

This study investigated home-school communication patterns between special reading teachers and parents of the children they served, with attention to teachers' and parents' views of each other as literacy supporters of children. The paper discusses the acquisition of literacy by children, formally at school and informally at home, as well as…

This study investigated the "customization" of a standardized achievement test to measure the effect on group and individual scores. "Customization" refers to the modification of an existing test to more closely match test specifications of the entity using the test, usually a state or large school district. Results of an…

This report grows out of a symposium focusing on Education and Cultural and Linguistic Pluralism (ECALP), a project of enquiry of the international Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI). The report aims to clarify trends in multicultural education, and to examine the effects of cultural and linguistic development on educational…

An analysis is provided of trends and issues related to minority enrollment in urban community colleges. Following introductory comments, trends are examined in the areas of urban demography, elementary and secondary school enrollment, postsecondary enrollment, retention, major fields of study, degree attainment, and staffing patterns. The next…