Nationally, more than one million youth drop out of high school each year. One in four young people do not graduate with their age mates. Thus, in recent years, national leaders have directed sustained attention to what they term the "dropout crisis," particularly in high schools that are graduating less than two-thirds of their…

This manual was developed to help community members conduct a dialogue on race. When people explore perspectives and ideas, they discover how much they share and learn to appreciate their differences. The nature of the dialogue process can motivate people to work toward change. Sections of the manual explore: (1) "Characteristics of Community…

All mentoring programs have to make decisions about which available adult volunteer to match with which specific child or youth. The issue of same-race matching is often a particularly difficult one for these programs. In the section "The Question of Race," this technical assistance packet provides an overview of the debate over same-race and…

Despite the hopes of social scientists and civil rights activists that school desegregation would close the educational gap between blacks and whites, a full generation of effort has not resulted in parity between the achievement levels of black and white students. School desegregation alone is not the answer to ending achievement differences.…

Only a full scale effort will make multicultural education a success at the middle school level. Multicultural education programs must be integrated into all levels of the school day, from curriculum and instructional materials through all the components of the middle school experience. Chapter 1 looks at the country's increasing cultural…

This book offers educators and parents who work to forge authentic partnerships between home and school new insights based on the author's experiences with family literacy projects. During an 8-year study, the author examined the experiences of adult participants in school-based family literacy programs, exploring what accounted for sustained…

This introductory packet provides information on cultural concerns that should be considered in addressing barriers to student learning. Topics discussed include: (1) what is meant by ethnicity; (2) the importance of considering culture; (3) characteristics of culturally competent programs; (4) reasons school staff should be concerned about…