Education laws and policies have moved toward promoting socio-emotional (SEL) skills, adopting numerous terminologies in their standards. However, the incremental change has left compensatory education practitioners who are committed to promoting SEL opportunities with little guidance when the programs' governing policies do not include language…

In this article, Edward Zigler, interviewed by Barbara Beatty, talks about a turning point in the history of Head Start that reveals how policy choices, bureaucracy, and science came together when he was told to phase out the program in 1970. New to Washington, Zigler learned that President Richard M. Nixon's domestic policy advisor Daniel Patrick…

I focus on the role of preschool intervention and developmental psychology researchers in defining the concept of the "disadvantaged child" and in designing and evaluating remedies to alleviate educational "disadvantages" in young children. I argue that preschool interventions concentrated especially on compensating for…

This paper examines the long-term effect of enrollment in center- or school-based care programs on the academic performance of language minority students in the USA. The study applies a longitudinal multilevel analysis to a nationally representative database, the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K). Of particular interest are the…

Drawing on a realistic model for evaluating compensatory education effects, Chapter 1 staff members have developed a workshop series aimed at improving the effectiveness of local Chapter 1 programs. Improvement efforts are to be data driven, research based, team centered, locally controlled, systematic, and focused on student outcomes. (20…

Named as Title I director for the Espanola (New Mexico) School District in the mid-1960s, Gilbert Martinez redirected the early grants from equipment purchases to development of kindergartens, centralized elementary school libraries, and free lunch programs. New Mexico's program improvement mandates stress curriculum integration and evaluation…

While forging a political and social consensus to support existing compensatory education efforts, supporters have exhausted any notion of whom they mean to help, what their problems are, how to determine success, or how best to help. This article redefines high risk youth, dispels some common misconceptions about low-achievers, and outlines…

Looks at past evaluation of compensatory education, suggests new approaches to evaluation, and makes recommendations about program implementation. (IRT)

South Carolina has found that meaningful improvement in Chapter 1 schools requires taking six crucial steps: (1) set meaningful goals; (2) pay attention to school culture; (3) revamp the curriculum; (4) pick up the pace; (5) integrate learning objectives with the regular program; and (6) change teaching tactics. An insert summarizes changes…

About 1,500 schools nationwide pay an estimated $200 million in federal funds to private enterprises claiming to provide better literacy instruction than the disappointing Title I results of the past 34 years. Programs run by Kaplan Inc., Success for All Foundation, Sylvan Learning Systems, and Reading Recovery Council are described. (MLH)

Reviews the history of federal support for compensatory education from the conception of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1967 to its recasting as Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. Analyzes the reasons behind the the success of the federal effort. (PGD)

Job Training and Partnership Act programs can provide schools with a variety of options and resources for building Education for Employment programs to meet the needs of at-risk students. These programs focus on basic academic skills, work maturity skills, and job-specific skills. (Author/TE)

Describes how the college-preparation program Upward Bound, in a bruising battle with GEAR UP for federal funds, is being closely scrutinized by the Bush administration. (EV)

Examines how and why the allocation formulae used to distribute Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I funds reflect a rural bias in American national politics. (Author/BE)

For over 25 years, Title I and Chapter 1 programs have provided remedial services to children deficient in basic skills by instructing them separately. The most important future objectives for compensatory education are preventing early reading failure, enhancing regular classroom instruction, and improving assessment and accountability. (27…