Ten years ago, the author started a tutoring club called JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigy) in his apartment. He initially worked with a set of the most challenged students in a local school, including a number in special education who were performing far below grade level. The success of his program led him to realize that not only can all…

One of the greatest challenges facing teachers is accommodating struggling, diverse, and at-risk readers. Even with the use of effective, research-based techniques, many children fail to make adequate progress in reading and may need additional assistance. One way to provide this assistance is through tutoring. This article outlines a successful…

Looks at the essentials of programs for at-risk students and describes an actual program that exemplifies each essential. (SR)

Arizona State University's basic writing "Stretch Program" has now been in existence for more than ten years. Statistical data for nearly 8,000 "Stretch Program" students continues to indicate that the program helps a range of at-risk students succeed. This is true, also, for students from under-represented groups, who comprise…

The Mill City/Gates Youth Development Project operated as a youth-at-risk program in a timber-dependent community during the timber crisis of the early 1990s. Evaluations indicate the youth activities were effective. Community support structures created by the project continue to operate 5 years after the end of funding, indicating a successful…

This article describes the design and implementation of a program that incorporates a response-to-intervention (RTI) framework for promoting the development of early literacy and language skills among low-income minority children. The early literacy program, called the Exemplary Model of Early Reading Growth and Excellence, or EMERGE, combines…

Describes New Zealand's successful "Transition Education" program for at-risk, low-achieving secondary students, which helps students make the transition from school to adulthood. (SR)

Best practice in preventing severe problem behavior in schools involves implementing a continuum of effective behavior support. This continuum includes primary prevention strategies implemented with all students, secondary prevention strategies for students at-risk, and tertiary interventions for students who engage in the most severe problem…

Describes Roots & Wings, a comprehensive reform model for elementary schools that incorporates the elements of Success for All (R. Slavin, 1996), an approach based on standards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the WorldLab social studies and science program. Presents research results from Texas and Maryland that found…

To ensure that academic and sociobehavioral interventions for children will be more successful, proposes three main components to address when designing the interventions: social validity, treatment integrity, and generalization and maintenance. Describes the pertinent characteristics of each of these components as they relate to school-based…

Current efforts to encourage students to persist are not stemming the tide of drop-outs. Estimates of the high school dropout rate range from 10-30 percent (Hardy 2002). The impact of having no high school diploma causes these students to experience economic and social struggles throughout the time in life that should be their most productive. One…

The Early Impact (EI) program is an early intervention and prevention program for reducing the incidence of conduct problems in pre-school aged children. The EI intervention framework is ecological in design and includes universal and indicated components. This paper delineates key principles and associated strategies that underpin the EI program.…

The Ogden, Utah schools have used the mandates of the federal Reading First grant program to transform reading instruction and student achievement in low-performing schools. Reading First was approved by Congress in 2001 under the No Child Left Behind Act to bring scientifically based reading methods and materials to struggling schools. The $1…

The Virginia Education Association and the Appalachia Educational Laboratory jointly sponsored a group of six educators to study descriptions of over 100 programs for at-risk students in Virginia public schools. The group developed a Survey of Programs for At-Risk Students that called for an extensive program description and mailed the survey to…

This paper synthesizes existing knowledge, definitions, and themes about alternative education programs, based on a review of literature and reports, focusing on common terminologies to characterize the various kinds of alternative education programs. It seeks to develop a typology of existing alternative education by focusing on certain common…