At a time when some 24% of the Brazilian population of 182 million are functionally illiterate, the author shows how illiteracy is concentrated in traditionally poor and disadvantaged social and ethnic groups as well as in certain regions of the country. He surveys the changes in legislation, policies and attitudes relating to literacy over the…

This article presents a new approach to index development, extending the methods used by Townsend, Mack and Lansley and Hallerod to measure deprivation in the developed world. The index combines three "objective" dimensions of deprivation (i.e. monetary, consumption and work-related), and weighs them according to subjective perceptions…

Despite the media's fascination with the "literacy crisis," there is rarely any mention of the real cause of the problem: Lack of access to books for children of poverty. In this article, the author presents a compelling demonstration of what happens when librarians make sure children have access to interesting reading material: They read! And…

TheatreWorks is the third largest theatre in the San Francisco bay area. Through the usual educational programs that $6 million companies tend to offer, it has reached over 100,000 students of all ages in the past 8 years. The TheatreWorks Bridges Projects, however, are special. They are intricate and expansive, work with multiple community…

In 1996, UNICEF's 50th anniversary year, the organization celebrated its achievements in saving and improving the lives of millions of children and women. At the same time, it took stock of the many lessons learned from a half century at the forefront of development. As a result of this assessment, UNICEF took several important measures to…

Proposes a theory of information poverty based on four concepts that serve as the basis for defining an impoverished life-world: risk taking, secrecy, deception, and situational relevance. A conceptual framework that links the world of the information-poor, the outsiders, with a world of insiders, is developed. Contains 64 references. (Author/LRW)

This paper focused on three dominant psychological theories--Cognitive Dissonance, Relative Deprivation and Campus Ecology that have been evolved to explain student unrest, to determine their ability to account for the phenomenon in Nigerian universities. It found that none of the theories could all alone holistically account for all the causal…

This paper focuses on why metropolitan areas vary in their capacity to translate generally high employment rates into economic opportunity for the disadvantaged. Data come from the Urban Institute's Urban Underclass Database, which includes poverty and employment data for 1980 and 1990 for the 100 largest metropolitan areas down to the Census…

Discusses the practice and perspectives of free access for the public of Uzbekistan to legal resources, including distant and disadvantaged communities. Explains the legal database system and presents results of a project at the Open Library for Legal Information to organize legal information by regional libraries and public centers for legal…

Discusses whether religion can affect health and social welfare and what types of religious influences are most beneficial to the individual and society, identifying three separate but related faith factors: organic religion, programmatic religion, and ecological religion. Examines research on faith-based approaches to social and urban problems.…

Describes how Puerto Rico's teenage tutor, Jorge Aneudy Villalba, leads a children's learning crusade through an urban desert of poverty and despair, determined to prove the kids from the projects can make their own future. (Author/EV)

Current high school reform often focuses on small schools, small learning communities, and alternative paths to post-secondary education. While these reforms are necessary, recent evaluations of improving high-poverty high schools in urban districts (American Institutes for Research & SRI International, 2004 & 2005) suggest these changes are not…

Describes the Ten-Schools Program (TSP) in Los Angeles (California). Among the features described are academic goals, staff development, an extended school year, parental involvement, extensive attention to oral and written language, and special counseling services. (EVL)

What can you expect from a school in an area of high crime where 50 percent of the pupils take free school meals and which operates on a site that cannot be accessed from its main catchment area? In this article, the author shares his experience when he visited Challenge College. A low wall separates Challenge College from the area where most of…

Describes how in one of Miami's toughest neighborhoods, a survivor of those streets came back to help others because "kids' lives are at stake." Explores Principal Gallon's efforts to offer education as an option beyond poverty and prison. (EV)