This second annual report for the Wake County (North Carolina) Public School System examined students' achievement indicators among groups that vary in gender, race, and economic status. The graphic format displays the extent of some of the gaps in academic achievement among the groups examined that existed in the 1993-94 school year, and compares…

This study examined the extent to which caregiving nurturance expressed in mothers' working models of infant feeding changed during the infant's first year and explored the influence of the infant's biologic development on this caregiving nurturance. Three methodologies were used: (1) 59 mothers of very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants with a…

The research reported in this book develops a theme introduced in a previous work published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, "Our Children at Risk" (1995), which noted the integration of services as a way to provide more effective services for families and children at risk of school failure. Part 1 of this…

This analysis of causes of poverty in the Watts section of Los Angeles (California) and other inner-city communities and of the effects of poverty on children considers exogenous factors that affect lives and behaviors, focusing on the situations of high school students. The first five chapters are arranged around issues cited by those who blame…

The purpose of "Teach for America," a program modeled after the Peace Corps, was to recruit a cadre of bright college graduates to become uncertified teachers for two years in some of America's toughest schools. This book tracks the successes and failures of the program in its first year and presents the stories of seven idealistic corps…

Achievement in most academic areas depends on reading. This study examines the relationship between play therapy and reading. Twenty-four first graders from two North Louisiana schools, who were repeating first grade and who had scored lowest on the Gates MacGinite Reading Test (GMRT) and the Stanford Reading Achievement Test the previous year,…

The study described in this paper involved 333 American students in Wisconsin and 375 Chinese students in Hong Kong in grades 8, 10, and 12. The study focused on 3 areas: (1) gender differences in perception of causal attributions of success or failure in school; (2) the relationship of gender to achievement goal orientation; and (3)…

This study examines teacher collaboration as an evolving service option for special needs students, and investigated the effects of teacher collaboration through the use of action research. The study compared student performance indicators in collaborative and noncollaborative structures and evaluated the validity of variables selected for…

This case study examines the causes of failure for three teaching interns and the interventions that led to their later success. Data collection included interviews with the three elementary level teacher interns, their cooperating teachers, and their university supervisors. All three teacher interns had encountered numerous and severe…

Educational challenges of and reasons for minority students leaving school have repeatedly been examined by researchers. This literature review includes a presentation on various historical theories that provide explanations concerning the success or failure of visible racial/ethnic minorities in United States schools. In addition, Hispanic…

A research project investigated 2,313 persons who attended Del Mar College (Texas) during fall 1990 but did not enroll for spring 1991. Four sets of data were collected: (1) limited demographic information on the total student body; (2) demographic information drawn from school records to describe all nonreturnees; (3) demographic information…

This review of the Parent and Child Education (PACE) program discusses the professional literature that supports the PACE model, data analysis of the program, and suggestions for improving the design of program evaluation. The PACE program is based on widely accepted ideas about the relationship between family characteristics and children's…

This study describes the challenges and successes of student teachers (N=111) in a high school setting as they shift from the role of narcissistic student to that of other-centered teacher. The study attempts to capture their inner feelings as they begin the process of learning to teach. Throughout a 12-week assignment, the student teachers were…

This report examines the limitations of research that has been conducted on the effects of retention and social promotion. It reexamines seven research studies that provide strong evidence based on strong methodology that includes the following three characteristics: (1) the studies identify the basis of comparison, that is, whether they are…

The orthodox view of reading as the accumulation of isolated skills continues to dominate classroom practice. Under this framework, prescriptions for problem readers usually involve intensified drills in the same basic skills to which the students failed to respond in the first place. Prevention entails the early and often precipitous examination…