This paper describes the second year of the Success for All program, which tries to assure that each student in an inner-city school succeeds in acquiring basic skills in the early grades. The program was first implemented in the 1987-88 school year in Abbottson Elementary School in Baltimore. First year results revealed substantially higher…

This study was begun in the Fall of 1985 to determine the long-term effects of retention in one of the six COOR Intermediate School District Areas (Roscommon, Michigan). The major focus is on academic achievement as measured by the California Achievement (CA) Test, which has been given to every kindergarten through eighth grade student in the…

This monograph presents information to help educators consider how to determine the best age for each child to begin his or her formal schooling. Trends in state requirements for school entrance age are described, and research in areas such as mental age, reading readiness, child development, screening instruments, and experimental preschool…

This paper provides an in-depth review and analysis of literature on dropping out from school, and focuses on children who have gained access, but fail to complete a basic education cycle. The main discussion is around why and how children drop out from school. Here drop out is not presented as a distinct event, but rather a process where a range…

Researchers and policymakers have pointed to the lagging scores of eighth graders on international, national, and state assessments as evidence that students are not prepared to meet high academic standards and that middle grades reform is needed. In response to these concerns, educators have introduced reforms designed to provide middle-level…

This guide is designed for elementary school teachers to assist them in developing multi-age classrooms as part of their school restructuring efforts. Each of six sections presents a story from teachers who describe the challenges and joys of multi-age teaching, from parent backlash to school district support and praise. Section 1, "Step by…

The result of a collaboration between the El Paso, Texas, school district and community agencies, the Focus on First Graders program provides early intervention and prevention using a comprehensive approach to providing a variety of services at the school to at-risk first graders from low income families. Teachers and parents were surveyed to…

The curricular recommendations of the current educational-reform movement are discussed and their likely effects on at-risk youth are considered. Current reform efforts tend to focus on three major curricular changes: (1) increase the number of academic courses required to graduate from high school; (2) increase the time for education; and (3) end…

In 1982, the Maryland State Department of Education initiated a longitudinal study of its Extended Elementary Education Prekindergarten Program. The study was designed to examine the effects of early education on low-income children's later school performance. The school performances of program participants and members of a comparable nonpreschool…

As part of the Longitudinal Study of Children at Risk, this study evaluated the Child Parent Center (CPC) Program, a preschool to third grade intervention program funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Chapter I. Subjects were 915 low-income black children from 20 inner-city schools who were differentially exposed to…

By focusing on the settings and environments in which high-risk young people are living, this book fixes responsibility on society as a whole. High-risk settings do not just happen, but are the result of public policies and national choices. The Panel on High-Risk Youth of the National Research Council attempts to clarify forces tearing apart…

This report examines personal, cultural, school, and family factors that contribute to the decision of American Indian students to remain in school until graduation or to drop out. A 140-item questionnaire, the Native American School Study, was completed by 165 participants who had either graduated or dropped out of school during 1989-91.…

Nongraded education is the practice of teaching children of different ages and ability levels together in the same classroom, without dividing them or the curriculum into steps labeled by "grade" designations. Children progress along the continuum from easier to more difficult material at their own, varying rates of speed. Interest in nongraded…

The purpose of this study was to survey the affective and cognitive progress of three classes of pre-first grade transitional students. An introduction discusses the issue of social promotion, or the promotion of a student regardless of the student's degree of mastery of the previous level, as opposed to grade retention. In an extensive literature…

This study investigated the school adjustment of 1,300 low-income, minority children in the Chicago Public Schools. Chidren's progress from preschool to fourth grade was traced. Data were collected from teachers, parents, children, and computerized records. The study primarily examined mediated effects of preschool; influences on cognitive growth…