The General Accounting Office examined six employment training programs that had previously been identified as being successful in helping economically disadvantaged adults. The primary objective of the study was to determine whether the programs shared any common practices/strategies that could be credited for the programs' high performance…

This analysis looks at proposals for the 1997 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. These proposals include graduation-contingent aid providing "incentives" for completion; creation of federal student aid block grants to reduce the federal government's role and provide states and institutions more flexibility in awarding student…

This study examined how kindergarten teachers' views of readiness (maturational, learning, or school) are influenced by students from urban, suburban, and rural areas; by minority and non-minority students; and by students from lower and middle class backgrounds. The framework for the study was the social constructivist theory, the theory that all…

A study analyzed how a group of single welfare mothers, heads of households mandated to participate in a preemployment program with an educational component, viewed learning. Welfare policy makers assumed a highly illiterate population whose "deficiencies" would be remediated through participation in existing, voluntary basic education. Studies…

Collaboration has become a pervasive strategy for systemic change in human services, education, government, and community agencies. Collaborative partnerships require a change in thinking and in operating. Such changes can be intimidating or threatening. In addition, other barriers must be overcome to make partnerships work. Examples of successful…

Using the tools of systematic grammar, this case study examined 3- and 4-year-old children's experiences with storytelling and the potential effects of those experiences on the children's future success in learning to read. Subjects were students attending one of two nursery school classes held at a large primary school on the south coast of…

A case study was done of Central Park East Elementary School (CPE 1), in New York City, a school with a reputation for extraordinary work with students and their families in a student-centered environment. The study includes an overview of CPE 1 culled from the school's descriptions of itself and other public documents; a descriptive narrative of…

Testimony on strategies designed to enhance educational opportunities for disadvantaged students is recorded in this report of a congressional hearing. Robert Slavin of the Early and Elementary School Program, Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (Maryland) testified about…

This handbook presents ideas to prepare for, plan, design, and run a workshop on gender and women's oppression. It is intended for community, adult, and popular educators, trainers, organizers, facilitators, or teachers working for a liberated South Africa. Section 1 (chapters 1-3) helps the reader to think about women's oppression and gender,…

This booklet provides an introduction for people working in organizations concerned with housing and homelessness about basic skills. It provides background on the link between poor basic skills and poor housing and information about ways in which people use basic skills in their daily lives. Two reasons for housing organizations to be involved…

The National Center for Academic Achievement and Transfer was founded in 1989 to assist low-income, Black, and Hispanic students in transferring from comprehensive public community colleges to four-year institutions. The center funds a Partnership Grant Program in which two- and four-year schools form partnerships focused on changing academic…

This volume, the last of a six-part report, is a guide that provides an overview to the Building Villages series. It discusses the need for comprehensive programs, and examines the corresponding need for change in the family-services framework. It sets forth the organizing principles of family support as the movement grows from a program to a…

The effectiveness of a secondary alternative school for at-risk students was studied with respect to the development and implementation of certain components that are generally thought to be critical to the success of at-risk education. The Hamilton Optional Program for Education (HOPE) school of Hamilton (Ohio) was the study site. Twenty percent…

This document is comprised of two separate publications, a report concerning the current AFDC program and related testimony. The report discusses a study that assessed the progress the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program had made in serving an increasingly larger portion of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) caseload,…

This paper examines school, family, and community factors related to the academic success of economically disadvantaged Appalachian students. In two middle schools in Appalachian Kentucky and Tennessee, 245 students who received free or reduced-price school lunches completed the Rural School Success Inventory (RSSI) and a writing sample about…