Successful welfare reform requires quickly moving welfare recipients into jobs. Components to this challenge include the following: a poor fit between where jobs are located and where many welfare recipients live; recipients who lack experience and skills and do not know how to seek, find, or qualify for jobs; childcare and transportation needs;…

An evaluation of Jobs First (JF) compared the experiences of JF participants who were subject to welfare reform policies with those of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) participants who were subject to prior welfare rules. It collected information for four years about JF's impacts on participants' children and analyzed its financial…

This guide is designed to help U.S. businesses successfully hire and retain individuals moving from welfare to work. Section 1 discusses the different circumstances created by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 and how those changes affect business. Section 2 reviews bottom-line benefits realized by…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Center for Arts and Sciences in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a program designed to bring early intervention services to young, rural, economically disadvantaged, and/or minority gifted students through a series of year-long teacher training events that also included involvement with parents,…

This report presents an evaluation of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP) and data on the 1992-93 cohort of institutions and students that the program serves. CROP is a state-wide program designed to increase the number of students successfully completing postsecondary education by providing academic enrichment opportunities and career…

A study examined the use of, and the need for, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act funding reserves for sex equity programs and programs for displaced homemakers, single parents, and single pregnant women. Of 34 local program operators interviewed, 17 received sex equity grants, and 22 received displaced homemaker,…

To maximize the level of comfort that will facilitate an equal exchange of ideas instructors need to tailor their pedagogy to fit their audience. That means they must consider the extent to which their students have been exposed to computers. The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) has a high percentage of "non-traditional" students.…

A study examined the beliefs and attitudes of Mexican-trained educators regarding instruction for minority and language minority students in light of assumptions that students experience better outcomes with culturally and linguistically compatible teachers. Fifteen educators who received their teacher education in Mexico, and whose native…

This paper argues that non-credit community college courses can reach more educationally and economically disadvantaged students and better serve them in their pursuit of short-term and long-term goals. The report suggests that these courses are more flexible, less impersonal and bureaucratic, and are more likely to be in community-based…

Riverside Community College (RCC), in Riverside, California, launched New Visions in 1999, a program designed to help welfare recipients prepare for college and move to better jobs. The program is a partnership between RCC and the Riverside Department of Public Social Services (DPSS). New Visions provides a 24-week program of academic instruction…

This report focuses on key findings, recommendations, and cross-site analysis of a study of vocational education practices that support welfare reform by preparing individuals for workforce entry. An introduction describes study methodology. Chapter 2 provides an overview of differences between vocational education under the Carl D. Perkins…

Buffalo Creek Elementary School in Houston, Texas, has been recognized for its success in serving its students--approximately 600 low-income Hispanic children in grades preK-5. A study of the school, which sought to develop a detailed picture of school effectiveness, identified 33 indicators of success. Each of these indicators is briefly…

This report examines implementation and impacts of Ramsey County's Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP), a "work first" program. Chapter 1 lists key findings, provides an overview of the Ramsey County variant (MFIP-R) evaluation, and policy relevance of MFIP-R. Chapter 2 describes key features of MFIP-R and compares them with…

A case study of an economically distressed rural Kentucky school district examined the theory that educational policy can enable community participation and that participation can enable policy implementation by affecting school governance and expanding the services provided. Primary data were gathered via interviews with four parent participants,…

Impoverished pregnant teenagers were distinguished from matched or random controls by an inability to cope; by identification of family, school, and peer relationships as self-devaluing experiences; by an attraction to deviant identity as a source of self-esteem; and by adoption of deviant behaviors. (Author/CP)