This article unpacks the decision to decharter a successful urban middle school serving African American students, especially focusing on parental choice in a school caught between two urban reform initiatives: charter schooling and state takeovers of urban districts. Originally chartered by a university, DeCharter became a "school of choice" in…

Government commissions have demonstrated that residential schools' ability to educate aboriginal students was compromised by widespread problems including (a) inadequate curriculum, staffing, instruction time, and parental involvement; (b) racism; (c) prohibition against the use of aboriginal language; and (d) maltreatment. This article uses…

Purpose and Methods: This report is the second benchmark study to assess the system of supports for school readiness. The data for this study was collected in the fall of 2006 on 537 entering kindergarten children and their families in eight representative schools across the County. The ecological model and methods from the first study, which was…

In this book, Gail Thompson asked the students in a low performing school to be candid about their high school experiences. Using this information and relying on data from questionnaires and focus groups, Thompson discovered a huge gap in perception between how teachers and students view their experience of school. The book explores this…

This report describes an investigation into how a school moves from a handful of individual teachers dabbling in alternative assessment strategies to full school implementation of an assessment system. The research was conducted at Bay Park Elementary School in the San Diego (California) City School District, a school participating in a pilot…

Both Hispanics and Whites have made important educational gains over the past two decades. However, Hispanics trail their White peers with respect to educational access, achievement, and attainment, although some differences have narrowed over time. This booklet summarizes data from "The Condition of Education, 1995," on overall educational trends…

A practicum project designed a preschool science curriculum and requisite environment to improve students' enjoyment and interest in science. Based on teacher- and parent-questionnaire results, it was determined that student science attitudes were not positive; that students seldom had opportunities to explore, discover, and solve problems; and…

The High/Scope Curriculum is a developmentally based approach to early childhood education. The curriculum's "Extensions" newsletter, in which the articles in this collection first appeared, informs curriculum users about new development, relating to the High/Scope "open framework" curriculum. This collection divides the…

This monograph summarizes results from academic capstone activities of graduate students and faculty advisors regarding issues consistent with Head Start national priorities and practice needs. The following theses are summarized: (1) "Multicultural Education in Head Start Programs in North Carolina" (S.K. Gant); (2) "The Impact of…

The Ohio sixth-grade proficiency test is intended to measure a student's literacy level and basic competency in writing, reading, mathematics, citizenship, and science. This guide is designed to help parents prepare their fifth- and sixth-grade children for this proficiency test. An introduction, "Important Information," outlines three…

This nontechnical guide for parents and teachers examines learning to read from infants' babbling to the fluent reading of children reading independently for pleasure. Chapter 1, "Baby Speaks," describes language development in infancy. Chapter 2, "Our Alphabet: Language by Ear and by Eye," presents the alphabetic system and…

This paper describes aspects of a program at Sammons Elementary School (Houston, Texas) designed to create a learning community that includes preservice teacher education students, practicing teachers, university faculty, and Sammons students and parents. The school has been designated as an Urban Professional Development Site for the Sam Houston…

On most international comparisons of educational achievement, United States' schools fare poorly. A closer look at how several foreign countries educate their children, as well as the political process for setting educational policies, suggests a multitude of initiatives that could be profitably adapted to the American educational system. A survey…

This training package assists educators in improving the delivery of services to culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE) students at the classroom level. It is based on the necessity of addressing multiple systems (e.g., the child, the family, and the school), with emphasis on mildly disabled over other levels of disability and on…

This book presents a parent involvement model built on a foundation of public school-based parent education seminars and home-based infant-toddler play-and-learn activities. The goal is to ensure that children begin their school experience ready to learn and become competent, confident learners. The book begins with a historical overview of…