This book is designed to provide parents and educators with a set of innovative strategies effective in getting low socioeconomic status (SES) and African-American families meaningfully involved in the educational process of their children, thus motivating the children to achieve and behave better in school. Chapter 1 discusses the need for…

In 1989, a long-term partnership began between International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation and the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to form Project A+ (later named the A+ Coalition), a program designed to be a catalyst for educational improvement by identifying fundamental changes needed to enhance education and to marshal community…

This manual is designed to support community organizations, concerned educators, and parents as they work to improve local public schools on behalf of immigrant students. Each chapter focuses on central elements of quality schooling from the perspective of the young immigrant. Within each chapter, an analysis of current conditions prevalent in…

Bilingual Education through Architectural Mathematics (Project BEAM) is a federally-funded program in its fourth year of operation in 1992-93. It served 226 limited-English-proficient Spanish-speaking students in two Bronx (New York) elementary schools. Students received instruction in English as a second language (ESL), native language arts…

Career and Academic Resources in Bilingual Education (Project CARIBE) was a federally funded program that served 70 limited-English-speaking, native Spanish-speaking students, largely immigrants, in two Brooklyn (New York) high schools. Participating students received instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL), native language arts (NLA),…

An Idaho task force of Hispanic Americans, industry representatives, and education leaders studied the reasons Hispanic students were not enrolling in and completing vocational education programs. The task force sponsored a series of community meetings to identify reasons and solutions. Approximately 40-60 parents, students, and other interested…

The National Council of La Raza launched Project Excellence in Community Educational Leadership (EXCEL), in 1985 to contribute experiences and input from the community level to the school reform process and to address some of the short-term needs of the students currently enrolled. Project EXCEL, which is designed to help Hispanic American…

A growing trend in social science research is to reject those modes that treat individuals as objects of research and to accept the role of catalyst in helping the people to do their own research. Also, there is an increasing demand that results of social research must serve in a timely way to improve the situation of those involved. Participatory…

The strategic plan for educational technology was developed by the Missouri Technology Task Force to assist state and local authorities in the creative application and appropriate integration of all technologies to achieve the broad educational goals for elementary and secondary Missouri schools. The specific goals and objectives of the plan…

This paper presents a discussion of multicultural policies in Canada, implications for teachers and schools, multicultural resources, and heritage language education. A case study of an elementary school in North York, a borough of metropolitan Toronto (Ontario, Canada), illustrates the positive effects that can accrue when a multicultural…

Education is the strategic instrument for the overriding aim of Sweden's economic policy--full employment. The fundamental idea of the Swedish school system is to include all citizens. Youth education is intended to take the form of comprehensive, integrated schooling with no dead ends. Adult education occupies a strong position by international…

This guide, designed for limited-English-speaking native Portuguese-speaking parents in California and presented in both Portuguese and English versions, is a general reference about the California State educational system. Sections address the following topics in question-and-answer format: matriculation, general information, and transportation;…

This practicum, designed to improve positive experiences of at-risk preschoolers, involved the coaching of parents in regard to their interactions with their preschoolers. The goal of the practicum was to provide parents with tools that would help them enrich the home environment of their preschool children. Parents of preschoolers in Chapter 1…

This report evaluates the Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District (DMICSD) Intercultural programs. The following types of programs are in place: (1) a Voluntary Transfer Program; (2) paired schools; (3) magnet schools; (4) Extended Day Kindergarten; (5) English as a Second Language (ESL)/Bilingual Education; (6) a Bilingual…

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…