Older cities in the United States have long been trying to "bring back" the middle class in order to increase tax base. The poor quality of schools and the presence of public housing often were cited as deterrents for attracting higher income families. When the 2000 Census data revealed improvements in many cities, some elected officials…

Students of color are consistently underrepresented in honors and gifted programs nationwide, and even high-achieving students share many of the risk factors with their low-achieving peers. The study presented in this paper employed mixed methods to investigate the relationship between the design of a rigorous college preparatory program, the…

Using a resilience framework, the authors examined the protective effects of parental support, self-disclosure to parents, parent-initiated monitoring of adolescent behavior, and relationships with school personnel on three critical problems of adolescents: substance use, gang involvement, and perceived threats to safety at school. The sample…

The purpose of this article is fourfold. First, it identifies a growing international interest on the part of educators and school officials in finding effective ways to mentor especially poor and minority students toward academic success. Second, it reviews the literature on mentoring as it pertains to this population. Third, it details a case…

This paper discusses how the topic of homelessness was explored for a course through research and a final project which consisted of a performance of personal narratives. The paper: (1) recounts how the script was created; (2) describes and shows the actual reproduction of the script; (3) presents a brief analysis of the script; and (4) describes…

PAVE (Partners Advancing Values in Education) was founded in 1992 as an independent, non-profit organization by civic and business leaders who believe that all families deserve equal educational opportunities for their children. The primary focus of PAVE is to provide low-income families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with financial assistance so they…

A study, part of a 5-year investigation (1991-1995) of patterns of implementation of literature-based instruction in schools serving large numbers of children from low-income families, recounts children's literacy experiences as observed in a third-grade classroom in an urban school in upstate New York. The primary goal was to understand the…

Often, reports on poverty present official statements and analysis about its causes, but an official statement is not the same thing as poor people expressing themselves. This report records the life histories of five families living in extreme poverty with the belief that future problems cannot be addressed without an accurate understanding of…

This article outlines three different counseling approaches which counselors typically use to promote clients' career development. These include the trait-factor, client-centered, and the developmental approaches to career counseling. The trait-factor approach is described as having the overall goal to help clients accurately assess their own…

There are three arguments against the usefulness of present basic course textbooks in speech communication. First, there are certain inherent forces that will always drive textbook publishers toward the production of textbooks unsuitable for the basic course: "mentioning" (mentioning every principle ever heard of by potential users of…

This volume contains a collection of essays, reflections, and other writings (many of which originally appeared in several journals) on the relations among self and school and community. The first selection is an obituary of Fritz Perls, a leader of Gestalt therapy. The second essay, "A Social and Political Reassessment of the Work of Wilhelm…

The Recycling Fund Concept was conceptualized as a special allocation of money for the purpose of expanding child care services for preschool children of low-income parents who were or had been recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. In 1985, North Carolina's Child Care Resources Incorporated…

The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Title II-A program is the main federal effort to enhance the employability of economically disadvantaged youths and adults. The amount of funds allotted to each state is determined by a formula that allocates two-thirds of available funds on the basis of relative unemployment levels and one-third on the…

This report profiles the issue of youth violence: the history of its appearance in U.S. culture, the recent escalation of gang activity in U.S. communities, and the strategies put forth in smaller cities to meet this challenge. The report notes that there has been an explosion of gang violence in the United States that has been fostered by a…

"Success for All" is a compensatory education program that significantly increased the reading performance of disadvantaged primary grade students in a Baltimore (Maryland) elementary school while also reducing retentions and special education placements. The program concentrates resources in kindergarten through grade three and uses…