Highlights the unique needs of students with disabilities who are homeless, legislative mandates for serving these students, and promising practices for overcoming obstacles to service delivery. The practices focus on developing collaborative relationships at multiple levels, creating responsive systems, and providing students with the social and…

Argues that higher academic standards constitute a necessary but not sufficient condition for achieving the "world class" academic performance necessary in a globally competitive workforce. Reveals how social, family support, and economic conditions are different for American youth compared to other developed countries and how these…

By the time many poor children enter school, the best educators can do is prepare them for nonexistent unskilled jobs. Remedial programs cannot compensate for deficiencies in early intellectual development. A study involving 42 families showed that well-educated mothers spoke more to their 3-year-olds, did more explaining, asked more questions,…

Discusses problem of low rates of immunization for African American children and identifies ways social workers can play a role in ensuring more immunizations. Improving access to existing public programs, facilitating community organization efforts, assisting communities through self-help and mutual-aid initiatives, and supporting national…

Describes school councils in Kentucky as illustrative of decentralization and empowerment; notes the largely disappointing results on teacher job attraction to council positions and on teacher and parent empowerment. Concludes that the teacher-parent-student relationship for poor families, precisely those targeted by the Kentucky reform cycle, is…

An inner-city Maryland school that serves 610 students coming from 37 different countries and speaking 25 different languages has created a caring, inclusive community by providing kids with incentives, stability, and a chance to celebrate their various cultures at a community exhibition center. Dedicated staff accept no excuses for truancy and…

School-based speech pathologists, school psychologists, and child psychiatrists (n=185) were surveyed to examine the role of sociocultural variables on clinicians' impressions of children with autism and related developmental disorders. Professional perceptions of children in hypothetical vignettes varied as a function of both practitioner's…

Examines the political movement to alter welfare behavior through changes in welfare reform and discusses the outcomes of several welfare reform initiatives. Explores welfare-to-work; Learnfare; and Learning, Earning, and Parenting. Also discusses research in social engineering efforts involving child support enforcement and time limits.…

Suggests that economic principles are essential to any true educational reform and explains how these principles can be used to improve schools for disadvantaged populations. Offers an approach to school reform that includes strengthening performance incentives, putting in place a set of decision-making rules that compare costs and benefits, and…

Presents a conceptual framework illustrating intercultural attitudes between indigenous French and North African immigrant parents living in a suburban underprivileged neighborhood. Findings suggest positive attitudes are more likely to develop when parents gather together in a harmonious space where they are considered collectively by community…

Countries with good education systems have good health and transportation systems and equitable access to health care and public services. One must look at education in terms of inputs, not production or outputs. When healthy, well-fed, well-housed children enter an education system that provides transportation and access to books, dictionaries,…

Examined relationship between Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales (F-COPES) with low socioeconomic status caregivers of preschool children (N=136). Correlations revealed that the PSI and F-COPES measured relatively independent constructs. Findings also suggest that passive appraisal is related…

Changes in homelessness since the 1950s and 1960s involve increasing numbers of homeless persons, striking differences in their composition, and marked deterioration in their condition. Beyond similarly high levels of mental illness and substance abuse, the new homeless are younger, poorer, often shelterless, and include more minorities, women,…

Urban women are better off in labor force participation and poverty than women in central city and rural areas. Differences in access to jobs and welfare benefits explain the urban-rural variation. Finds that the most important factor for not living in poverty is earning income. Recommends policies for reducing poverty among single, working…

The current prominence of the issue of access to medical care in the public policy arena is examined, and the use of this issue for studying the financing of uncompensated care for indigent patients is discussed. Different approaches based on this issue are outlined. (MSE)