Engaging students requires giving them a say in what they learn and how they will learn it. However, in strictly disciplined, rule-bound schools with test-driven curricula, this cannot happen. Edison Schools, Inc., a for-profit Education Management Organization (EMO), and Confluence Academy, an Edison-run school located in one of the most…

Best practice is based on knowledge--not on beliefs or guesses--about how children learn and develop. This volume contains 20 overviews of research on aspects of young children's social, emotional, cognitive, or physical development, as well as how the findings can be applied in the classroom. Originally "Research in Review" articles in NAEYC's…

This paper reports on the re-design of the Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) programme, which is offered by the University of Pretoria through distance education (DE) to teachers in rural South Africa. In 2007, a team re-designed the programme with the goal of promoting access, quality, and student support. The team included an independent…

If Congress passes legislation consolidating federal funding for vocational education, job training, and adult education, states will be free to combine federal funding with state programs to create more coherent and effective systems. If such legislation is stalled, states have the power to reform the patchwork that now exists, but doing so…

Opportunity-to-Learn (OTL) benefits all students by providing information about how to improve the academic achievement of students, especially poor and minority students. This paper discusses ways in which the OTL conceptual framework can be expanded. OTL's conceptual framework identified four variables that have a powerful influence on teachers'…

This is the second publication in a series of three reports that summarize the results of Ohio's Javits Project, a 3-year federally sponsored program to improve the identification of and services to young economically disadvantaged gifted children in 25 Ohio schools. This report details the processes used by project teams to create a shared vision…

A statistical profile of the working poor in Chicago (Illinois) and the proceedings of the Working Poor Policy Forum held to discuss the findings of the profile are presented. In America it is supposed to be impossible to work and remain chronically poor, but in fact this is not the case. There are many ways to define the income working families…

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated parent's views of their involvement with their children in Elementary and Secondary Educational Act (ESEA) Chapter 1 programs, in school activities, and at home. Chapter 1 students in the study were low achievers from economically disadvantaged family backgrounds in the Chicago Public…

A theoretical framework can provide coherence and direction to an ongoing series of research activities conducted in a variety of settings by collaborative investigators. An adaptation of the PRECEDE health education model provides the theoretical framework for research activities conducted by The Healthy Kids Project, a cooperative effort in…

This guide provides resource information on organizations and programs in the area of alcohol and drug abuse prevention aimed at low-income youth in urban settings. The guide is divided into the following two resource sections: Prevention Materials for Youth in Low-Income Urban Environments and Studies, Articles, and Reports on Youth in Low-Income…

The first National Education Goal states that all children in America will start school ready to learn. This report examines what it means to be ready to learn and what this goal means for language minority children. It is noted that language minority children will form an increasingly greater proportion of the school population, that they are…

This paper outlines the major issues to be considered, and the tasks to be undertaken, by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance's Subcommittee on Need Analysis and Delivery System. In particular, the subcommittee's plans to address the following three areas are described: (1) opportunities for further simplification and…

This paper describes a design for a public school academy, the Louisiana Leadership Academy, which provides a total immersion environment primarily for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Success is contingent upon choice and community support. Objectives are to: (1) build self-discipline and self-respect; (2) raise up leaders who will transform…

To assess the scope of local employment and training (ET) activities as part of citywide efforts to reduce poverty, a project measured the current state of employment and training services in the District of Columbia. Interviews with local officials provided budget totals and information about the range of ET activities available to low-income…

The National Center for Children in Poverty(NCCP)has developed a series of issue briefs on the effects of welfare reform on children living in poverty. This issue brief is based in part on "Map and Track: State Initiatives to Promote Responsible Fatherhood," a report supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and prepared by NCCP in…