"You Can't Be What You Can't See" presents a rare longitudinal account of the benefits of a high-quality, out-of-school program on the life trajectories of hundreds of poor, African American youth who grew up in Chicago's notorious Cabrini-Green housing project in the 1980s and early '90s. The result of a five-year research project by…

In this article, the authors explore variation in the meanings of racial identity for African American students in a predominantly African American urban high school. They view racial identity as both related to membership in a racial group and as fluid and reconstructed in the local school setting. They draw on both survey data and observational…

Cycles of educational reform initiatives and their effects on practice are reviewed in this paper, which focuses on the relationship between state and federal policy and local practices. The first part discusses the first generation of reform that began with the passage of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Such reforms were…

Research extending back into the 1890's reveals that the quality of classroom instruction depends not upon differing curricula, for example, but rather upon the attitudes and actions of teachers. Instructional effectiveness is especially important for independent schools, yet availability as well as quality of candidates has dropped markedly.…

The passage of Title I of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act embodied not only the high hopes of reformers, but also an implicit challenge. Title I implied that current practices are inadequate, and the schools were given the assignment of self-renewal. However, almost a decade after the passage of Title I, the general verdict is that…

Over 10 years, the researchers studied community-based organizations (CBO) for young people, eventually examining the work of approximately 120 youth-based organizations in 34 different cities. A look at these organizations and the young people they serve shows that CBOs offer a means of reaching at-risk youth, and that they can have a significant…

Characterizing this special "Kappan" section on test-based accountability as a cautionary plea, this article sees five themes: tests seldom measure what matters; standardization gets confused with standards; tests constitute a limited reform lever; test-based accountability plans often misplace trust and protection; and the…

Research that studied 120 youth organizations in 34 different communities discovered that most disadvantaged participants gained academic life skills lasting into early adulthood. Schools can help by sharing space and facilities, establishing institutional collaborations, connecting mutual goals, supporting teacher participation, and developing…

What makes some neighborhood organizations sanctuaries for inner-city youth is examined in this attempt to explain why some organizations are resources that enable youth to survive the harsh realities of everyday urban life in America. The first chapter contrasts the grim expectations for urban youth with the sense of the hopeful future expressed…

This essay explores the issues arising from enrollment decline by examining the local school district context in which these issues must ultimately be resolved. The first section of this paper suggests that fluctuation in enrollment should not be treated separately from the continuously changing economic, political, and social environment of the…

The results relating to staff development, contained in a Rand Corporation survey on change agents, are summarized in this paper. The researchers discovered that successful staff development program implementation was characterized by three major components: local materials development, online planning, and concrete, ongoing training. Their…

Whether organized around subject matter, teaching methods, school improvement, or restructuring efforts, successful networks share common features, such as focus, variety, and opportunities for discourse and leadership. Networks can also present nagging problems concerned with quality, application, stability, overextension, ownership, expanding…

Based on a University of Tokyo/Stanford University study, this article examines the context surrounding teachers' professional lives. Preliminary findings indicate similarities and differences in teacher perceptions of roles and responsibilities, institutional contexts, use of time, and professional development activities. Japanese teachers work…

Many practitioners and policy makers view personalized school environments as a means to promote student commitment to school and engagement in learning. Personalization also rewards teachers and encourages their commitment and accountability. A personalized environment is the product of deliberate, strategic choices about organizational…

Standards-based reform calls for the setting of challenging standards in academic subject areas as an important means of improving student achievement. In 1994, Congress passed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, which enacted the education goals into law and provided resources for the development of standards and assessments. This report offers…