This project examines a systemic educational improvement model (Alaska Onward to Excellence) on rural Alaska Native students at risk, including how to build successful school/community partnerships and how to replicate and scale up system reform.

Families & Schools Together: An Experimental Analysis of a Parent-Mediated Intervention program for At-Risk American Indian Children

An early intervention program involving 360 students, ages 4 to 9, using direct tribal involvement in three reservations will implement the school/community/family collaboration that will increase parental involvement in the children's educational success.

The Effects of School Calendar Variations on Students, Families and Communities:

This project will use literature reviews to focus on the effects of summer school, alternative school calendars, and extended school years on student achievement and the well-being of children, their families, and communities.

Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension in English Language Learners:

In this project on students for whom English is a second language, researchers and teachers will collaborate in developing and implementing intervention strategies to improve reading and vocabulary skills in fourth & fifth grade students.

Field-Initiated Study of the Cambridge, MA Integrated Transitional Bilingual Education Project:

This project will follow the academic progress of LEP students participating in an innovative instructional program and assess its effectiveness in promoting excellence and equity for these students. It will also develop and research a technology-based after-school enrichment program, and disseminate knowledge on effective alternative instructional methods for LEP students.

Long-Term Effects of the Chicago Child-Parent Centers

A study of the effects of an established large-scale early childhood intervention for economically disadvantaged children on several high school achievement, attendance, and other outcomes. Expansion of the Chicago Longitudinal Study will add to previous work by investigating long term effects of a unique extended childhood intervention program.

Long-Term Benefits of Intensive Early Education for Impoverished Children:

A follow-up longitudinal study to determine the long-term effects of early educational interventions used with a group of rural North Carolina young children who are now between 18 and 21 years old. The study will evaluate interactions between individual, family, and community and their influences on development.

Cultural Interchange in Four Urban Schools: An Ethnography of At-Risk Students, Their Families and Teachers:

This project examines how cultural barriers faced by at-risk students and their families with teachers and schools can be minimized and their learning outcomes improved. Cross-case analysis will specify the influence of environmental and institutional variables to illuminate how schools can promote cultural interchange, thereby causing a reduction in student failure.

Timing of the Influences of Cumulative Poverty on Children's Cognitive Ability and Achievement:

This project tests the hypothesis that long-term poverty has substantial influences on both ability and achievement, but that the time patterns for these influences are different. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth will be analyzed. It is expected that the effect of poverty on ability will occur earlier in life than the effects of poverty on achievement.

Effects of Worksite Closure on Children's Academic and Psychological Adjustment:

A one-year project examines children's academic and psychological adjustment in rural communities where layoffs have occurred. Data sources include schools and studies of children, parents and teachers.

Mastery Behaviors and Scholastic Competence of At-Risk Children Transitioning Into School and the Shared Perceptions of Their Parents and Teacher:

This project investigates scholastic learning behaviors of two separate groups receiving Title 1 funded preschool intervention. One of these groups will be followed preschool through first grade while the second group will be followed from first grade to third grade. Information will be collected to compare classroom behavior with developing competence in math and reading.

Project A.C.T. Early: Advancing Competency of Teachers for Early Behavioral Intervention of At-Risk Children:

To provide teachers with early behavioral interventions that will assist teachers to with children at-risk. Results include increased knowledge of behavioral interventions, access to available community resources and use of consultation services.

Who's Teaching At-Risk Students?

This project examines those teachers who educate at-risk students (particularly minority teachers) to assess their quality. An assessment of differences between the teacher of at-risk students and those teaching other students will be made. Research will result in recommended public policy measures to recruit minority teachers.

Assumptions, Actions, and Student Performance:

This project will help teachers learn how to build on students' strengths, and be more understanding and supportive of students from different language and cultural backgrounds, especially those in urban schools, leading to the development of a classroom activities anthology and a policy guide.

Social Capital and Its Effects on the Academic Development of Adolescents at Risk of Educational Failure:

This project will examine how social capital influences academic development in adolescents by studying data from a national sample of high schools and several case studies of elementary/secondary schools. The research will determine how school-based forms of capital improve academic chances for at-risk youth.