A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                            Contact:  Melinda Kitchell    October 3, 1994                                    (202) 401-1008

HOWARD AND JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITIES TO STUDY EDUCATION OF STUDENTS PLACED AT RISK

The U.S. Department of Education has selected Howard University, a historically black institution in Washington, D.C., and Johns Hopkins University, a major private research university in Baltimore, to establish a Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR).

The center will receive $4.7 million in the coming year and a total of $27.7 million over the next five years from the department's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) to conduct rigorous, large-scale studies that can help guide policymakers. The award is nearly double the amount ever awarded by OERI for a single research center.

"We believe that all children can learn to high standards," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, "and we are committed to expanding opportunities for disadvantaged children. The center will be a valuable resource both to educators and policymakers."

"The strong support for this center signifies this Administration's commitment to expanding educational opportunities for all disadvantaged children by examining critical issues related to success and learning. The work of this new center will solidify the research base needed to put an end to the cycle of student failure that has become all too familiar," said Sharon P. Robinson, assistant secretary for educational research and improvement. "The success of the center will depend not only on the quality of its research, but on its efforts to reach out to teachers, parents, students, social service professionals, and other concerned citizens."

CRESPAR will be the cornerstone of a new National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students, authorized this year under the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994.

"We see this new center as the prototype for a new attitude in education research," Robinson said. "We're listening to parents, teachers, students and education officials. They're our customers, and their needs will drive our research agenda. Our first responsibility is to America's children, and this approach offers us the best opportunity to tap their full potential."

Because research shows that all children can learn if provided a challenging and supportive learning environment, the center will offer guidance to schools on how best to cultivate students' talents. The work will be guided by three themes: ensuring success at key developmental hurdles, ranging from school readiness through preparation for college or work; building on personal and cultural assets through curriculum, instruction, school organization, assessment, and family and community partnerships; and "scaling-up" effective programs.

Questions the new center will address include:

what factors enable some at-risk students to succeed while others with similar backgrounds fail;
how cultural factors including race, ethnicity, socioeconomic level and language effect the academic success of at-risk students;
what makes for effective bilingual education;
how schools can work to prevent violence.

Findings, instructional materials, and other products will be shared through an on-line bulletin board, publications and at conferences.

The center will be co-directed by Robert E. Slavin, principal research scientist at Johns Hopkins, and A. Wade Boykin, director of the graduate program in psychology at Howard.