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

Improving Possibilities for Students Placed At Risk

There is no greater educational problem in our nation than improving the educational opportunities and outcomes for students who are placed at risk of educational failure. The vast majority of these students are poor and reside in the inner city, rural areas, or on Indian reservations. Many of the students have limited English proficiency. Because of circumstances often beyond their control, the students are likely to experience educational failure, drop out of school, or be involved in activities that are detrimental to their health, safety, and financial well-being. Various family, community, school, and personal factors can contribute to the risk of educational failure. Despite the many factors that place students at risk, appropriate strategies can enable these students to achieve high educational standards.

Estimates of at-risk students range from 20 to 40 percent. This number may be rising due to increased immigration, poverty, family instability and divorce, teenage pregnancy, and violence. Educators and the public must pay attention to these children's needs, since the country's future is tied to the use of their talents.

OERI supports research on how to improve the education of students at risk of educational failure and makes the findings available to the public. Presently, OERI funds

The Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students (CDS), a research center specifically focused on providing scientific study and evaluation of what works with at-risk students;
Other research and development centers with at-risk components;
A network of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories with a strong mandate to serve at-risk populations; and
Publications that discuss the issues and provide examples of exemplary programs.

CDS conducts its research in four program areas: early and elementary school; middle grades and high school; language minorities; and school, family, and community connections. One major outgrowth of its work is Success for All, a special school-based, achievement-oriented program for disadvantaged students in grades pre-K through 5. It is designed to prevent learning problems or intervene early in their development by effectively organizing instructional and family support resources. The goal is to ensure that virtually every student in a high-poverty school will finish the third grade with grade-level reading skills. First implemented in Baltimore during the 1987-88 school year, it is currently in use in 85 schools in 37 districts located in 19 states nationwide.

Other OERI-sponsored National Education Research and Development Centers that focus on programs for at-risk populations are: the National Center on Adult Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania; the National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning at the University of California, Santa Cruz; the National Research Center on Education in the Inner Cities at Temple University; and the Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning at Boston University.

For more information on CDS or any of the other OERI-funded centers, call Jackie Jenkins at 202-219-2079.

In addition to funding research in this important area, OERI also supports its network of 10 Regional Education Laboratories that are aggressively addressing the needs of at-risk students in both urban and rural schools. For example, the Research for Better Schools (RBS) Urban Education Program has developed the Urban Learner Framework based on recent research that views urban students as having untapped potential and abilities. RBS works with several urban school systems to help them reshape their staff development, curriculum, evaluation, and school management and organization to make them more responsive to the needs of inner city students.

On the rural front, three labs-the Appalachian Education Laboratory (AEL), the SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE), and the Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL)-are collaborating in the DELTA Project, a multi-state effort to address chronic educational needs related to persistent poverty in selected rural schools and communities in Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. The project's goals are to improve educational opportunities for students, particularly in math and science, and to refocus the resources and the processes of the schools so that they contribute more directly to community development.

For more information about Regional Education Laboratory activities, call Deborah Williams at 202-219-2116.

Public Meetings About Reauthorization Publications Useful in Addressing the Needs of At-Risk Students