March/April 2003

Abstracts

Transition Programs for Retained Students: Segregation or Salvation?

By Michael Sadowski

What does a district do about students who are old enough to attend high school but have not demonstrated the readiness to succeed there? In Chicago, the answer has been to assign them to Academic Preparatory Centers, one-year schools that have smaller classes and a range of support and instructional services designed to ramp students up to the rigors of high school. Similar transition programs are showing up around the country as educators try to meet the demands of high-stakes tests and other accountability initiatives. Sadowski investigates whether the costs of such programs—including what some call the "segregation" of low-performing students—outweigh the benefits.

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How Racial Identity Affects School Performance

By Pedro A. Noguera

As students of color reach adolescence, the need to negotiate their identities in a racist world can affect their school performance in a variety of ways. In this excerpt from the 2003 Harvard Education Press book Adolescents at School, Harvard professor Noguera explores this identity-achievement connection by drawing on recent research, as well as his own experiences as a student and a father. Noguera ends by recommending a variety of steps all educators can take to encourage youth of color to reach their full intellectual and personal potential.

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