Urban Education in the 1970's.

Overview & Synopsis

The reported failure of urban schools has been well documented by various government commissions. To remedy this situation, quality and equality of education must be insured. Research and development on disadvantaged populations has increased in an effort to reverse the effects of traditional pedagogical methods. Numerous programs for early intervention show that changes can be effected but that these effects have little long-term stability. But that does not mean that compensatory education is not a promising method; rather, that adequate methods and understanding are still to come. Various strategies and models for improving urban education are compensatory education, desegregation, model subsystems, parallel systems, total systems reform, and new systems development. In addition, some programs attempt to change the student himself, his family, and the schools in new ways. College programs for disadvantaged youth try to prepare students for advanced study. The greatest policy problem is desegregation. Increase in federal aid raises the hope that urban education will receive not only more funds but also more attention. This paper was prepared for a book entitled "Urban Education in the 1970's," edited by A. Harry Passow, to be published by Teachers College Press, Fall 1970. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of the original document.] (JW)