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The article examines the barriers that impede school access of children who live in shelters from the perspectives of directors of homeless shelters and public school personnel. Families with children are among the fastest-growing homeless groups in the U.S. Studies of homeless families have advocated for attention to immediate needs such as increased housing, improved benefits, and economic security but have failed to emphasize the longer-term importance of adequate education for homeless children and youths. Some studies have reported that 43 percent of school-age homeless children were not attending school. Although some barriers that impede the access of children to public schools have been identified, little research has examined the barriers' relative significance. Of critical importance is the extent to which homeless shelters and local public schools cooperate and collaborate to provide education for homeless children. Although some practitioners work together, a unified, efficient effort is often difficult because of insufficient interagency communication and differences in philosophy.

Youths leaving school before they graduate is a significant social problem. Current dropout prevention programs do not sufficiently address the complex and interactive nature of the dropout problem. To address these limitations, guidelines for developing dropout prevention program that are broader in focus and more preventive in nature are presented. As a result of their unique person-in-environment perspective and their extensive knowledge of family and community conditions that contribute to the dropout problem, school social workers are uniquely qualified to assume a greater leadership role in in developing these more encompassing and effective dropout prevention programs. An example ofa dropout prevention program based on these guidelines is presented. The challenges and bathers in developing dropout prevention programs that reflect these guidelines are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author addresses the impact of zero-tolerance discipline policies and practices in public schools across the U.S. He claims that zero tolerance policies are antithetical to social service values and a democratic society. He considers the issue of insubordination in public schools. He emphasizes the need to address the impact of these policies on the school dropout issue.

This article moves the discussion of school violence away from a crime-focused perspective toward a school safety model. A crime-focused perspective permeates discussions of the problem of school violence and what to do about it. That is, discussions of school violence tend to focus on the aggressive acts of chronically disruptive students and what to do with these students. School officials often exclude chronically disruptive students by suspending or expelling them. A more recent exclusionary response is isolating such students in alternative schools. A crime-focused perspective of school violence is a very narrow and limited approach to understanding student behavior because it views aggressive and violent student behavior solely in terms of the isolated acts of certain kids. School conditions are assumed to be benign in explaining student aggression. By ignoring school conditions, a crime-focused perspective of school violence focuses exclusively on the exclusion, isolation, and punishment of chronically disruptive students.

The article presents authors comments on the need for establishing separate schools for African Americans. A significant number of African American males are pushed out or are dropping out of public schools, thus being deprived of an education that would prepare them for a productive adulthood. Although there is little debate about the seriousness of the problem facing African American males in U.S. public schools, there is much debate about what course of action to take to address the problem. The ecological framework can enable school social workers to address the problems facing African American males in public schools. Social workers can lessen the impact of school conditions that result in the discriminatory treatment of black males and, simultaneously, enhance the school survival skills of the African American males most affected by those school conditions. Several specific steps can be taken to accomplish these goals. The creation of separate, segregated group-specific schools relieves the public school of its central mission: to educate all students, regardless of color or cultural background.