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Trends in the incidence of retention, remediation, and identification of students as handicapped were examined in 12 elementary schools across a period of increased high-stakes assessment and public accountability (1978-1979 to 1988-1989). At the primary grade levels there was a significant increase in the incidence of identification of students as handicapped and a significant increase in the proportion of children retained in grade or identified as handicapped. The increases occur before the administration of the first mandated high-stakes assessments. The implications of these trends for understanding reports of school effectiveness and statewide student achievement in reading are discussed Finally, suggestions for the redesign of large-scale high-stakes assessment reports are offered.

Using naturalistic inquiry and case study contrasts, the authors found variation in the literacy support available to children. In income-eligible preschools, curricula and pedagogy reflected a limited view of children as learners. Children had less access to print, fewer opportunities to participate in literacy, and little experience listening to or discussing culturally relevant literature. The authors argue that poor children and children of color are socialized to practice a different literacy, one that offers limited experiences with books and is less connected to personal and community identity. If publicly funded early childhood programs, already isolated by class, are to provide an equitable foundation for literacy and schooling for children of low-income families, more challenging curricular and pedagogical frameworks are needed.