Of the 33 million adolescents in the United States, almost 10 million are at risk of failing to become responsible adults. They attend schools that do not serve their needs, lack the support of caring adults, and, as a result, are alienated from mainstream society. African-American and Hispanic children, increasingly segregated in disadvantaged neighborhoods, are particularly vulnerable.
In Adolescence: Growing Up in America Today, a follow-up to Joy Dryfoos's landmark volume, Adolescents at Risk (OUP, 1991), Joy Dryfoos and Carol Barkin take a close look at the lives of young people, identify some of their problems, and present solutions based on state-of-the-art prevention and treatment strategies. They examine important issues in adolescents' lives--sex, violence, drugs, health, mental health, and education. Reviewing successful prevention programs and policy studies, Dryfoos and Barkin demonstrate that we know what to do to prevent high-risk behaviors: young people need to establish relationships with adults; parents need to be involved in their children's lives; and programs need to be comprehensive, sensitive to cultural differences, and staffed by highly trained personnel.
Dryfoos and Barkin argue that turning our backs on adolescents will lead to disturbing consequences: the achievement gap will grow, outcomes will worsen, school systems will struggle with the growing disparities, and we as a nation will fall behind the rest of the world in our capacity to educate our youth. If, however, we decide that we want a better quality of life for our children, we will insure that every young person has access to an excellent education. Schools, youth workers, and parents cannotalone provide a better quality of life for our adolescents, but each must play a major role, and all must work together. Providing a roadmap for the development and implementation of sound policies for American teenagers in the twenty-first century, this volume is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of our nation's youth.

A community school differs from other public schools in important ways: it is generally open most of the time, governed by a partnership between the school system and a community agency, and offers a broad array of health and social services. It often has an extended day before and after school, features parent involvement programs, and works for community enrichment. How should such a school be structured? How can its success be measured? Community Schools in Action: Lessons from a Decade of Practice presents the Children's Aid Society's (CAS) approach to creating community schools for the 21st century. CAS began this work more than a decade ago and today operates thirteen such schools in three low-income areas of New York City. Through a technical assistance center operated by CAS, hundreds of other schools across the country and the world are adapting this model. Based on their own experiences working with community schools, the contributors to the volume supply invaluable information about the selected program components. They describe how and why CAS started its community school initiative and explain how CAS community schools are organized, integrated with the school system, sustained, and evaluated. The book also includes several contributions from experts outside of CAS: a city superintendent, an architect, and the director of the Coalition for Community Schools. Co-editors Joy Dryfoos, an authority on community schools, and Jane Quinn, CAS's Assistant Executive Director of Community Schools, have teamed up with freelance writer Carol Barkin to provide commentary linking the various components together. For those interested in transforming their schools into effective child- and family-centered institutions, this book provides a detailed road map. For those concerned with educational and social policy, the book offers a unique example of research-based action that has significant implications for our society.

"Dryfoos and Maguire?s book moves the concept of a full-service community school from the fringes of public education into the mainstream. It inspires the belief that the best schools are full-service community schools and motivates the reader to seek them out."
Lisa Villarreal, Director
California Center for Community-School Partnerships  
Davis, CA

Seven million youngsters--one in four adolescents--have only limited potential for becoming productive adults because they are at high risk for encountering serious problems at home, in school, or in their communities. This is one of the disturbing findings in this unique overview of what is known about young people aged 10 to 17 growing up in the United States today. The book explores four problem areas that are the subject of a great deal of public interest and social concern: delinquency, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and school failure. In examining these problem areas, Dryfoos has three objectives: to present a more cogent picture of adolescents who are at risk of problem behaviors and where they fit in society; to synthesize the experience of programs that have been successful in changing various aspects of these behaviors; and to propose strategies for using this knowledge base to implement more effective approaches to helping youngsters succeed. Among the key concepts emerging from this study are the importance of intense individual attention, social skills training, exposure to the world of work, and packaging components in broad, community-wide interventions. Schools are recognized as the focal institution in prevention, not only in regard to helping children achieve academically, but in giving young people access to social support and health programs. The author also proposes comprehensive youth development initiatives at the local, state and national level, based on programs shown to be effective in real practice. This landmark, state-of-the-art study represents an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the welfare and current problems of youth, includingpsychologists, sociologists, school administrators, state and federal officials, policymakers, and concerned parents.

Children today face daunting obstacles on the path to adulthood--failing schools, dangerous streets, drug abuse, teen pregnancy. But the good news, according to child advocate Joy G. Dryfoos, is that there are many programs out there that work--models that we can apply to our own communities and our own children. In Safe Passage, Dryfoos helps us find them.

Indeed, this book examines hundreds of successful programs, ideas that have worked in the real world--and in a very tough real world, at that--such as the Turner Middle School in Philadelphia, a model of the "university assisted" community school. Dryfoos also studies the new trend toward full-service schools, programs that make the school the hub of the community, serving as enrichment centers and neighborhood safe-havens. She evaluates programs that try to cope with sex, drugs, and violence--revealing which ones work and what aspects of these programs are most effective--and also dissects programs that have failed, like the highly touted drug program called DARE. Her sharp and eloquent study concludes with a passionate call for action, outlining what must be done if our young people are to be assured a safe passage to the future.

"Dryfoos and Maguire?s book moves the concept of a full-service community school from the fringes of public education into the mainstream. It inspires the belief that the best schools are full-service community schools and motivates the reader to seek them out."
Lisa Villarreal, Director
California Center for Community-School Partnerships  
Davis, CA