This book presents papers that address research methods, policies, and programs that can accommodate the considerable student diversity commonly found among at-risk students as well as portraits of particular at-risk students. The following papers and their authors are included: "At-Risk Students: Insights from/about Research" (Robert Donmoyer, Raylene Kos); "The Purpose of Portraits: Rethinking the Form and Function of Research on At-Risk Students" (Robert Donmoyer); " Nobody Knows My Life But Me!' The Story of Ben, A Reading Disabled Adolescent" (Raylene Kos); "Ways of Being At Risk: The Case of Billy Charles Barnett" (Thomas Barone); "Ellen, A Deferring Learner" (Karin L. Dahl); "Andy and Libby: At Risk or Undervalued?" (Karen L. Ford); "Karen: An Interaction of Gender Role and Reading Disability" (Raylene Kos); "'Something to Keep the Relationship Holding': Victoria, A Pregnant Adolescent" (Kathryn Herr); "Andrew: The Story of a Gifted At-Risk Student" (June Yennie-Donmoyer); "Alston and Everetta: Too Risky for School?" (James T. Sears); "Paul: Differentiating Disorder and Intervention" (John J. Gleason); "Structuring for Idiosyncracy: Rethinking Policies, Programs, and Practices for At-Risk Students" (Robert Donmoyer); "Placing Children At Risk: Schools Respond to Reading Problems" (Richard L. Allington, Anne McGill-Franzen); "Teacher, Why Am I Failing? I Know the Answers': The Effects of Developmentally Inappropriate Assessment" (Pamela D. Fleege, Rosalind Charlesworth); "'A Different Kind of Responsibility': Social and Academic Engagement of General-Track High School Students" (Sandra B. Damico, Jeffrey Roth); "Direction with Discretion: Reading Recovery as an Example of Balancing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making" (Patricia L. Scharer, Nancy C. Zajano); "In the Shadow of the Excellence Reports: School Restructuring for At-Risk Students" (Andrew Gitlin, et. al.); "Emergent Spanish Literacy in a Whole Language Bilingual Classroom" (Irene Alicia Serna, Sarah Hudelson); "'It's Not a Perfect World': Defining Success and Failure at Central Park East Secondary School" (Mark A. Faust); "Creating a Culture of Writers with At-Risk Students" (June Yennie-Donmoyer, Robert Donmoyer); "A Teacher Reflects on His Urban Classroom" (Art Isennagle); and "A Policy Perspective: Overcoming Gridlock Beyond Schools" (Brad Mitchell). Contains an index and over 400 references. (GLR)