This issue brief is the first in a series examining timely topics that are relevant to Black families and children in the United States. The series identifies key information and opportunities for consideration by policymakers, researchers, practitioners, philanthropists, and others interested in supporting the progress of Black families and…

Evidence suggests that oral narrative skills are a linguistic strength for African American children, yet few studies have examined how these skills are associated with reading for African American boys and girls. The current study uses longitudinal data of a sample of 72 African American 4-year-olds to examine how preschool oral narrative skills…

The purpose of this study was to explore the differential effects of access to gifted education on the mathematics and science achievement of fourth-grade Black girls. This study utilized mean difference effect sizes to examine the magnitude of differences between groups. By convention, White girls were included as a comparison group. Girls…

The purpose of this research was to investigate how domain-specific importance ratings affect relations between perceived competence and self-worth among African American school-age children. Importance ratings have been found to affect the strength of the relationship between perceived competence and self-worth and have implications for…

Although there is a growing body of research documenting the deleterious effect of experiencing relational aggression, few studies have explored how children cope with relational aggression, especially when it occurs between close friends. Moreover, relational aggression is understudied among urban African American children. Using data from a…

While the link between parenting and delinquency is well established, there is less consensus among scholars with regards to the processes that account for this link. The current study had two objectives. The first was to disentangle the effects of African American parents' use of corporal punishment and verbal abuse on the conduct problems of…

Research Findings: Recent work has demonstrated that the changes young children experience in their child care settings before age 5 may be related to subsequent development, especially social development. Several of these studies have included samples of middle-class children, with almost no emphasis on understanding these processes for…

Objective: This study examines the impact of the Family Connections (FC) intervention on preventing behavioral problems among urban, predominantly African American children at risk of neglect. Method: Secondary data analyses using mixed model analyses of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures were used to examine gender differences in child…

Early and accurate identification of special needs, coupled with an appropriate course of treatment and educational plan, is important to academic progress, in particular for economically disadvantaged children with fewer family resources to catch up if they fall behind. A first step in improving mechanisms to promote early identification is to…

The article discusses the findings of an ESRC funded project (RES-062-23-1880) which used in-depth interviews to explore the educational experiences and strategies of 62 Black Caribbean parents; the biggest qualitative study of education and the Black middle class yet conducted in the UK. The article focuses on the parents' interactions with their…

This study examined the degree to which dimensions of parenting predicted early academic outcomes in a sample of 111 low-income African American children. Three aspects of parenting were assessed when the children were 36 months old: language stimulation, math-related stimulation, and maternal sensitivity. Academic outcomes were assessed at 54…

The present study examined whether combinations of ethnicity, gender, and age moderated the association between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being indicators (depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) in a nationally representative sample of Black youth. The data were from the National Survey of American Life,…

The purpose of this study was to examine communication/reasoning, behavioral control, and trust as predictors of resourcefulness among African American children during middle childhood (6-12 years of age). Mothers who practice promotive socialization strategies are more likely to rear children who are socially competent and well adjusted. Multiple…

Developmental, gender, and academic domain differences in causal attributions and the influence of attributions on classroom engagement were explored longitudinally in 115 African American adolescents. In Grades 8 and 11, adolescents reported attributions for success and failure in math, English and writing, and science. In Grade 11, English and…

Studies have documented a strong relationship between low birth-weight status and adverse child outcomes such as poor school performance and need for special education services. Following a cohort of more than 1,300 low-income and predominately African American children in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, the authors investigate whether birth…