Presents a "typical" case history of a White middle-class teenager who becomes involved with marihuana and subsequently begins to abuse other drugs. Sociological findings from other research are interspersed in the anecdotal account. (GC)

Nearly 1.7 million Hispanic students were enrolled in the nation's 4,100 degree-granting colleges and universities in fall 2002. A big share of these students, 87 percent, are undergraduates (rather than graduate or first-professional students). In comparison, undergraduates make up 81 percent of all white college students. Among youth finishing…

Hispanic students are notably behind their white counterparts in the core academic skills. Although the precise size of the gap depends on the subject area, age or grade, and the assessment, by all measures, a significant gap in mathematics, reading skills and science exists between Hispanic and white students. Educational achievement, or…

C. M. Steele and J. Aronson (1995) showed that making race salient when taking a difficult test affected the performance of high-ability African American students, a phenomenon they termed stereotype threat. The authors document that this research is widely misinterpreted in both popular and scholarly publications as showing that eliminating…

Presents a broad range of statistical data on the welfare of White adolescents, ages 16 and 17. Focuses on poverty, family, the school, government programs, academic performance, moral character, and health. Reports that adolescent welfare has declined in every area since 1960 and discusses the implications for social scientists and policymakers.…

The final report of a Florida Grand Jury investigation of the school dropout situation in Dade County is presented in this document. Information contained in the report was drawn from a questionnaire administered to 264 dropouts and potential dropouts, from a second questionnaire administered to 323 elementary school teachers, and from the…

Data were collected from students in grades 6-8 in five schools to determine the impact of school organizational structure on: (1) students' number of reported opposite race friends; (2) evaluations of close White and Black friends; (3) school interracial climate; (4) quality of school life; and (5) frequency of observed cross race interactions.…

Focusing on the high school dropout problem in Austin, Texas, this report presents statistics on dropouts, describes characteristics of dropouts, examines reasons for and consequences of dropping out, and explores how to prevent this problem. The report indicates that: (1) Hispanics drop out at higher rates than Blacks or Whites; (2) males drop…

This analysis compares student test scores before and after school busing in New Castle County, Delaware, in an attempt to see if busing to achieve racial balance reduces the achievement gap between black and white students. School authorities pre-tested students with the California Achievement Test (CAT) in 1978-79, the first year of busing, and…

Discusses persistent racial tensions and achievement differences between Black and White students after 14 years of desegregation at Evanston (Illinois) Township High School. (Author/GC)

Emphasizes that college admissions criteria based on test scores that tend to be correlated with socioeconomic status are biased against racial/ethnic minorities. Suggests that alternative criteria might consider students' personality traits. (Author/MJL)

Discusses the controversy that arose at Harvard Law School as a proposed course on civil rights and racial discrimination, to be taught by Black and White lawyers, led to a boycott movement by minority students who demanded more Black faculty members at the school.(MJL)

Discusses distribution of corporal punishment in schools. Data indicate that Black students are more than twice as likely as Whites to be hit by their teachers. Reasons for this disparity and possible solutions to the problem are considered. (JS)

The fact that an achievement gap between White and African-American students exists is undisputed. The reasons for this gap are many and complex. Evidence does exist, though, that this gap can be narrowed and potentially eliminated. Evidence also exists that demonstrates that when the gap in academic achievement becomes equal African-Americans are…

This report describes a program which grew out of a study that explored writing and literacy skills in Anglo, Black, and Hispanic high school students in North Philadelphia. Section One describes writing in the lives of adolescents as viewed within the home, community, noninstitutional, and broader sociopolitical settings. Particular emphasis is…