Examines population trends projected between 1980 and 2000 and the implications of these trends for the future of American elementary and midlevel education. Includes charts and graphs. (MD)

To facilitate comparisons between studies of those who have ancestral ties to Mexico and to aid in accumulation of knowledge, some agreement must be reached among social scientists and a common terminology be adopted. A proposed terminology differentiates between Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Mexicanos, Chicanos, Latinos, Latin Americans, and…

Study of the social psychology of juries used innovative methodology high in experimental and mundane realism to make participants (48 Anglo and 48 Chicano college students) believe they were on juries (6-person, both sexes, multi-ethnic) whose decisions would affect defendants. Results highlighted importance of ethnic factors in jury research.…

The gap in the number of Latino and white college students who graduate with a bachelor's degree is wider even than the very substantial differences in high school completion and constitutes the greatest disparity in educational outcomes between the nation's largest minority group and the white majority. Using data from the National Educational…

The Latino population is the fastest growing ethnic minority in the United States. This group is rapidly changing the face of public schools and presenting a unique set of challenges to public education. This policy brief provides the data and context to support the American Federation of Teacher's call for increased attention to the condition of…

Concerns about declining political participation in the United States have once again raised the question of how young people get involved in politics. This project focuses on engaged youths and explores the personal trajectories, people and institutions that encouraged them to become engaged with their communities. The report also discusses how…

The study investigates what practitioners are doing to create effective middle schools for Latino students (the Latino student population in seven of the nine schools was more than 90 percent). The study includes a literature review that places itself within the larger context of research literature. The study?s research findings are organized…

It is widely accepted that high quality child care enhances children's cognitive and social development, but some people question if what constitutes quality care depends on the child's ethnic and cultural background. To examine this issue, secondary analysis of the two largest U.S. studies of child care--the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study and…

With support from the William T. Grant Foundation, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) is conducting a research study on the factors associated with whether children and youth participate in out-of-school time (OST) programs and activities. Building on our previous work, we are using national data to examine the many factors and contexts in…

This report, presented in English and Spanish, profiles nine successful parent leadership programs in communities throughout California. Common factors contributing to the programs' success are parents learning by doing, acquiring knowledge and skills, learning from other parents, and making a personal connection. Other contributing factors are…

A new approach has been proposed to increase the success of Chicana/o students in college. Rather than studying only students who leave college without completing their degrees, the new approach focuses on those students who succeed in college by completing their programs of study. The campus experience for students is conceived as a "black…

This report describes Chicago's Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA), which has long worked to mobilize neighborhood residents to maintain and improve the quality of community life and bring additional resources and services into the neighborhood. LSNA prioritizes the needs of low- and moderate-income residents. LSNA works to make schools…

This document includes presentation summaries and policy recommendations from the 2004 Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) Education Conference: (1) The Present and Coming Crisis: Demography and Education (Dowell Myers and Estela Mara Bensimon); (2) A View from the Academic Community (Moderators: Jorge Haynes and Jamilah Moore; Presenters:…

This document summarizes the results of a 15-minute survey that was administered to four hundred 18-24 year-old Latino youth in California to determine their perceptions of financial aid. Among the key findings were that (1) three out of four Latino young adults who did not attend college cited lack of financial aid as a factor in their decision…

Social capital is a person or group's sympathy for others. The social capital paradigm includes social capital, networks, socio-emotional goods, attachment values, institutions, and power. This paper describes how social capital is used within Latino communities in the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Area of Michigan. It describes migration, housing,…