A purely geographic classification is not the best way to measure rural disadvantage in Australia. A service access model is described that incorporates the following elements: population center size; distance, time, and cost of travel to the service center; and a measure of the economic capacity of residents to overcome the cost of travel.…

Data from a survey of 4,809 Russians were used to examine the association between educational attainment and first occupation for Russians who completed their education and entered the labor market between 1970 and 2000. The results confirm previous findings of continuity in social stratification in post-Soviet Russia, despite rapid, major…

Reviews the divergent viewpoints of scientists and non-scientists with regard to science and technology. Shows that while scientists implicitly accept the difference between science and technology, to non-scientists that difference is irrelevant. Highlights the most important differences between science and technology and discusses the complexity…

Two studies examined whether differences in the lexical explicitness with which languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish) express false belief and preschoolers' socioeconomic status (SES) influenced children's performance on standard false belief tasks. Found that lexical explicitness influenced responses on the "think" false…

Examines the effect of family socioeconomic status (SES) and the self-regulation of children on the students' ability to adjust to kindergarten. Reports that self-regulation acted as a mediator between SES and interpersonal problems, the expectations of teachers at school, and assessment of students with hyperactivity-attention deficiency.…

By age 3, children from privileged families have heard 30 million more words than children from underprivileged families. Longitudinal data on 42 families examined what accounted for enormous differences in rates of vocabulary growth. Children turned out to be like their parents in stature, activity level, vocabulary resources, and language and…

School-based speech pathologists, school psychologists, and child psychiatrists (n=185) were surveyed to examine the role of sociocultural variables on clinicians' impressions of children with autism and related developmental disorders. Professional perceptions of children in hypothetical vignettes varied as a function of both practitioner's…

This study investigated mother-child dyads of differing social status engaged in fantasy play (children were age 54 to 80 months). Contrary to expectations, high-status dyads did not produce more or more complex utterances during fantasy play than low-status dyads. Low-status dyads were characterized by more negative affect and child behavior…

Examined fourth and fifth graders' reactions to completing group-administered, positive and negative peer nomination techniques. Found that no child reported having hurt feelings or knowing of anyone else having hurt feelings. Determined that the condition of minimal risk of harm, harm not greater than children might encounter in daily life, was…

Studied peer acceptance, social status, and social reputation in children attending mixed-age programs. Found that younger children were less well-accepted and more likely to be nominated by peers as shy, while gender (but not age) affected aggressiveness. Also found that at the primary level, girls were more likely to be nominated as shy. (EV)

Describes challenges of school-initiated family involvement, including ambiguous definitions of family involvement and diversity of backgrounds. Provides guiding "themes" for involvement philosophies and interactions. Examines how three types of family professionals can work with schools to strengthen family involvement: teacher training…

Analyzed 1990 U.S. Census data on the educational enrollment of 15-17-year-old immigrants. Results partially supported predictions from the segmented-assimilation and immigrant-optimism hypotheses. Most immigrant adolescents, particularly Asians, were as likely as native born adolescents to be enrolled in high school. Mexican teenagers had the…

Analyzed factors influencing Turkish students' transitions to high school. Student surveys indicated that socioeconomic status had little or no impact on academic achievement. Previous academic achievement and student aspirations positively related to academic achievement. School type and attending preparatory schools negatively related to…

Examines the meaning of power differentials that exist between key interest groups in education, discussing the movement to foster educational collaborations between families, schools, and community institutions, particularly in low income, urban areas. The paper explores how differences such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and culture…

Analysis of city-level data and national household surveys in urban China, 1988 and 1995, found no longitudinal change nor city-level variation in the gender gap in earnings. However, during this period of market transition, the gender gap in more-marketized cities became more attributable to market-related mechanisms (education and occupation)…