Describes life in the mestizo society during the Spanish colonial rule of California. Addresses such topics as, but not limited to, racial diversity and socioracial stratification of the population, what life was like for the families of soldiers and settlers, and the size of the families in California. (CMK)

Examined the effect of part-time work intensity on high school mathematics and science coursework completed and its indirect effect on 12th grade achievement. Longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample indicated that there was a significant negative effect of part-time work intensity on coursework. The indirect effect on 12th-grade…

Presents a study intended to promote the development of socio-affective competencies in children in the first two years of primary school using a sample of 83 six- to eight- year olds and their fathers and mothers. Explores the mediating influence of the teachers' pedagogic practice, family's social class, and gender. (CMK)

Achievement gaps between minority and white students may never be resolved because they are an artifact of a measurement process that uses flawed tests to assess student progress. IQ and achievement testing have always shown that socioeconomic status (SES) is critical in explaining test score variance. SES is part of the concept of cultural…

Schools and districts with large number of economically disadvantaged students are likely to have higher average test scores if both are smaller. Larger school sizes, up to a reasonable limit, improve average test scores in affluent communities. Achievement among larger schools in larger districts shows the strongest relationship with…

This investigation reports average length of communication units (C-units) in words and in morphemes for 95 African-American boys and girls (ages 4-6) from lower-income, urban homes. Mean C-units increased across the age span and syntactic complexity of the children's language samples correlated positively with increases in C-unit length.…

Examines how low-income African American high school students situate race, class, and gender in the process of status attainment. Finds that the students emphasized the importance of hard work, individual effort, and education but their overall views were complicated by their interpretation of how race, class, and gender affect life chances.…

Maintains that the high poverty levels in the United States implies that the goals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) have not yet transformed the reality of U.S. citizens. Describes the national campaign called "Economic Human Rights: The Time Has Come!" that combats the violations of basic human rights like poverty.…

A study of 3 mothers and their 12- to 18-month-old at-risk children found mothers engaged in more physical play, used a directive interaction style, and needed a high number of bids to keep their child's attention. Talk and play improved when mothers used pictures in books to talk to children. (Author/CR)

Thirty-six children identified with small expressive vocabularies at age 20-34 months were followed up yearly and tested for expressive language skills in second grade. Of 10 possible predictor variables, only socioeconomic status and early expressive language skills predicted expressive language outcome in second grade with a slight contribution…

Used data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study to examine relationships between 12 types of parent involvement and 8th-grade mathematics and reading scores. Results showed statistically significant differences in the relationship between parent involvement and student achievement according to race/ethnicity and family income, how…

Describes Wake County, North Carolina's, new socioeconomic integration plan, which is intended to improve academic performance. Examines previous and unsuccessful school desegregation plans and their impact on poor students of color. Discusses how educators and lawmakers must develop innovative, multidimensional policies to promote integration…

Explores the life of the family portrayed in the photograph included with the article. Discusses how to search for answers about the family by first analyzing the photograph and the information it contains, then looking for clues to their history through additional sources, and finally talking with members of the family. (CMK)

Focuses on changes over time in university level Japanese students' sociocultural perceptions of social status during the year they studied abroad in Canada and the impact of the changes on their pragmatic use of English when offering advice. Compared the development of 97 Japanese exchange students' pragmatic competence with that of 102 peers in…

The influence of neighborhoods on adolescent behaviors has received increasing research attention. In the present study, we use structural equation models to specify pathways from neighborhoods to adolescent cigarette and alcohol use through parental closeness, parental monitoring, parent substance use, and peer substance use. We use a national…