Capturing the conditions of children of color living in single-parent families has become more complex due to the growing presence of interracial households. This analysis assesses the size and poverty status of single-female headed families housing multiracial children. Using data from the 2000 Census, we find that 9 percent of female-headed…

This paper investigates the long-term impact of participation in the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) during the Head Start year on children's behavioral outcomes at the end of their Kindergarten year. The primary questions addressed in the paper are: (1) What is the experimental impact of CSRP on two-year change (from Fall Head Start to…

This issue of "literacy.ca EXPRESS" focuses on poverty. The articles included in this issue are: (1) Poverty Overview; (2) Tony's Story; (3) LAN (Learner Advisory Network) Member's Story (Dianne Smith); (4) Linking Adult Literacy to Poverty Reduction; (5) MCL (Movement for Canadian Literacy) Update; (6) Highlights from the LAN; (7) Good…

This study examines how familial contexts affect poverty disparities between the children of immigrant and US-born Blacks, and among Black and non-Black children of immigrants. Despite lower gross child poverty rates in immigrant than US-born Black families, accounting for differences in family structure reveals that child poverty risks among…

This ethnographic study relied primarily on case notes and interviews with the president of Centro Prenatal Vida Nueva, a pregnancy center in Lima, Peru, to study the sexual abuse experiences of 33 Peruvian women. Given the language limitations of the researchers, the analyses were completed in collaboration with the president of the center, a…

It is hard to look away from the vulnerable faces of the children whose educational odysseys are highlighted in the movie "Waiting for Superman." The movie longs for the good old days when U.S. education was the best in the world, without considering how content U.S. communities were with low expectations and low achievement for…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of working conditions at school on teachers' level of instructional media use in the primary school system of Gedeo Zone, southern Ethiopia. The survey was made on a sample of 139 (24.4% female and male 75.6%) teachers who were randomly drawn from 9 primary schools (four rural and five urban…

Most educational reform programs, including No Child Left Behind, operate from the perspective that gaps in academic achievement can be reduced by improvements in the educational process directed by school administrators and teachers. This perspective ignores the ecological context in which underachieving schools are typically embedded. Using a…

The prevalence of traumatic stress in the lives of families who are homeless is extraordinarily high. Often these families are headed by single mothers who have experienced ongoing trauma in the form of childhood abuse and neglect, domestic violence, and community violence, as well as the trauma associated with poverty and the loss of home,…

This article describes an exploratory and descriptive study that examined the parental involvement beliefs, attitudes, and activities of 22 high school counselors who work in high-poverty and high-minority schools. More specifically, this study examined school counselors' beliefs and activities about involving parents in the college admission…

Poverty may be the major obstacle to positive life chances in the UK. Ennals and Murphy (2005) suggest that escape from the poverty trap is more likely for those who remain in education after the age of 16. However, school life may bring problems for children from low income families, with learning assuming a lower priority than social acceptance…

The use of eligibility for a free lunch as a measure of a student's socioeconomic status continues to be a fixture of quantitative education research. Despite its popularity, it is unclear that education researchers are familiar with what student eligibility for a free lunch does (and does not) represent. The authors examine the National School…

The importance of emergent literacy skills as a foundation for proficient reading has led to the development of interventions to teach these skills. These interventions are particularly important for children from disadvantaged homes because they often lack the home literacy experiences necessary for building foundational literacy skills prior to…

The article explores the Social Guarantee Programmes, one measure at attending to diversity within the Spanish educational system. It is an alternative measure that aims to break away from the organisational structure of Obligatory Secondary Education, seeking an organisational model and educational strategies that pursue satisfactory results…

Low-attaining schools have been targeted by government for closure and transformation into academies. This article argues that opposition to academies is necessary but not sufficient. It is vital to do more than simply defend the status quo. In the city of Leicester an alternative vision for high-quality education, local authority led and grounded…