This report covers major events in early childhood education in 1989. Discussion addresses: (1) the possibility of newly available funding due to the end of the Cold War; (2) legislation stalled in Congress; (3) new studies documenting problems in child day care; (4) slow increases in corporate child care; (5) increases in public school child…

The South Asian population has emerged as a dynamic and affluent cultural minority in the United States. The 1980 Census, which provides the basis for this report, estimates the number of South Asians at around 400,000, and projections suggest that over one million will have joined the U.S. population by the year 2000. South Asian ethnicity is…

The at-risk status of so many American children is not an accident, but rather a direct result of our social and economic history. This document briefly recounts the history of blacks in the United States and draws on the experiences of the author in his capacity as superintendent of an urban school district to substantiate this position. Reverse…

A seminar was held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in August 1987 on the subject, "Illiteracy and the Underclass: Are They Permanent?" The contributions of Chall, Comer, Epstein, Dash, and Rivera identified where illiteracy problems begin--in families with intergenerational patterns of illiteracy. Problems in estimating the numbers of…

This report presents research findings on the opinions of 58 low-income black men and women who discuss whether or not they feel they could earn their way out of poverty and how they might do so. The research involved four focus groups of employed and unemployed men and women from the Washington, D.C., area. The following general conclusions are…

Analysis of information gained from the March 1986 Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the Bureau of the Census shows the following results for the year 1985: (1) median family money income continued to move ahead of inflation; (2) the median earnings of men showed no statistically significant change from 1984, but the earnings of women…

While becoming increasingly important to the economic and social development of the United States, Mexican-Americans still face barriers that hinder their full partnership in U.S. society. This ERIC digest is a summary of the latest available demographic and socioeconomic trends on Mexican-Americans. It discusses the broad implications for…

This booklet, developed by the Southampton (England) Adult Education Panel, provides a demonstration of how the barriers to education and training that confront disadvantaged adults can be overcome. It identifies 16 barriers to access as follows: money; value dominance in race, gender, or social class; child care; physical disability; bureaucracy;…

This "gray paper" addresses the concerns of older women regarding their control over death and dying. It is based on the observation that older women are devalued by society on account of both their age and gender, and hence are likely to be impoverished and vulnerable as they approach death. The paper begins by examining the legal,…

This report examines the current condition of educationally disadvantaged children in the United States, describes conditions likely to prevail through the year 2020, and discusses implications for the education of disadvantaged children. The text: (1) develops a common definition of the term "educationally disadvantaged"; (2) identifies the…

There is a close connection between illiteracy and poverty at all levels--global, national, and subnational; the countries with the lowest levels of literacy are also the poorest economically. Poverty breeds illiteracy by forcing children to drop out of school to work, and these illiterate people are forced to stay on the lowest levels of the work…

This hearing examined the impact of the Administration's 1987 budget proposal on child nutrition programs, which were cut significantly. A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture testified that the proposed budget was designed to preserve benefits for those truly in need, to provide for the national defense, to maintain taxes at the current…

As a result of budget cuts and policy changes, health, nutrition, and social welfare programs have been rendered less able to help children and families, particularly those families hard hit by the recession. It is argued that there is no excuse for these cuts and that if the economy were growing and employment levels were high, the budget cuts…

This report presents the transcript of Congressional committee hearings on a resolution urging continuation of Federal support for child nutrition programs, in view of proposals by the Reagan administration to turn responsibility for such programs over to the States. The report includes texts of statements, letters, and supplemental materials…

This report maintains that it is just as unacceptable to allow millions of children to die each year from needless infection and malnutrition as it is to let them die in sudden emergencies of drought and famine. The world now has the means to attack childhood malnutrition and disease on a massive scale and at an affordable cost. Four million…