The impact of family situations on the health of children is examined along the dimensions of (1) the growing povertization of parents who are of color; (2) health risks for children in poverty; and (3) consequences of placement in the foster care system. (SLD)

Explores reasons for the apparent difficulty that African-American males and females have in establishing and maintaining stable relationships. Data from the National Survey of Black Americans and other sources indicate numerous explanations for the situation, including economic factors. Trends for the future of African-American relationships and…

Traces academic medicine's historical opposition to community medicine and its emphasis on traditional hospital-cased curricula subspecialties, to the neglect of primary and preventive care, community-oriented medicine, and public health. Calls for reducing barriers to basic medical services for all, and for training physicians equipped to respond…

Discusses social and economic trends in American society that have direct effects on African-American families. Social policy contributing to the negative well-being of African-American families is discussed. The economic alienation of African-American men is explored as a major contributor to families headed by single female parents. (SLD)

In this special section, various authors (in separate articles) discuss the new face of school segregation; socioeconomic integration--a plan to mix poor and middle-class students; and ways to bridge the minority achievement gap, teach linguistically diverse students, and identify and nurture the gifted poor. (MLH)

Nine poor, adolescent, Appalachian girls--six of them Black--participated in a program that used math and science attitudes and achievement as vehicles to enhance life opportunities. Interviews explored their aspirations, support groups, gender relations, self-concepts, and resistance efforts in school. Girls should be taught to recognize and…

Describes the Hawthorne Elementary School (Houston, Texas) reform efforts that targeted inner-city, low-income student academic improvement. The forceful use of national and local resources to implement teacher-initiated changes and to further a successful site-based school restructuring is presented. (GR)

By focusing on advantages inherent in what are typically considered disadvantages for rural schools, 14 rural, southern California school districts cooperated in implementing a successful inquiry-based elementary science program. Isolation and low population density resulted in a stable teaching force familiar with the community, and the area's…

Describes efforts such as diversity tolerance, gang resistance, and summer youth programs at Walnut Middle School (Nebraska) to help reduce incidents of bullying and violence. States that the number of assaults dropped from 146 in 1998-99 to 51 in 2000-2001, after the anti-violence campaign was implemented. (Contains 12 references.) (NB)

Spoken word is a form of poetry that utilizes the strengths of the communities: oral tradition, call-and-response, home languages, storytelling, and resistance. Spoken word poetry is usually performed for an audience and must be heard. The authors are interested in investigating how spoken word can be utilized as a critical teaching tool that can…

The world has made great strides in providing primary education to the poor, and the donor community has financed much of the effort. However, the standardized achievement tests developed in many countries show unbelievably low outcomes. One of the reasons why such is happening to many countries is that their schools' have lower time on task.…

The cultural disparity between teachers and students has been a concern among educators for quite some time. While the student body grows more ethnically heterogeneous, non-Hispanic Whites, especially women, continue to dominate the teaching profession. Ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic status (SES) all play a critical role in the education…

In Spring 2005 the Maine Legislature passed legislation establishing an isolated small school adjustment in the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) funding formula. The adjustment for isolated small high schools (i.e. under 200 pupils) was a reduction in student-teacher ratios in the formula calculations, and in the case of isolated elementary…

Declines in the welfare caseload in the late 1990s brought significant change to the lives of many low-educated, single mothers. Many single mothers left welfare and entered the labor market and others found different ways to avoid going on public assistance. These changes may have affected the health and health behaviors of these women. To date,…

The aim of this study was to determine whether the "Frequency with which parents read to their children, Preschool Exposure" and the initial "Age" that students "who are economically at-risk" were first exposed to significant literacy activities at home or in a preschool setting affected their reading grades.…