This research investigated factors affecting children's health, based on empirical analyses of data from Washington, D.C. and national data. By most measures, poor children experience disproportionate morbidity and mortality. Yet certain ear and vision problems exhibit a U-shaped relation to family income in both national statistics and the…

A role playing activity in which students develop empathetic thinking by exchanging roles with a member of another culture is provided. (DE)

This document comprises a report on the number of students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) who graduated, dropped out, or transferred during the 1985-86 school term. Students covered include 42,661 who dropped out of secondary schools, 58,233 in secondary schools who transferred from one school to another, and 25,067 who…

This paper presents normative data on height, weight, and body mass in a birth cohort studied prospectively from birth to the age of 7 years. Data are presented by gender and race. The cohort was meant to be representative of the St. Louis metropolitan area in that it included poor people's children, and especially black children who had rarely…

An examination of the incidence of eight activities believed to be associated with gang membership indicates different patterns of gang involvement for urban Black and Hispanic males. The following activities are examined: (1) perceived advantage in gang membership; (2) hanging out where gang members hang out; (3) having friends identified as gang…

Even when the socioeconomic background is controlled, there is still a difference between blacks and whites in academic achievement. Studies have shown that, though social class is a factor in that difference, ethnicity is the primary factor. This report discusses ideologies that have tried to explain that ethnic difference. It discusses the…

Most youth who commit suicide do not come to the attention of mental health authorities before their deaths. Therefore, there is a need for data based on the suicidal thinking and risk of nonclinical populations. In this study, 1,098 children and adolescents were tested in regard to suicidal thinking. Subjects read a scenario about a person in an…

This paper examines the effects of classroom characteristics on the friendship cliques of preadolescent students. It is argued that structural and organizational features of a classroom constrain the interaction patterns of students in such a way as to affect the probability of dyadic friendship relationships and the network of social ties that…

If educators, counselors, and student personnel workers are to provide services to students which would be perceived positively by various racial groups, an understanding of interracial perceptions and attitudes is extremely important. A study was conducted to examine the current state of interracial attitudes among students at the University of…

The American adolescent of the 1980s presents a mixed picture of social and economic trends. Census data on schooling, for example, reveal that the number of 17-year-olds who graduate from high school has remained relatively stable in the last 20 years. On the other hand, the dropout rate persists at the same high level, and racial differences are…

The U.S. Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) administered basic skills achievement tests to cadets enrolled in Military Science I (MSI) and Military Science IV (MSIV): Missouri College English Test, Nelson-Denny Reading Test, and Stanford Achievement Test: High School Mathematics. The samples adequately represented geographic regions and…

During the past 15 years, a variety of studies conducted mostly in the industrial North and Far West, have sought to determine the attitudes and feelings of various populations toward homosexual men, lesbians, and homosexuality. These studies often reported the relationships between attitudes and personality traits or demographic variables. During…

The Alcohol and Drug Defense Program was created by the North Carolina General Assembly to assist local school systems in developing school-based drug abuse prevention and intervention programs. As a first step, a statewide survey was conducted to examine drug use and attitudes about use among secondary school students in the state's public…

The National Survey of Family Growth is a periodic survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, and designed to produce national estimates of statistics on fertility, family planning, and aspects of maternal and child health that are closely related to childbearing. This report presents statistics based on data collected in the…

This paper compares the characteristics of those experiencing short spells of low income with those having longer spells. Data from the 1984 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) was examined. It was found that short spells--less than six months--are quite common, and make up a substantial proportion of all poverty spells.…