Describes research testing the 'race convergence' hypothesis for high school students of low socioeconomic background. Findings showed that many race differentials in the aspiration-formation process disappear at this level. (Author/CK)

The writer, with his graduate class in adolescent psychology, prepared a questionnaire probing attitudes of adolescents toward their future in the world of work. Responses are divided into four categories: need for freedom or independence; conditions under which they want to work; work philosophy; and rewards for work. (KC)

Investigates Black and White children's development of the concept of race, the visual cues each group uses to distinguish races and the relation of children's racial awareness to their residence in an integrated or segregated community. (BH)

Examined family racial socialization and ecological competence during childhood and adolescence in a sample of 88 African-American transracial adoptees and their families. Longitudinal path analyses indicated that Eurocentric reference group orientation (RGO) increased over time while Africentric RGO declined for the adoptees, and maladjustment…

At the two-year mark, foster-care outcomes (continued court supervision, kinship placements, adoption) were examined for 1,038 African American, Latino, and White infants, prenatally exposed to drugs and removed from their mothers at birth, and 203 infants similarly removed but not drug-exposed. Discusses policy and practice implications in terms…

The quality of performance estimates from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend assessment for Black and Hispanic students was evaluated. NAEP estimates of these trends are imprecise to the point that their usefulness for policymaking is arguable. Long-term trend assessment results also differ from main assessment…

Offers an overview of the context and consequences of affirmative action in California with regard to faculty hiring and student admissions for African Americans and other Californians of color. Data support the contention that African American representation in public postsecondary education will decrease in the absence of affirmative action.…

Current Population Survey data indicate that 7.2% of nonmetropolitan workers and 6.2% of metropolitan workers held two or more jobs concurrently in 1996. Multiple jobholding rates were highest in the lowest and highest earnings quintiles and for whites, college graduates, and ages 45-54. Teachers accounted for the largest number of nonmetro…

A study of depression in Afro-Latino adolescents used national longitudinal data on over 12,000 secondary students in 134 schools, with oversamples of Black, Chinese, Cuban, and Puerto Rican adolescents. All groups of adolescent females, especially Afro-Latino females, showed higher levels of depression than adolescent males, and older adolescents…

Introduces a special section comprised of papers presented at a National Research Council workshop. The four papers focus on: what constitutes racial discrimination in education from a social science perspective and from a legal perspective; what empirical data exist on the sources of discrimination and racial differences in educational outcomes;…

Synthesizes the social science research on racially correlated disparities in education, focusing on biological determinism (behavioral genetics); social structure (e.g., reproduction theory and resistance theory); school organization and opportunities to learn (e.g., resources, racial composition, and tracking); family background (financial,…

Black and white researchers interviewed black Jamaican and white New England elementary students in urban and rural schools regarding skin color, body size preference, and self-identification, using a modified dolls test. Children from all three communities showed white favoritism and average body size favoritism. Within communities, there were…

Whether differences in mean scores among gender and racial/ethnic groups on science performance assessments are comparable to those for traditional tests was studied with 2,000 students in grades five, six, and nine. Overall, results suggest that the type of test has little effect on these differences in scores. (SLD)

Perceptions of white and racial minority teachers about antiracist education in the Toronto (Canada) public schools were studied in an overall sample of 70 teachers and a specifically minority sample of 22. White teachers are generally less supportive of antiracist education that attempts to shape the institutional culture of schools. (SLD)

Administered an occupational choice questionnaire to 316 students to find out why some college courses are particularly attractive to ethnic-minority school-leavers. Results indicate that entering a "respected" profession and working with others who share similar beliefs were of greater importance to Asian subjects than to those of…