Schools in San Antonio, Texas, need to make changes to make life work better for San Antonio's students, to improve their learning, and to help them become happier and more productive students. Schools must take children where they are and work with their circumstances. San Antonio is failing to provide students with the learning and development…

This book presents findings from taped interviews of successful inner-city high school students concerning what their lives were like and what accounted for their success in school. Information is also presented from two additional studies involving their parents and teachers. Chapter 1 explores what the students perceive to be the relationship…

A study traced the career development of 557 females from central Sweden who were participants in the Individual Development and Adjustment longitudinal study during its third year in 1968 (at which time they were in grade 6). The second part of the survey, which was conducted via a questionnaire mailed to all subjects when they were 26 years old,…

This workbook was designed for use in conjunction with classroom instruction and the parent support group model. Its purpose is to help parents both prevent and effectively intervene in their children's unwanted behaviors, such as drug use and gang involvement. Based on the premise that children should be allowed to make choices and then be held…

A discussion of literacy in bilingual and multilingual communities, particularly those with heavy concentrations of limited-English-proficient individuals, focuses on the role of the family in literacy education efforts. First, the diversity of such communities is examined, noting that linguistic/cultural, educational, rural/urban, and religious…

A retrospective ethnographic study examined the sociocultural environments of fifth-grade Navajo children who have become successful readers. During the second month of school, six fifth-grade teachers at Fort Defiance Elementary School on the Navajo Reservation identified 66 of their 150 students as successful readers, a judgment that was…

As the structure of education has become more complex, as participation in education and related expectations have increased, and as the cost of higher education has increased dramatically, the transition between high school and college has become more complicated. This discussion explores several dimensions of the transition process, including…

The factors that influence students' educational aspirations are of critical importance to both teachers and policy makers. To determine how grade eight students in Toronto make the decision whether or not to attend college, 120 inner-city eighth graders and some of their parents, teachers and principals were interviewed. In the second stage of…

A 1982 study of alcohol use among migrant laborers in New York focuses on the extent of drinking among workers with different characteristics, to test the hypothesis that in camps composed primarily of family groups social control mechanisms will be more highly developed than in camps composed primarily of unattached men, and that this will be…

This paper presents research-based viewpoints on black students' self-esteem and how it relates to achievement. Both historical events and research findings support the argument that blacks' self-esteem and achievement levels have been systematically kept at a lower level than whites'. Arguments for both segregation and insulation are considered…

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…

The Family Literacy Program in Eau Claire, Wisconsin is an example of a strong linkage between professional educators, volunteers, and parents. The program uses the strengths of reading professionals working with preschool students and adult learners in order to break the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy. Cooperation and hard work are the…

Personal narratives were analyzed to determine if a pattern would emerge in the lives of Tucson, Arizona's successful Mexican American adults who had grown up in a traditional barrio without benefit of inherited wealth. Participants in the study were nominated as successful by their peers. Nominees who agreed to participate were given a life…

This paper proposes a new emphasis on home-based parental involvement, one that takes a realistic approach to the roles accessible to parents of low-achieving children, given potential limitations on their skills and time. This approach is based on encouraging parents to use everyday activities in the home to develop in their children behavior and…

This issue of "Transition Summary" contains articles about self-determination and becoming a good self-advocate, with each article reflecting the experience of someone who has grown up with a disability. "The Many Facets of Self-Determination" (Michael Ward) discusses the concept of self-determination; offers an historical perspective of the…