Urban elementary school teachers completed a checklist designed to determine a profile of the most significant factors that caused students to be at risk. Results indicated there were eight important factors: academic risk, behavior and coping skills, social withdrawal, family income, parenting, language development, retention, and attendance. (SM)

Reports on a study of Russian parental attitudes regarding appropriate age of initial school attendance and decisions regarding secondary education. Finds that 80% of parents of young children support kindergarten education. Includes 14 tables of data from the study. (CFR)

Explores the context of family beliefs and child-rearing practices with regard to how African American families, in a sample from a family-center project, prepare their children for success in school. Extended family and community supports, racial socialization, and family support are discussed. (SLD)

Examined the role of biological factors, such as perinatal complications, and psychological factors, such as maternal attitudes, in predicting developmental outcomes in preterm children. Findings support the main effects model of biological and environmental factors in explaining developmental psychopathology, but also the interactional model, as…

Examined home literacy environments of four children from low-income Caucasian, African American, or biracial families. Found that all the parents provided support for literacy but with different constructions; children's descriptions of how they were learning to read at home reflected their home literacy experiences; and all four environments…

A study examined migrant farmworkers' perceptions regarding their early schooling, the significance of education, family support for learning, and their participation in adult basic education programs. Suggests that adult basic education programs should address the totality of needs that migrant learners bring to the educational setting. Overviews…

Addresses the question of whether it is possible for early years teachers to achieve understanding and appreciation of children's behavior and development without having insights into their own behavior and family backgrounds. Suggests that teachers must recognize the importance of their own backgrounds in how they look at children, teaching, and…

Discusses the role of television in constructing social reality and teaching children to participate in society, examining Israeli research on the role of television fiction and news in parent-child interactions. The article notes how family cultures affect the way television is incorporated into the socialization process in all households. (SM)

Data concerning children's adjustment indicated that (1) the quality of marital relationships was related to the quality of parent-child relationships; (2) authoritative parenting correlated with high levels of children's social and scholastic competence; and (3) the quality of sibling relationships correlated with children's social competence and…

The school experience of 157 talented Mexican-American immigrant high school seniors in a mathematics/science enrichment program was examined to determine the behavioral process by which they became successful. Implications of the findings of the importance of family educational values and length of U.S. residence are discussed. (SLD)

Determines which factors within the family and school environments influence adolescents' educational aspirations, examining differences among ethnic groups and between males and females using a sample of 2,896 high school seniors from the High School and Beyond Survey of 1985. Findings confirm the significant influence of both environments. (SLD)

Examines how family and religious variables are associated with adolescent substance abuse in a sample of 322 adolescents and their parents or guardians. Results support social learning theory in that associating with peers who use drugs is the major factor that contributes to adolescent substance use. (SLD)

Applies a path model previously used for Anglo youth to the relationships among family strengths, religious identification, school adjustment, family sanctions against drug use, and peer relationships and youth drug use for 477 American Indian high school juniors and seniors. Discusses differences in findings from those for Anglo youth. (SLD)

After summarizing differences in teen childbearing by race, this article addresses problems inherent in a comparative approach to understanding race differences. More meaningful measures of socioeconomic status are outlined, and how the social context approach might inform the literature or the role of family factors in teen childbearing years is…

Influences of alternative policies that state governments and the federal government use to improve child-care centers and preschools are assessed based on a survey of 1,805 centers in 36 states. Center quality is generally higher in centers receiving greater subsidies. Implications of findings for policy in managed choice school settings are…