This conference was designed to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas on how parents, teachers, and other concerned individuals can contribute to strengthening the educational support system, and to generate practical information on strategies to improve achievement levels of youth. The first article, titled "Conference Program…

Many have regarded the recent civil disturbances in Los Angeles (California) as a wake-up call, a warning that the deterioration of America's cities, education systems, and public services, and the continuing decline of the underclass may result in a race war that could destroy society. The wake-up call is directed primarily at middle-class black…

Implementation of the first U.S. television program rating system based on identifying content that could be viewed by specific age groups began in January, 1997. This exploratory survey examined the context of how young people responded to the ratings system. Participating in the May 1997 survey were 462 students in fourth, eighth, and tenth…

In the recent past there has been a growing interest in the investigation of the self. A primary area of investigation has revolved around the question of the stability of the self-concept. This study investigated parental nurturance as a stable predictor of self-esteem across adolescent and young adult age groups. Subjects (N=784) were students…

Compiled in this volume are summaries of the knowledge base on prevention of alcohol and other drug use and mental disorders in children and adolescents. The papers address risk factors, preventive interventions, conceptual and methodological issues, epidemiology, identification, service delivery and treatment, research, and professional training.…

To identify causes for low enrollment in secondary agricultural schools in Yemen, the United States Agency for International Development and the Yemen Ministry of Education surveyed 990 preparatory (junior high) students, examining their educational aspirations, differences between rural and urban youth, major influences on student aspirations,…

An evaluation was made of PACE (Parent and Child Education), a family literacy program initiated in Kentucky in 1986. PACE was created because of the widespread belief that the state has a serious problem with undereducation of its adult population and the belief also that this problem is the result of persistent patterns of educational failure…

Illiteracy is intergenerational and is correlated with poverty. Especially significant is the effect of the mother's education level on children's academic achievement. A number of recent initiatives are emphasizing the role of parents as reading boosters. However, this approach fuels the debate between those who view literacy as skill development…

This paper centers on research on the development of a sense of time, and particularly, the meaning of the concept of time, children's development of the concept, and the relation of the concept to children's academic achievement in kindergarten and first grade. Discussion first focuses on two background perspectives: (1) the problem of educating…

Four policy papers delineate a progressive family policy for the 1990s that makes the family central among social issues and children central in families. An extensive introduction delineates the split between leaders' and ordinary citizens' views on the family and provides a summary of the papers. The first paper offers an economic review of the…

Among those who share the responsibility for developing the reading habit in children are the child's family, schools, libraries, publishers, booksellers, and the mass media. There are many ways to read, just as there are many kinds of reading materials, including poetry and narrative stories. Some children read only to follow the plot, others add…

This report details the theoretical framework, methodology, and findings of research into the impact of Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) on the management and administration of Title I programs at the local level. The eight school districts studied were selected because they varied in their orientations toward PAC involvement in Title I, and in…

The myth of Asians as "the model minority" may hide the instructional needs of Asians and mislead policymakers. There is growing concern that Asians' low verbal scores are masked by their higher than average math scores and high school grade point averages. Principals and key staff at 12 (out of 20) schools identified as having…

Puerto Rican children are vulnerable to abuse because environmental and intrafamilial stresses are coupled with the stresses associated with migration from Puerto Rico to the United States. The percentage of abused Puerto Rican children is likely to be higher than in other Hispanic or non-Hispanic populations. This document reviews the following…

A study of some features of the language usage of nonnative English speakers focused on global communicative competence and the use of text-building devices. Subjects were the primary-school-age children of eight native Italian-, Greek-, and Macedonian-speaking migrant parents and a matched set of native-English-speaking classmates. The language…