Examines the oral language and related literacy performances of four four-year olds to determine the role and functions of oral language in prekindergarten classroom exchanges, writing episodes, and print-awareness tasks. Children who are adept in oral use of Halliday's seven functions have a developed sense of their culture's literacy and perform…

This article offers a historical overview of the neurological aspects of dyslexia (originally seen as related to aphasia) and a review of familial and genetic factors in developmental dyslexia. Psycholinguistic models of dyslexia as they relate to neurological concepts are presented and the evolution of successful remedial methods is summarized.…

Reports findings from an action research project that set up an instructional program for Punjabi-speaking women immigrants and traced their English and literacy development in classroom and home settings. Data indicate that efforts to teach and acquire literacy focused on language code; self-control strategies and schematic representations for…

Adolescent girls and their parents and a sibling completed questionnaires that measured several family variables and were observed interacting. Found that family economic pressures led to parents' depression, marital conflict, and disrupted parenting. Parents' depressed mood and disrupted child-rearing practices affected girls' adjustment. (BC)

Uses narratives of a mother and daughter to illustrate an interpretive model of socialization. Narratives were drawn from interviews and observations of a longitudinal ethnographic study of nine low-income African-American families. Explores the complex language and cultural routines that occurred during the daughter's transition from home to…

Project looked for out-of-school factors accounting for differences in elementary mathematics and reading achievement using California Achievement Test scores and data on student mobility, minority groups, student free lunch eligibility, and students living with two parents. Results indicate about half of school-to-school variance in achievement…

A model of student progress and drop-out from postsecondary distance education courses includes components of background characteristics; motivation; academic environment; and the family, work, and social environment. The author recommends ways in which distance education courses might be formatted so as to reduce student drop-out. (Author/MLW)

Examined relation between adolescent separation-individuation, family cohesion, and college adjustment in college students (N=240). First group was used to explore individuation measures. Theoretical model specifying that college adjustment would be predicted by family cohesion, positive separation feelings, and independence from parents, was…

Reviews research on influence of child's family context on development of conduct problems. Addresses what critical aspects of child's family context (parental psychological adjustment, parental marital adjustment, parental socialization practices) seem related to development of conduct problems and how these factors might affect child. Discusses…

Examined how family socialization processes varied with season and time of week for young adolescents and their parents. Found that girls were more likely than boys to care for siblings during the summer. Adolescents' housework participation fanned out on weekends. Weekdays were less structured by social institutions for mothers who worked…

Describes a school reintegration program aimed at overcoming the numerous psychological, physical, environmental, and family-based deterrents to school reentry for chronically ill children. The program uses a systems approach to children's mental health with an emphasis on multiple aspects of the child's environment (i.e., family, medical…

Investigated factors associated with school behavioral competence at 72 months in sample of at-risk boys followed longitudinally. Found that a cumulative measure of protective factors was strongly predictive of behavior problems. Mother-reported child emotionality mediated both the relation between mother-reported infant emotionality and…

This study pursues an empirically derived description of parent self-efficacy and parent empowerment specific to the context of clinic-referred preschool children. Parent internal perceptions of stress, family functioning, stress due to child condition, and extrafamilial influences were considered in separate predictive models of parent…

Compared children in a home-based Head Start Family Child Care Program with those in regular Head Start classrooms over a three-year period. The home-based group received the same comprehensive Head Start services as the classroom group, with a curriculum built around the children, family life, and the culture and geography of Minnesota. Found no…

A study using High School and Beyond longitudinal-survey data found students from disrupted families were less likely to apply to, be admitted to, or attend four-year colleges, and less likely to attend a selective college. Differences in family resource levels accounted for the largest proportion of the difference in college choice between…