This study explored influences on choice of major and career related decisions of seven gifted females from the end of high school through college. Parents were strong influences, along with extracurricular involvement for those whose career aspirations remained stable over time. Expectations regarding marriage and family also influenced career…

A study of six talented males in an urban high school found they had a strong belief in self that was influenced by the following factors: relationships with supportive adults; involvement in extracurricular activities, sports, special programs, and summer school experiences; and family support. (Contains extensive references.) (Author/CR)

Investigates how culture might influence the choice and reading of children's texts to children. Describes a two-year, longitudinal, qualitative case study of the storybook experiences of a US-born Chinese girl, describing the social, moral, and literacy practices in her family (which included the girl, her parents, and her grandparents). (SR)

Describes how the author participated in her son Carl's writing process at home when she realized his growing resistance to writing in school in the second grade. Examines the in-class composing process and Carl's frustrations. Describes how she became Carl's scribe at home as he gradually discovered that writing could be a symbolic representation…

Used responses from open-ended interviews with 10 families of young children to develop a 60-item family literacy questionnaire examining families' perceptions of their contributions to emergent literacy. Matched questionnaire factors with those emerging from literature review on family variables influencing literacy. Found 95 percent agreement on…

While focusing on the urban context, this article reviews research regarding the family and peer contexts of risk for antisocial behavior and school failure as well as recent empirical evidence supporting strategies for intervention. Early intervention, family interventions, and school environments that discourage aggression are urged. (Contains…

A study used data from the National Education Longitudinal Study to identify predictors of placement for eighth-grade ethnic-minority students (n=3,439) in learning-disability (LD) programs. Results found that although some factors predicted placement in LD programs for all ethnic groups, placement predictors also varied by student ethnicity.…

Studied the relationship of African American adolescents' fears of calamity, kinship social support, and neighborhood social capital to aspects of depression. Results with 160 urban adolescents indicate that those with neighbors who looked out for them and who were interested in them were less likely to be depressed than those whose neighborhoods…

An 18-year longitudinal study explored relationships between retrospective reports of exposure to interparental violence in childhood and rate of psychosocial adjustment problems in 1,265 New Zealanders. Participants who reported exposure to interparental violence had elevated rates of adjustment problems at age 18, including mental-health…

Examines the role of parents as a significant social environment for children in transition to adolescence. Differentiates four groups according to perceived parental environment: children with conflict parents, with control parents, with partner parents, and with "easy-going" parents. Explores the familial contexts of these groups and…

This article discusses risk factors that influence the development of educational problems in children and protective factors that foster resilience. It reviews three aspects of risk and protective factors: early in-child signs, families, and schools. The effect of instructional programs, curriculum, and teachers' perceptions and expectations are…

States that structural changes in families and schools may be necessary for children's moral development. Provides three ways families can better enable moral development, discusses how schools must change toward greater diversity in the student body and faculty, and offers two ways for schools to better foster moral development. (CMK)

A case study of a parent with an intellectually gifted child illustrates the five categories of influence on parents' conceptions of giftedness: the parents' value systems, their roles as parents, their involvement with the school system, their families of origin, and their understanding of their own giftedness. (Contains references.) (CR)

In this account of a gifted black child living in an impoverished rural environment, a university researcher and a classroom teacher collaborated in order to describe the young man's creativity, his resilience, his struggle to find a place for himself in his community, and the factors that influenced a strong self-identity. (Contains references.)…

Data from interviews, questionnaires, and student essays of eight female Hispanic learners of English as a second language (ESL) were analyzed. Findings demonstrated how family, Hispanic culture, instructors, and the learning environment influenced performance. ESL participation had an impact on their linguistic, cultural, and educational…