This guide is intended to help those providing services to infants and young children with special needs to work more effectively and collegially with family members at the program and policy level. The guide stresses the benefits and barriers to family participation in advisory activities and offers guidelines for promoting family participation.…

Representing part of the first phase of a 5-year ethnographic research project, this report explores connections between school achievement and Irish ethnicity. Part 1 of the report reviews Irish history from 400 B.C. through the Irish famines of the mid-1800s, highlighting England's cultural and economic suppression of Ireland. Part 2 describes…

Two things in particular could change the status of students of color in our elementary and secondary education system and make improved academic achievement possible. One is providing role models that students can relate to in the classrooms, and the other is getting families involved in their children's education. A study on family life and…

A research study examined the complex roles of adult life in relation to the student role, the nature of adult undergraduate engagement in learning, and adult perceptions of involvement. Adult students were interviewed in three types of institutions: 38 at two liberal arts colleges, 29 at two community colleges, and 23 at two public universities.…

A study investigated patterns and influences in Mexican-American children's Spanish language maintenance and shift toward English dominance or monolingualism. Subjects were 64 Mexican-descent children, ages 8-9, of varying immigration backgrounds (Mexican-born, U.S.-born of Mexican-born parents, U.S.-born of U.S.-born parents), and their families…

This paper presents results of a study of how family dysfunction contributes to adjustment of adolescents. The question is considered from two disciplinary vantage points: (1) structural anthropology, which considers dysfunction in terms of the affirmation of kinship relations; and (2) a family systems approach which emphasizes the role of factors…

Drawing from national and city-based sources, Volume 1 reports the empirical evidence concerning the relationship between children and community. The chapters are: (1) "Neighborhoods and Communities as Contexts for Development" (Martha A. Gephart); (2) "Development in Context: Implications for Studying Neighborhood Effects" (J. Lawrence Aber,…

This report uses data from the 1989-90 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study and the 1993 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study to examine the postsecondary experiences and outcomes of first-generation students relative to their peers. After an overview of the demographic, aspirational, and enrollment characteristics of…

This digest explores the knowledge base underpinning the present understanding of the preschool child. This knowledge base involves stages of mental and physical development, physical and psychological needs, conditions that tend to favor or retard the child's learning and development, and so on. The eight chapters of this digest focus on: (1)…

A study examined simultaneously household and elementary classroom life, and collaborated closely with teachers to develop implications for the teaching of literacy. The study consisted of three main, interrelated activities: an ethnographic analysis of the use and transmission of knowledge and skills within and among households (represented by 24…

This study examined the relation of parenting style and parents' personality to children's Type A behavior pattern. Teachers rated 38 second- through fifth-grade children on the Matthews Youth Test for Health (MYTH), which was used to measure children's Type A behavior. Two subscale scores, leadership-competitiveness and impatience-aggression,…

Current knowledge about adolescent development (drawing primarily from developmental pediatrics and psychology) is reviewed to determine whether research and theory can help deepen understanding of why high school continues to be an alienating experience for large numbers of students, and this question is examined through responses of high school…

Many Native American communities have high rates of alcoholism. Children growing up in alcoholic families often exhibit co-dependent or para-alcoholic behaviors, which place them at high risk of educational failure. The Love Bug model was designed to encourage culturally appropriate self-expression and to promote self-love and detachment from…

This paper describes and presents the results of an exploratory study of six Vietnamese American students who attended an English-as-a-Second-Language class during their first year of study at Drexel University in Pennsylvania. The paper addresses the issue of the growing variety of cultures represented in today's college students by examining…

Using recent research on the causes of educational disadvantage in order to arrive at a working definition of educationally disadvantaged children, this paper considers the educational experiences of children at home, in the community, and at school. Thus, families and communities may be viewed as educationally deficient without necessarily being…