A study was conducted to determine if family configuration was a factor in students' perception of parental behaviors that support schoolwork. A total of 439 public school and 399 parochial school students in grades 6 through 12 were surveyed. Results showed that students from intact, two-parent homes perceived greater parental concern and support…

This practicum was designed to address the need for the intermediate and upper grade level English as a Second Language (ESL) students to become independent learners in the literacy process. The subjects, 13 boys and 3 girls from Pakistan, Philippines, Jordan, Israel, Korea, Turkey, and Thailand were dependent on the teacher when they had…

This paper reports results from two dissertation studies and several pilot and case studies examining the effects of early enrichment on children's language and cognitive development. Early enrichment in these studies included home visits with parents, typically beginning before the child reached 6 months of age, and continuing until the child was…

This study analyzed children's picture books in order to determine the extent to which they reflect the changing roles of fathers in the family. Thirty books with a father as a main character and a publication date between 1980 and 1990 were randomly selected. Six possible father roles were determined. These were housekeeper, caregiver, companion,…

This handbook describes ways that families, schools, and child-care centers can work together to achieve Vermont's state goals for early childhood education. The following topics are presented: (1) the goals and principles guiding Vermont's early education program; (2) the role of kindergarten in a child's educational career; (3) the need to shift…

As part of a series of tri-annual studies of youths' substance use and abuse behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge, begun in 1975, this report provides normative and trend data for the 1981-82 study. The research issues which were the foci of this study are: present status and important trends of youths' substance use, attitudes, and knowledge;…

The home's supportive setting, which has the potential to encourage children to share their thoughts and feelings through spoken language, is the basis of the home's strength as a communicative context. Teachers can help extend this sharing of meaning by creating classroom environments in which written language experiences and microcomputer-based…

Early findings are reported from the Michigan State University Vulnerability Study, a study of differences in parents and children of families with an alcoholic father and matched, community control families with a non-alcoholic father. Male preschool children in the alcoholic homes were the target group, because they are 6 to 10 times more at…

Preliminary results from a longitudinal study designed to systematically examine the family life of children reared in a home with an alcoholic father are reported. Analysis is restricted to 15 families from a larger study in which the target child was a 3-year-old male. Parents completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Progress Evaluation…

On the premise that it is important to examine parental attitudes as children enter the middle grades since it is at this point that decision shaping students' subsequent course taking patterns are made, this study examined the degree to which parents were involved in the assignment of their children to mathematics courses in the seventh grade.…

This study of the home background of successful Asian-Americans found that specific aspects of home socialization can exert a positive effect on school adjustment and achievement. The study consisted of 90-minute structured interviews conducted with 15 Asian-American students (Harvard undergraduates or secondary school summer students--roughly…

Early personality and environmental characteristics that predict later problematic aggression and depression in children were investigated longitudinally. A developmental psychopathology approach was taken. (This approach assumes that patterns of adaptation and maladaptation in development can best be understood when explored simultaneously and…

Recent developments in science and technology challenge educators to develop career education approaches that promote interest in scientific and technological career options among students. One way to meet this challenge is for educators to understand variables that may influence the career development of students with focused or developed…

Presented in this document are nine brief study guides which offer advice and information about parenting to parents of infants and toddlers and which collectively make up the "Off to a Good Start" home study program. An information sheet on how to enroll in the program and receive these materials, which are sent to registrants approximately every…

A research study shows the strong positive relationship between traditional personal values and academic success of students from various disadvantaged backgrounds. Four categories of values were examined: (1) the work ethic, (2) religious commitment, (3) parental support of success in school, and (4) peer group support of success in school. A…