This paper examines the context of current social policy and analyzes the bureaucratic impediments to achieving greater coordination of programs and services for Australia's Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Specifically, the paper demonstrates how a "national commitment" involving bureaucratic rationality and imperatives continues…

This book helps teachers of Native American students to facilitate learning in school through awareness of cultural and values differences between Native Americans and the mainstream culture. Most of the specific cultural information presented comes from the Navajo and Hopi Reservations in northeastern Arizona, but the associated ideas,…

Research at the classroom and school levels suggests that children from many indigenous cultural communities appear to be at a particular disadvantage with regard to academic achievement and school retention. This paper reports on a continuing study with Australian Aboriginal and Navajo Indian children investigating the relevance and applicability…

This general guide provides information on the 15 Project Connect Learning Guides for secondary education that are adaptations of the guides developed for adult consumer and homemaking education programs. An introduction discusses usefulness of the guides, participation in Future Homemakers of America-Home Economics Related Occupations, and…

Estimates indicate that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been sexually abused as children. These statistics may be underestimated based on anecdotal information relayed by many therapists who specialize in working with survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Effects of childhood sexual abuse have far reaching implications for the survivors' abilities…

The impact of divorce upon the children's adaptation has increasingly become a topic of concern in developmental research. This study investigates how specific coping resources (self-efficacy, self-esteem) vary according to age and as a correlate of developmental level in children from divorced and intact homes. Researchers also examined the…

The interaction among ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), mathematics achievement level, and gender on student beliefs about themselves as learners of mathematics was studied through in-depth interviews with high school students. One hundred high school students were interviewed. Half were: (1) African American or White; (2) female or male; (3)…

Educational policy trends have contributed to rising rates of student grade retention over the past two decades. This research bulletin looks at the evidence about whether and how grade retention may influence the chances that a student would drop out of school. In 1992, evidence indicates that about 20% of 14-year-olds may have experienced a…

This study reviewed the literature on and conducted three national surveys concerning delivery of services to people with disabilities from minority backgrounds. The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are reviewed, with a focus on initiatives to serve persons with disabilities from diverse backgrounds. A review of…

This guide to learning disabilities is primarily based on the experiences of parents and staff at Landmark College (Vermont), a two-year college specifically for students with learning disabilities. Chapter 1 introduces a group of Landmark parents and students who share their feelings and concerns. Chapter 2 describes learning by seeing, hearing,…

This study investigated the correlation between noncognitive variables and academic success in a freshman composition course. A sample of 257 freshmen taking an introductory English course completed a survey assessing their attitudes and achievement expectancies. The questionnaire measured self-ratings of overall academic ability, drive to…

In many developing countries, girls have a lower quality of life than boys. Gender disparities exist before birth and become wider through the school-age and adolescents years. Discussion held at the Sixth International Forum of the Association for Women in Development (AWID) and the findings derived from them served as a catalyst for further…

The terror and severe stress most children feel after a disaster such as an earthquake or bombing manifest themselves in a number of ways. This book provides a tool for parents and others responsible for children's well-being to prepare for a disaster experience. The book's introductory chapter examines the nature of disasters--natural and…

During the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the "New Religious Right" increasingly exerted influence on the development and implementation of educational policies and programs in the United States, particularly at the local level. The movement will probably continue to directly and indirectly affect several important school activities in…

Data from the 1985-86 Peru Living Standards Survey were used to analyze the targeting of public education expenditures and the effects on enrollment of public school fees and reduced travel time to secondary schools. This chapter also focuses on strengths and weaknesses of using either an estimation-based measure of benefit or a…