Drawing on J. Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres of influence (1991, 1995), this study explores the effects of teacher, family, and church support on the school-related attitudes, behaviors, and academic achievement of African American, urban adolescents. To achieve this objective, 826 students in an urban school district in the southeastern…

A structured social skills program was developed for young African American males (N=33), in grades one and two in an urban setting. The study was designed to employ social skills to improve reading and mathematics skills. The students selected had demonstrated previous social skill deficits as determined by a pre-assessment instrument. These…

This book addresses experientially and theoretically the nature of contemporary urban education, in terms of teaching and in the contexts of U.S. culture and teacher education. Much of it is derived from classroom experience as an inner-city classroom teacher. Chapter 1, "Connecting Inner Cities and Urban Schools: Racism's 'Slippery…

This interim report documents early experiences with recruitment, retention, service delivery, and establishment of links with employment/training and child support enforcement agencies for participants in the first year of a young unwed fathers program; and presents a profile of the 228 young fathers who had enrolled in the program by the end of…

The seven short stories in this collection portray the lives of Puerto Rican children and adolescents in the South Bronx (New York City). The hopelessness of many Puerto Rican and Black youth is vividly depicted in stories dealing with drug use, discrimination, unwanted and early pregnancy, and a host of other urban social ills. Titles of the…

Major arguments, both pro and con, for applying the "schools of choice" approach to educational improvement in Detroit (Michigan) are described, and the results of a recent public opinion survey are reported. The main argument of proponents of school choice is that it will improve the quality of public education. Opponents of choice do…

This report addresses the legislation passed by the 1990 Minnesota Legislature concerning the African American Youth Treatment Planning effort for providing five recommendations on prevention, treatment, and aftercare of drug abuse for this population. Based on a literature review and needs assessment that entailed a demographic and socioeconomic…

This bulletin briefly presents statistics on trends from 1977 through 1991 in attainment of bachelor's degrees and high school diplomas by Whites, Blacks, Hispanic Americans and males and females. Data sources include: a national survey of degrees conferred, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and U.S. census data. Highlights of the…

Findings of two doctoral research studies analyzing the organizational and instructional characteristics of successful reading and mathematics developmental programs in Texas community colleges are presented in this report. The first paper describes a 1989-90 analysis of developmental reading test scores to determine the characteristics of the…

This book scrutinizes some basic assumptions about educational research with the aim that such research may act more powerfully on those persistent and important problems of our schools surrounding issues of race, class, and gender. In particular, the 13 essays in this book examine how power is infused in research by addressing such questions as…

This study examined the quality and characteristics of black families in South Africa. The research focused on three areas: values and norms regarding marriage and family life, the deterioration of traditional and parental authority, and parenting skills. The fieldwork was done during the years 1988-1990 and consisted mostly of group interviews…

Using a new time series of cross-sections from October Current Population Surveys, a fresh look is taken at trends in college entry over the 1972-1988 period for White, Black, and Hispanic American men and women, asking to what degree group differences and social and economic background have affected these trends. From 1972 to 1988, Blacks and…

This issue focuses on one-room school houses in Iowa. At one time, almost 14,000 one-room schools dotted Iowa's rural landscape. Articles explore Native American schools of the past and present, segregation of black students, and Amish schools. An article remembering one-room schools describes the early schools from 1830 to 1858, township schools…

This report summarizes the findings of an exploratory study of the short-term impact of the National Science Foundation's Young Scholars Program (YSP). The program awards grants on a competitive basis to projects located at higher education or advanced research facilities that can provide students with an intellectually stimulating research…

This publication contains summaries of six papers presented at a conference on community and policy strategies for Latinos in Massachusetts. Each summary follows an executive summary format by briefly describing the project or argument and highlighting and summarizing major findings or recommendations. The papers are as follows: (1) "An…