As an advocate for young children and families and an advocate for early childhood education, the author has long argued for improving quality and for investing more public dollars in ECE. To make her case, the author used several different arguments, including: moral; workforce productivity; brain research; and return on investment. The author…

The article analyzes contemporary discourses and practices of caregiving and mothering. Using a case study of one employed mother as a starting point, the authors engage in writing-stories that combine the analyses of their e-mail and face-to-face conversations from the last couple of years with various journal entries and interdisciplinary…

This article presents the story and reflection of Jennifer Ritter who shares two critical elements in the process of induction into the world of teaching English. She reminds teachers that the matching of student teacher and cooperating teacher is seldom the result of the extended scrutiny of the attributes of the prospective teacher and the…

A study examined the literature to determine the veracity of the criticism of some educators who say that family literacy programs in the United States fail to take into account important cultural issues when dealing with certain target groups. Issues invoked included the need to take traditional cultural values and practices into account in…

This narrative study explored the personal and professional experiences of eight African American women vice presidents for student affairs (VPSA) employed at predominately White institutions (PWIs) and the persistence strategies they used while working at a PWI. Through the use of narrative inquiry methods, I utilized a purposeful sample of eight…

"Research messages 2011" is a collection of summaries of research projects published by National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 2011. The publication also has an overview essay that captures the themes and highlights from the research for the year, including: (1) the initial education and training of young people and…

In a nation where 42 percent of children live in low-income families, too many schools face the challenge of teaching students burdened with unmet needs that pose obstacles to learning. Community schools that align schools and community resources are a promising strategy for improving student outcomes by providing wraparound services that meet the…

This thematic newsletter issue describes programs supporting family members of children with mental, emotional, and behavioral disabilities, as well as the perspectives of family members regarding daily life with these children. The importance of fathers' involvement with a child with special needs and support systems and services that are geared…

This annotated bibliography lists approximately 150 braille books and 300 audiocassettes of books which address coping skills for people in a variety of situations. All items listed are available in the network library collections provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Library of Congress.…

A study examined the nature of family contributions to adolescent and adult learners' readiness for transition from school to work and any variations between the two groups. It used data from national samples of 1,266 high school seniors and 879 adults in one- and two-year postsecondary occupational education programs. Findings, based on an…

Adolescents' feelings of belongingness were investigated by this study, in which 349 high school students participated. Independent variables for family structure, quality of family life, gender, classification, and length of residency were investigated. The dependent variable was scores from the Psychological Sense of School Membership scale.…

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…

In this study 194 African American, Southeast Asian, Hispanic, Native American, and White adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 25 were interviewed during April and May of 1991. Subjects were recruited through several community-based organizations, schools, and other youth-serving programs in the Fighting Back program area in Milwaukee,…

Within the framework of a model that defined a social network as a dynamic hierarchic structure within which individuals exchange support with one another throughout their lifetime, two studies explored the development of social support networks during childhood. In the first study, 90 children in kindergarten and grades 4 and 8 at a private…

This report identifies significant trends and forces affecting Canada's families and the changes they are undergoing. Following an introductory section, which discusses what families are and what they do, the report consists of 14 tables and 82 charts of family-related information accompanied by written explanations of the numbers and trends.…