The authors describe various parenting behaviors, such as nurturance, discipline, teaching, and language use, and explain how researchers measure them. They note racial and ethnic variations in several behaviors. Most striking are differences in language use. Black and Hispanic mothers talk less with their young children than do white mothers and…

In this paper we examine differences in upper secondary school attendance among subgroups of the population in Thailand. We ascertain where inequalities continue to exist and where they have been mediated. We analyze data from samples of the 1990 and 2000 Thai censuses. We find that the gender gap favoring boys has closed at the national level and…

It has been acknowledged that children from poverty begin school missing many of the prerequisites for school success. The 1963 US initiative, Head Start, is the major federal program aimed at providing children in poverty the experiences necessary to start school on an equal footing with their same-age peers. This article uses data from the Early…

New Jersey After 3 (NJ After 3) is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand and improve afterschool opportunities for New Jersey's youth. Using both public and private resources, it supports a network of youth-service providers that deliver afterschool services based on NJ After 3's program model. Under an agreement with NJ…

Small towns and rural places face numerous barriers to development. In response, the four Regional Rural Development Centers serve as regional and national networks to catalyze, initiate, facilitate, and evaluate research and educational programs that have potential to improve rural economic and social well-being. Such programs focus on developing…

This report examines how early educational opportunities affect child development and eventually adult productivity. The report also discusses some implications for developing countries. The effectiveness of educational programs for infants to 2.5-year-olds has not yet been demonstrated. However programs that ensure health, nutrition,…

This review of the literature addresses scientific and methodological concerns of research with children from various racial and ethnic backgrounds in the United States. It first identifies three major demographic trends: (1) the increasingly multiethnic and multilingual nature of American society; (2) the increasing number of children in poverty;…

Noting that successful social policies for children are critical to our nation's future, this book discusses the status of children in America and suggests that the nation's current policies may not be serving them well. Proposals for seven new social policies are discussed that deal with the following domains affecting children from birth through…

This Kids Count report investigates statewide trends in the well-being of Delaware's children. The statistical report is based on 10 indicators of child well being: (1) births to teens; (2) low birth weight babies; (3) infant mortality; (4) child deaths, children 1-14 years; (5) teen violent deaths; (6) juvenile violent crime arrests; (7) high…

Why, despite society's common understanding of the problems of children, have individuals failed to act decisively and powerfully to bring them security and hope? This report, which includes articles excerpted and adapted from presentations and discussions at a 1996 symposium, addresses this question. After an introduction by Rosalynn Carter, the…

This report describes the current status of families headed by persons under age 30, and compares the economic well-being of the current generation of young families in 1990 with that of young families in the 1970s and 1980s. The report documents falling incomes and growing poverty among young families, factors underlying young families' economic…

This paper addresses the myth of socioeconomic dissonance and its effects on the identification, assessment, placement, and instruction of African-American students with special needs. Socioeconomic status is seen to predetermine the academic success and survival of African-American students. The paper looks at the politics of "poverty,"…

This KIDS COUNT special report focuses on the state of Arkansas' families, using state and national data to discuss demographic and economic changes facing families and the ways those changes affect children. The report discusses the increase in the number of children nationally and statewide growing up in homes without fathers, and notes that the…

This paper examines inequalities in education resulting from differences in community social class, using data from a study of high school teachers' work in different communities conducted in the 1980's and repeated in the 1990's. The 1985 study of schools in upper middle class, working class, and lower class neighborhoods indicated that there…

This paper presents findings from a 1991 study that collected descriptive data on over 209 African-American homeless children and youth in Seattle, Washington. A review of the literature indicates that disproportionate numbers of African-Americans are homeless. Discussion in the paper concerns risk factors and conditions that affect…