This paper examines the numbers and roles of those teachers employed as teachers in 249 Sure Start local programmes. It looks at their roles and the numbers appointed in relation to: regions of the country; the length of time programmes have been running and the lead agency of the programme. It discusses the perceptions of respondents, through…

A major goal of the manufacturing industry is increasing product quality. The quality of a product is strongly associated with the condition of the cutting tool that produced it. Catching poor tool conditions early in the production will help reduce defects. However, with current CNC technology, manufacturers still rely mainly on the operator's…

Anthropological concepts and methods provide an important framework for organizing community service learning. Critical reflection is central to both anthropology and community service learning. However, an anthropological approach to reflection stimulates the learner to consider their own cultural background. Little is understood about how to…

The authors studied sensitivity to semantic priming, as distinct from semantic judgment, in poor readers. Association strength (high vs. low semantic association) was manipulated factorially with semantic association type (categoric vs. thematic association). Participants were 11-year-old poor readers (n = 15) who were matched with a group of…

Kathryn Edin and Joanna Reed review recent research on social and economic barriers to marriage among the poor and discuss the efficacy of efforts by federal and state policymakers to promote marriage among poor unmarried couples, especially those with children, in light of these findings. Social barriers include marital aspirations and…

Studies have found substantial sorting of teachers across schools, with the schools with the highest proportions of poor, non-white, and low-scoring students having the least qualified teachers as measured by certification, exam performance, and inexperience (Lankford, Loeb and Wyckoff, 2002). Yet, there have been substantial changes in the…

This report provides a critical review of the current research literature on the consequences of unintended childbearing for families and children. The review addresses the following potential consequences: prenatal and perinatal risks (e.g., inadequate or delayed initiation of prenatal care, smoking/drinking/substance use during pregnancy,…

Although approximately one-third of all children born in the United States are expected to spend some time living in a married or cohabiting stepfamily, our understanding of the implications of stepfamilies for the well-being of youth remains incomplete. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this research…

In Mark Greenberg's view, a national child care strategy should pursue four goals. Every parent who needs child care to get or keep work should be able to afford care without having to leave children in unhealthy or dangerous environments; all families should be able to place their children in settings that foster education and healthy…

Proformative evaluation--first introduced in Scriven's (2006) "The great enigma: An evaluation design puzzle"--"is motivated, like formative evaluation, by the intention to improve something that is still developing, but unlike formative, the improvement is only possible by taking action, hence proactive instead of reactive, hence both, hence…

This qualitative research study examines the home use of Information and Communicative Technologies (ICT) by high school students living in economically disadvantaged households. The students' use of ICT was for the purpose of completing assigned and unassigned homework outside of the traditional high school setting. Student participants in the…

We examined the contribution of socioeconomic position to the health and mental health status of children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in a sample of 10,438 British children. Intellectual disability was a significant risk factor for poorer general health, OR = 4.5, emotional disorders, OR = 2.0, and conduct disorders, OR = 7.7.…

This report looks at the development and socialisation of children under 5 years of age in two Caribbean countries, Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica. It involved fieldwork in four very different communities as well as extensive discussion with academics and professionals. Too little is known about child socialisation in the Caribbean, and this…

The 2005-2008 Australian National Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategy identifies young people as a key target group in need of sexual health education, screening and management. For young people who are in contact with the New South Wales (NSW) juvenile justice system, a dire need for remedial sexual health education exists. NSW young…

This report presents the deliberations of the Northwest Regional Advisory Committee (NW RAC), one of 10 RACs established under the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 to assess the educational needs of the region. The Northwest RAC accepted its charge to identify educational needs and to make recommendations, working collaboratively as…