Data on the writing achievement of 11th-grade students in 1990 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) may help answer the question of who is right: employers and educators who say students are poorly prepared in writing, or parents and students, who are more positive about the results of the writing preparation students receive…

This study examined relationships between the caregiving environment, severity of disability, and several aspects of family ecology for 102 adolescents with disabilities. Family ecology variables included poverty status, parental intelligence, social support, and marital quality. The disability categories were mental retardation; orthopedic…

The District of Columbia Board of Education recognizes home schooling as an option for parents. This option allows a parent or guardian to provide instruction to his or her own children, but not for an instructor to teach non-related children in a home setting. This document, compiled by the District of Columbia Public Schools, provides guidelines…

This parenting guide looks at the way parenting has been working and suggests a better way. It offers a process for parenting that helps parents distinguish the important issues for healthy teen growth. Chapter 1 discusses how children challenge and how parents are challenged. Chapter 2 suggests that parents can begin by changing themselves in…

Intended for fourth- to sixth-grade students and their parents, this book provides information needed to complete language arts assignments. The book was compiled with the help of a service called Dial-A-Teacher, a collaborative program of the United Federation of Teachers and the New York City Board of Education, which operates a telephone…

This study compares affiliative and attachment behaviors of nontraditional fathers who are their infant's primary caregivers, secondary caregiving fathers, and primary and secondary caregiving mothers. Subjects were 28 mobile infants and their middle-class American parents. In half of the families, the father was the primary caregiver; in the…

The challenges that families face in caring for a child with a disability or a chronic illness are reviewed in this report on respite care. A parent's narrative describes the difficulties in providing around-the-clock care to a child with a chronic illness. The benefits of respite care are outlined as follows: gives the family peace of mind,…

One of the most common worries children's parents have is how well their children are learning to read. Introducing children to the joys of reading depends not only on the teachers, but on the parents. The most effective way parents can teach children how to read and to love reading is to read to them and, later, with them. Jim Trelease, author of…

This paper deals with the psychological processes and emotional experiences of children whose parents are going through the process of divorce and the complications posed by divorced or divorcing parents moving to new locations. The paper begins with a discussion of the implications of divorce, claiming that divorce is a change that affects…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the effect of British parents' social class on their ability to intervene in their children's schooling and to participate as "active consumers." In this case study of one school in England, data were derived from a questionnaire mailed to 491 parents of pupils in years 7, 9, and 11;…

This paper discusses the use of theoretical premises in the design and implementation of a study of men's perceptions of fatherhood. Forty Australian fathers participated in small discussion groups over a 7-week period regarding contemporary fatherhood. Data were collected using questionnaires, including the Perception of Parental Role Scales, the…

The acculturation of developmental timetables for autonomy from parental supervision and in social relationships was studied in a sample of 220 ethnic German immigrants to Germany from Romania, Poland, and countries of the former Soviet Union. The acculturation rate was predicted to be related to prior differences in parent-adolescent interaction…

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting participated in the 1993 Yankelovich Youth Monitor in order to determine information about kids and television viewing in 1990s. The Youth Monitor is a study of 1,200 children ages 6-17 conducted with an in-home interview in randomly selected households throughout the United States. The study asks kids a…

With increasing numbers of mothers entering the workforce, interest has focused on which elements and conditions of maternal employment have predictable effects on children. This investigation assessed the relationship of maternal employment factors and selected maternal attributes (career salience, maternal role investment, and maternal…

In the U.S. school system, parents are expected to take responsibility for their children's educational success by preparing them for school, teaching basic skills, and reinforcing what goes on in the classroom. Latino parents who are not completely acculturated usually believe that it is their duty to instill proper behavior in the child, and…