Professionalism as a force for reform may succumb to growing pressures that place the locus for educational improvement in the community itself and that work toward economic empowerment of families within schools. The article compares two contrasting strategies for educational improvement in urban neighborhoods (service versus empowerment),…

Examines strategies for developing challenging but appropriate programs for children with disabilities. Discusses the importance of identifying and understanding the particular needs of individual children; developing appropriate routines; maintaining ongoing communication with, and the involvement of, family members; and playing an active support…

Notes the increase in violence and other negative behaviors depicted in television programs; discusses ways to ensure children are exposed to positive, quality programming. Suggests looking for programs which stimulate curiosity in learning and provide appropriate challenges; respect diversity and individuality; provide accurate, current…

Investigated resilience, as assessed by mothers, among 4- to 11-year-old children of Taiwanese immigrant families in the United States. Found that maternal support for child resilience and mixed cultural rearing style was most predictive of children's resilience, but maternal employment was not associated with resilience. Boys were less resilient…

Discusses a method of evaluating middle school students' writing portfolios that places responsibility on the students themselves. Presents the evaluation assignment in three parts: students' self-evaluation, peer-evaluation, and parent-evaluation. Notes the effects of the portfolio method and evaluation strategy on literacy education. (JPB)

A mother describes her experiences working with teachers through Program for Internalizing Values Obtained through Schools (PIVOTS). Because of the teachers' and mother's high level of commitment and the child's hard work, he was able to learn self-monitoring, organizational skills, and self-control. (MKA)

Identifies how the legal regulation of sex education in Great Britain incorporates conflicting problematizations of HIV/AIDS and childhood sexuality through constructing distinct categories within the curriculum and legitimizing distinct roles for teachers, parents, and health professionals. Explains why school-based sex education fails to be a…

In an urban Brazilian shantytown, poor mothers took the risk of becoming squatters on public land (despite repressive actions by a military dictatorship) because activism was their only avenue to access the resources (housing) needed for motherhood--their only available valued identity. Poor fathers, having other possible identities, tended to…

Examines the effects of academic achievement in the 8th grade on the sense of personal control and self esteem in the 10th grade and the effects of personal control and self esteem in the 10th grade on academic achievement in the 12th grade. Presents and discusses the results. Includes references. (CMK)

This study examined the frequency and nature of parental support for the emergent literacy of 264 visually impaired children (age birth to 8). Differences in parental support were found to be based on the primary literacy medium (print, braille, or print-braille) and presence of additional disabilities. Parents differed in the literacy…

Examined the quantity and quality of contact in adolescents' everyday family interactions such as after school, at supper, or when family members do the weekend chores. Found that, with increasing age, there is both disengagement and transformation in these kinds of interactions. However, this decline appeared to be related more to increasing…

Explores the fathering attitudes and behaviors of African American males within four themes: (1) paternal beliefs and modes of functioning; (2) strength and resiliency; (3) racial socialization of children; and (4) fathers as teachers in the home. Self-descriptions from eight male interviewees provide evidence that urban African American fathers…

Attachment dimensions and styles, parental caregiving styles, and acculturation were investigated among 155 Mexican American and White college women. Results showed no differences between groups on attachment dimensions or styles. For both groups, only paternal variables were associated with attachment security. Implications of measurement and…

Discusses a survey of community college students' parents, regarding their expectations from the college, their role in their child's college choice, and their observations following their child's first year. Reports that parents had high academic goals for their children but overestimated their academic abilities, and that the parents engaged in…

Examined relations among parenting dimensions and adolescents' occupational aspirations related to academics and sports. Found that parents' values predicted youths' values directly in the academic domain. Fathers' behaviors mediated the relation between parents' and youths' sports values. Identification was directly related to adolescents'…