A survey of 137 employers in a rural Missouri community indicated that although many businesses were willing to employ former special education students, few would offer meaningful employment in terms of salary, benefits, and full-time work. Recommendations for rural educators and parents of disabled children are given. (TD)

The Public Library Association (PLA) partnered with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to develop research-based tools for parents to prepare children for reading. Inherent in the materials is the major role of the public library in formation of readers. Outlines goals and activities (2001-2002) of the PLA/ALSC…

A study compared Euro-American and Taiwanese mothers' descriptions of the social competence benefits of early parent-child interaction and what they do during interactions to achieve these benefits. Visual analysis of probability patterns indicated that mothers in each group thought somewhat differently about their roles in developing different…

Qualitative methods were used to examine the dynamics underlying reported benefits and outcomes of parent education. Findings suggest that the program can lead to significant, transformative learning and enhanced personal empowerment. Group format can provide social support to isolated parents. Overall experience can result in deeper understanding…

A talented child's motivation and artistic gift can suffer when the environment at home and at school are inadequately supportive. It's crucial, therefore, for parents and teachers to understand that any child's involvement in the arts can enhance overall success in academics and in later life. It's just as important to learn about the many ways…

The relations of maternal reminiscing style and child self-concept to children's shared and independent autobiographical memories were examined in a sample of 189 three-year-olds and their mothers from Chinese families in China, first-generation Chinese immigrant families in the United States, and European American families. Mothers shared…

Many students lack early literacy skills because they have not had opportunities to listen to or talk about stories, engage in word play, read with family members, or view literacy behaviors modeled in the home. The Collaborative Storybook Reading Program presents a model for providing interactive reading experiences for at-risk kindergarten…

Guided by a social capital framework, this qualitative study examined the role of protective agents, namely parents and siblings, during the college choice process of 20 Chicana seniors attending a large urban high school in California. Despite previous research showing that Mexican parents hold a high value toward the importance of an education,…

The trauma associated with 9/11 affected and continues to influence children, families, and other groups of people. While research is cataloging the various coping difficulties experienced, few studies specifically address issues related to parenting perceptions and related activities or behaviors. We examined individuals employed in close…

The transition from pre-kindergarten (center-based programs for four-year-olds) to kindergarten is a critical milestone with far-reaching consequences for children and their families because positive transition and school readiness are integrally linked as predictors of future school success. This study was conducted to explore the existing…

This study examined the nontraditional career choice goals of 302 Mexican American adolescent men using an extended version of Lent, Brown, and Hacketts (1994) career choice model. It was hypothesized that several background contextual variables (e.g., acculturation level, parental support, perceived occupational gender barriers) would predict…

As researchers continue to analyze the role of parenting both in the development of childhood overweight and in obesity prevention, studies of child nutrition and growth are detailing the ways in which parents affect their children's development of food- and activity-related behaviors. Ana Lindsay, Katarina Sussner, Juhee Kim, and Steven Gortmaker…

Parents' childrearing behaviors are guided by schemas of the caregiving role, their functioning in that role, what children need in general, and what their own children are like in particular. Sometimes, however, parenting schemas can be maladaptive because they are too rigid or simple, involve inappropriate content, or are dominated by negative…

Interviews with young teens offered many complex and often idiosyncratic reasons why they did or did not participate in structured activities (for example: personality, interest, attitudes about time use, personal and family life circumstances). However, there also exist common threads that should give one pause regarding the current wisdom on how…

In Kenya, performance in science subjects has often been dismal. This poor performance is partly blamed on the increasing school enrolment, without a corresponding increase in teaching resources. The introduction of cost sharing in secondary schools has limited the government's role to paying teachers' salaries only. Capital development and…