Research on the relationship between early childhood literacy experiences and subsequent reading acquisition is reviewed, with a focus on awareness and knowledge of print. Research studies included children, preschool age to age 7, who were identified as normally achieving, at risk, and linguistically diverse. One of the studies involved children…

This paper describes an exploratory study in which three groups of Latina and Latino high school students, previously identified as "at risk," performed at a level of "giftedness" after an instructional intervention grounded on the theoretical orientations of cultural discontinuity and self-efficacy. A total of 29…

This practicum was designed to provide 237 elementary school students with strategies to improve their social interactions with adults and peers. The professional staff included 12 full-time teachers and 8 itinerant teachers who traveled to schools within the district. Workshops in conflict resolution strategies were presented for teachers to…

This manual is designed to help librarians anticipate and resist censorship of library materials, how to handle complaints, and how to write legislators effectively. Part I, "Library Bill of Rights," and Part II, "Protecting the Freedom to Read," present the text and historical development of the American Library Association's…

This paper describes the development of a research project in 1993 to address concerns and issues related to education of Aboriginal students in the Shoalhaven area of New South Wales, Australia. Specifically, the purpose of the project was to examine the relationships between Aboriginal communities, students, and their schools, and important…

This report reviews recent initiatives to improve family-school collaboration and communication. The six articles are: (1) "Schools, Families, and Students Get Stronger When Parents and Teachers Take Collaboration into Their Own Hands," which highlights parent-teacher action research projects at eight schools through eight case studies; (2)…

This chapter focuses on the innermost level of Bronfenbrenner's four-level conception of the human environmental ecology, namely the microsystem, and more specifically, the child's socialization in the family. Following discussion of concepts related to socialization, competence, and environmental ecology, selected research studies are reviewed to…

This document consists of a facilitator's guide and related materials for implementing a program that teaches social, communication, and study skills to middle school and junior high school students. The goal of the program, which incorporates peer tutoring, is the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse. This program was developed in Iowa to address…

When students enter the classroom they are confronted with a wide variety of goals to strive for, activities to engage in, and challenges to face, across a number of domains: academic, artistic, sporting and social. Recently, there has been a growing recognition of this complexity of goals among researchers interested in student's motivational…

This book uses an examination of admissions policies, especially affirmative action, at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), to explore higher education and its role in public debates about access, equality, and social change. Chapter 1, "The Admissions Furor: Battle Cries or More Confusion?" casts the personal side of…

This paper describes several practices designed to challenge preservice teachers to question their assumptions regarding multiculturalism and to explore other points of view. The "Culture Walk" at Susquehanna University (Pennsylvania) increases awareness and sensitivity to interpersonal and personal identities. It involves writing and…

This book argues that efforts to improve the effectiveness of public schools are ironic and harmful to the family. It asserts that "pushing schools toward becoming one-stop service centers" whose mission is to care for the "whole child" is at the same time decreasing parents' responsibility to care for their children, turning schools into…

A national survey investigated the perceptions of Hispanic women administrators in higher education concerning factors that positively influenced or hindered their advancement to leadership positions, and developed a profile of the Hispanic woman senior level college administrator. Respondents were 68 women in four major subgroups (Central/South…

For each of two years, 50 Hispanic and Black eighth graders were selected for a field-based, environmental science summer program designed to nurture math and science talent and encourage bright, minority youth to persist in school. Students were selected on the basis of participation in an outreach program, essays, grades, recommendations, and an…

Taking its departure from a conference hosted by the National Center on Education in the Inner City (Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), this collection considers developing a research base for preventive and intervention-oriented efforts to foster resilience and educational success for minority students from disadvantaged backgrounds.…