A study examined key determinants of apprentice and trainee employment in small and medium-sized enterprises that play an increasing role in providing employment-based training in Australia. It used unit record data from four waves of the Australian Bureau of Statistics business growth and performance surveys 1994-95 to 1997-98, which sent…

This report presents an overview of the key findings from the Monitoring the Future 2002 nationwide survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students. A particular emphasis is placed on recent trends in the use of licit and illicit drugs. Trends in the levels of perceived risk and personal disapproval associated with each drug--which this study has…

This paper uses personal profiles to highlight major events across the past five decades that have affected the lives of individuals with mental retardation and their families. Each of the scenarios provided represents a creation of prototypical families, communities, school climates, issues, and social attitudes during a particular decade.…

Noting that half of America's adolescents are at risk for serious problems such as substance abuse, accident-prone lifestyles, and delinquent behavior, this book explores the world of adolescents through the study of eight middle-school and high-school students from Reston, Virginia. These eight teenagers were selected based on gender, ethnicity,…

The reasons for nonparticipation in adult literacy and upgrading programs were examined in a national study during which interviewers in 12 Canadian provinces conducted in-person interviews with 44 adults who had never participated in a literacy or upgrading program. Most interviewees indicated that they had experienced transition points at which…

Noting that there is near universal agreement that children from families with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have access to more of the resources needed to support their positive development than do lower SES children, this monograph examines the myriad questions remaining regarding relations among SES, parenting, and child development from a…

A project examined a 25-year period of African Americans in adult education by accessing the archival holdings of these 3 major data centers: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moorland-Spingarn Archives, and Hollis Burke Frissell Library. The study also examined the 1920-45 issues of The Journal of Negro History and The Journal of…

A summary of recent research shows that more than 11.5 million children lived in poverty in 2001 and likely will experience long-term negative effects of poverty, such as dropping out of high school, compromised physical growth and cognitive development, and reduced physical and psychological well-being as an adult. Improving the home life of…

This report provides a review of the United Kingdom (UK) and international literature about initiatives to stimulate demand for post-16 learning. Chapter 1 introduces sources and method. Chapter 2 outlines the current pattern of participation in learning activity in the UK and identifies the main barriers impeding further involvement. Chapters 3-5…

This collection of papers comprises proceedings from the 5th English in South East Asia Conference, held in December 2000 at Curtin University of Technology in Perth. The 19 papers include the following: (1) "Global English and Local Language Policies" (Robert Phillipson); (2) "Hong Kong Parents' Preference for English-Medium…

This report confirms the detrimental effects of low family income on children by examining the well-being of children across all incomes and race-ethnicity groups in a nationally representative sample of children attending kindergarten and participating in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99. The sample included…

Despite an unprecedented surge of research on fathers, progress in the study of father involvement generally occurs within rather than across disciplines. This handbook highlights the challenges facing researchers of father involvement across disciplines. Following an introduction, the chapters of the book are as follows: 1) "Methodological,…

This paper examines the education of New Zealand's Maori people, noting historical achievement and enrollment gaps between Maori and non-Maori students. This gap is due to family economics, educational resources, cultural and racial barriers at school, negative school attitudes among older Maori students, and the student achievement testing…

This report analyzes vocational/technical (VT) course taking among public high school graduates between 1982-98. It focuses on trends in VT course taking, introductory technology and computer-related coursetaking, and how students combine VT and academic course taking. The report examined high school transcripts for the graduating classes of 1982,…

Adult participation in learning in the United Kingdom in 2002 was examined in a survey of a representative sample of 4,896 adults who were selected using a random location sampling method that involved dividing the study area into 600 areas of equal proportion. The findings from the 2002 survey were compared with those of surveys conducted in 1996…