This document examines how to meet the educational needs of children and youth from diverse cultures. Selected data and vignettes are used to provide a context for the lives of children in America. Values that currently drive the educational enterprise are listed, accompanied by a list of reformed values that address the needs of students from…

The 1990 census shows about 5 million children living in the 13 states comprising Appalachia. Ninety percent of Appalachian children are white and nine percent are black, with the majority of black children living in the southern subregion. Children represent a quarter of the region's residents, but their numbers have declined by 11 percent since…

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations held a public hearing to examine the effects of poverty on the hundreds of thousands of low income Blacks and Latinos under the age of 18 residing in Los Angeles County (California). The Commission's findings, recommendations, and concerns are presented. The following findings are presented: (1)…

In 1991, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) developed an empirical estimate of the magnitude of the problems mother-only families face in escaping poverty. The GAO also tried to identify federal policies that could help such families. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of the Labor Market Experience of Youth were used to assess the…

This report examines the wealth of Pennsylvania school districts, the effort districts exert to support education, school expenditures, and the effects of district wealth on students. Important findings related to disparities in wealth and spending on education include: (1) the polarization of wealth distribution during the 1980s made over 90% of…

A model for assessing unemployed workers and providing useful information for counseling these workers for further training and retraining was developed and tested in Chicago with a sample of 25,000 subjects over a two-year period. The model, called the Manpower Assessment and Placement System (MAPS), was designed to give one-day turnaround time…

This report presents questionnaires that were used in three phases of a longitudinal study of career aspirations and attainments among low income youth and of their mothers' aspirations for them. The subjects were interviewed in 1969, when they were in the fifth and sixth grades, in 1975, and in 1979. Participants were members of three low income…

Background information and recommendations related to the support of child care services in Fort Wayne, Indiana is presented in six chapters. Chapter I discusses the feminization of the workforce and demographic data bearing on the need for child care, the child care workforce, and child care arrangements. Chapter II reviews child care services in…

This study analyses infant health data from the 332 poorest rural U.S. counties for the period 1975-1985. The study updates and expands a report released in 1986. The data show that, until 1980, rates of infant mortality and low birthweights (LBW) improved significantly, especially in rural areas. The trend toward better prenatal care in rural…

Eight papers presented at a 1-day conference on poverty in Wisconsin are collected in this volume. The first six papers focus on poverty within the state and its effects on particular groups such as women, racial minorities, the elderly, and those in rural areas. The last two papers examine these findings in light of current poverty programs and…

This survey assesses the status of hunger, homelessness, and poverty in cities in the United States during 1987. The findings include the following: (1) the number of the homeless and the poor had increased and was expected to continue to increase; (2) the demand for emergency food assistance and emergency shelter assistance had increased and was…

This data book uses survey and census information to record social and economic changes of the past three decades and their effects upon the role of Alaska women in society. Results show Alaska women comprise 47% of the state population, an increase of 9% since 1950. Marriage continues as the predominant living arrangement for Alaska women,…

This study discusses the migration of people out of West Virginia, a recurring phenomenon through the State's history. The study links outmigration to economic factors and summarizes recent research. West Virginia is a mostly rural state, and it is noted that employment opportunities in rural areas are generally limited. While outmigration often…

The idea that food should be a universally accepted human right has been the focus of worldwide attention aimed primarily at increasing production at the national level and on reducing price fluctuations in world markets. However, the problem of individual human needs must be simultaneously addressed. The largest number of hungry people live in…

Re-examination of a 16-county area of southern Alabama last studied in 1968 found it still economically depressed, especially for blacks. Black unemployment remains two to three times higher and black poverty rates up to five times higher than those of whites. Blacks are generally employed in the lowest paying jobs. Both black median family income…