This paper discusses the concept of literacy and proposes several theses with regard to the difficulty experienced by youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds in acquiring literacy in present-day school environments. It recommends studies to explore the funding of programs designed to improve schools as educational organizations, rather than…

This study examines the consumption of resources by retired persons by distinguishing between institutionally controlled resources (social security, medicare, prescription discounts, medicaid, heating subsidy, supplemental security income, veterans' benefits, disability income, and meals-on-wheels) and personally controlled resources (gardens,…

A study examined the difficulties that 400 male Arab students, attending five universities in the District of Columbia, experienced with academic English while seeking college degrees. A survey investigated problems with nine aspects of English language proficiency: (1) expressing ideas correctly, (2) understanding lectures, (3) taking class…

School effectiveness programs were evaluated at six urban schools (five elementary and one junior high schools) in Louisiana for the 1986-87 school year. Focus was on providing principals with information to improve their school effectiveness programs for the 1987-88 school year. Subjects were 3,006 students, for whom scores on the California…

U.S. Bureau of the Census data show that in 1980, Native Americans resided in all but five counties in North Dakota, with the greatest concentration in the counties containing reservations (35.3% in Rolette County, which contains the Turtle Mountain Reservation). Nearly 63% were under 25 years of age; 53.6% of these between 5 and 17. The median…

The study reported here employed a quasi-factorial ecological approach to explore the possibility of using economic and social indicators available from the 1980 census to construct a socio-economic status (SES) index. The study hypothesized that if an appropriate factor analysis model could be identified, factor score equations could be used to…

The three conditions given in the literature for the pervasiveness of linguistic insecurity (a speaker's attitude toward his or her own speech revealed in face to face interaction through the upward or downward shift of language forms) exist in the case of speakers of the Spanish vernacular of Puerto Rico. The conditions are: the rise of a middle…

In designing the "Study of Schooling" research project, it was decided that seven regions in the United States would be studied, and for each region, "triples" would be the focus of the research. A "triple" consisted of a senior high school, a feeder junior high or middle school, and a feeder elementary school.…

This report presents a description and the results of evaluation of Project Adelante at William H. Taft High School in New York City during 1980-81. The project, which was funded under Title VII of the Elementary Secondary Education Act, provided instruction in English as a Second Language, Spanish language skills, and bilingual instruction in…

In the former New Castle County (Delaware) School District (reorganized into four districts in 1981), minority students were numerically overrepresented from 1979 to 1982 in suspensions from school and in placement in special education and lower academic groupings. To determine if the overrepresentation was based on discriminatory practices or…

To determine if there are critical differences between the social and psychological environments of coeducational and single-sex schools, researchers investigated five coeducational, four all-female, and four all-male high schools in Ontario (Canada). All of the schools are "Separate" schools; that is, they are Roman Catholic and,…

Data on high school students in occupational education classes in New York State during the late 1970s are presented from New York City and upstate school systems for four major areas: (1) demographic characteristics (sex, ethnic origin, disadvantaged status, handicap, age, grade level); (2) socioeconomic environment (family income, living…

Recent studies indicate that single mothers experience unusually high levels of psychological distress. The purpose of this paper is to compare rival explanations for these high levels. Four hypotheses are tested: (1) the psychological well-being of single mothers, relative to married parents, declines over time; (2) changes in psychological…

Part of the continuing reports of data analysis of school and college enrollment, this report focuses on changes in college enrollment as affected by: family income; the changing size of the armed forces; the means of obtaining a high school diploma; and the type of degree being sought by college students. Following a brief narrative, the report…

Whether considered as Asian Americans or as a distinct minority group, the Samoans in the United States are ignored by social program planners. The study reported in this document was designed to provide baseline data on the needs of the Samoan community in southern California. Such information as household size, sex and age distributions of…