This study examined the reading performance on the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery--Revised (WLPB-R), in Spanish and English, of 183 Spanish-speaking students in kindergarten through grade 2 in 3 schools with 4 instructional programs for English learners: structured English immersion, transitional bilingual, developmental bilingual, and dual…

A major stumbling block for the implementation of Mexico's Global Development Plan has been the country's large rural population of Indians. One government strategy to integrate this sector into the mainstream of society has been to teach Spanish, the official language, as a second language, while at the same time fostering ethnic pride. The…

Discusses the influence of external environments on the functioning of families as contexts for child development. Describes studies on the interaction of genetics and environment, on relationships between the family and hospital care, day care, peers, schools, parental employment and support networks, the community, and major transition life…

Reviews "Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls," by Tom Holt, which examines American Indian involvement in war and the life experiences of Indian Vietnam veterans. An excerpt draws on the Readjustment Counseling Service's survey of Indian veterans to discuss childhood experiences, cultural traditions, and community and family influences that motivated…

Used an ecological model to examine different factors impacting school completion and dropping out for Mexican American students, highlighting: the microsystem (individual settings), which emphasizes daily interactions represented by the family, the classroom, and peer relationships; the mesosystem (setting interactions); the exosystem (community…

As we approach the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, the globalization and privatization of the academy is destabilizing the patterns of university professional work developed over the past hundred years (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997). To grasp the extent of changes taking place and to understand the forces of change on women in…

The levels of acculturation of biracial and monoracial Hispanics were examined in college students to determine the level of family or community influence in defining racial identification for the biracial individual. The sample was composed of Hispanic undergraduate students currently enrolled at the University of Kansas. Survey packets were…

This study gathered information on the extent to which children participate in the mature routines of their community, and the extent to which elders participate in child-centered activities. Subjects were children ranging in age from 30 to 45 months from the four societies of: (1) Mayan Indians living in a rural Guatemalan town; (2) the Efe…

Current approaches to educating at-risk students are the result of several shifts in thinking over the last 35 years, and a new way of defining at-risk students is needed to permit changes in school policy and practice to meet these students' needs. Cultural deprivation was originally considered the single cause of at-risk status. Subsequently,…

The Eskimo and Indian groups native to the Aklavik area were studied by the author who lived with an Indian and an Eskimo family, and spent 3 months in 1961 in their communities. These people were described and analyzed with respect to deviance patterns and community social structure. Particular attention was directed toward the age groups of 16…

The central purpose of this research was to provide vocational educators in general, and agricultural educators in particular, with insights into the occupational aspirations, expectations, and interests of rural male seniors. Specific objectives of the research were (1) to compare occupational aspirations, expectations, and interests of seniors…

This review concerns the influences of the community on learning. These influences are numerous and complex, and include family, culture, and local customs. This review analyzes representative cross-sections of the literature within three domains: community constructs, the program literature, and the research literature. (BW)

The "rush to adulthood" is defined by precocious events that place excessive demands on youth who are not adequately prepared for the responsibilities of adulthood. This study investigates the influence of community disadvantage, family, and race on adolescent precocious life events and depressive symptoms in the transition to adulthood. The…

A seminar was held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in August 1987 on the subject, "Illiteracy and the Underclass: Are They Permanent?" The contributions of Chall, Comer, Epstein, Dash, and Rivera identified where illiteracy problems begin--in families with intergenerational patterns of illiteracy. Problems in estimating the numbers of…

Personal narratives were analyzed to determine if a pattern would emerge in the lives of Tucson, Arizona's successful Mexican American adults who had grown up in a traditional barrio without benefit of inherited wealth. Participants in the study were nominated as successful by their peers. Nominees who agreed to participate were given a life…