Quality is fast becoming a policy priority in states and localities around the country. As a result, formal and informal networks of youth organizations are seeking and developing strategies to help them assess and improve performance. This report takes a close look at efforts underway in three networks and provides a preliminary framework for…

Web-based (or online) learning provides an unprecedented flexibility and convenience to both learners and instructors. However, large online classes relying on instructor-centered presentations could tend to isolate many learners. The size of these classes and the wide dispersion of the learners make it challenging for instructors to interact with…

We investigated determinants of parental monitoring and the association between parental monitoring and preadolescent sexual risk situations among low-income, African American families living in urban public housing. Preadolescents and their parents or caregivers who participated in a longitudinal study of familial and contextual influences on…

Studies and commentary from the United States suggest that current undergraduates, part of the so called Net Generation, are high end users of emerging technologies such as mobile devices and new communication tools. This paper reports results from an Australian study of first year undergraduates which confirms these assertions: ownership of…

Against the backdrop of the grave academic crisis in China, editors have become the objects of wooing, favor-currying, connections-seeking, and collusions; they have been targeted for attacks, plots, extortions, and encroachments. Editing and publishing have become avenues for academic irregularities and academic corruption. Editors have the power…

An ethnolinguistic study of eight children (four girls, four boys) in an English nursery school is presented. The study examined the language and social behavior of the 3-year-old children during their initial adjustment to a school environment. All were third-generation British born to families of Pakistani origin, and spoke Mirpuri, vernacular…

To specify different modes of individual children's social integration, this study examined qualitative and quantitative aspects characterizing distinct types of peer relationships. Subjects were 255 children in grades 2 through 5 of an inner-city primary school in Berlin, Germany. Subjects were individually interviewed at school about their…

Many cross-cultural studies have been criticized for imposing instruments on peoples of other cultures as if the constructed measure were universal. This study attempts to establish a cross-cultural equivalence of measurement and construct validity in an examination of the functions of social networks in Zimbabwean, Chinese, and American…

This study examined issues related to both support and stress in the social networks of mothers of adolescent parents. Specifically, it examined who provides support or causes stress for grandmothers, as well as what types of support and stress, and investigated how the characteristics of the grandmothers' social networks affect their…

This study explored the development of children's representations of the affiliative structure of their peer group during primary school. Subjects were 467 boys and girls in first through sixth grade, who were assessed using a standard sociometric procedure and asked to give their perception of the existing networks in their peer group. Variance…

One segment of a larger study examined literacy activities occurring within the homes of immigrant families in Chicago's Mexican-American community. During the first year and a half of fieldwork, literacy practices seemed minimal and infrequent. However, further analysis indicated that such practices were occurring, and were woven into the fabric…

Principals can influence instruction by working through the linkages that govern teacher behavior. What these linkages are, how they affect instruction, and the impact of the principal on them are the focus of this paper. Two kinds of linkages are distinguished: bureaucratic and cultural. An explantation of both, with particular attention to…

Evidence concerning the contributions of social networks to the subjective well-being of older persons is inconsistent, reflecting the conceptual complexity of social networks and supports. In order to investigate the relative importance of different types of social ties and supports, the distinction between objective and subjective dimensions of…

By synthesizing theoretical and empirical research on issue networks, this paper describes and classifies four examples of networks involving educational issues. A literature review shows that, unlike other social and economic influences, networks are marked by flexibility in membership, leadership (individual, group, or organizational),…

Previous research on friendship selection has failed to focus on how the selection process changes with age or in differently organized environments. This review of the literature takes a life-course perspective on the selection of friends, charting research results on three aspects of the selection process: (1) the number of friends and their…