Suggests that intimate, proximal situations within the genetic environment, more than heredity, determine child development and achievement. Stresses the need to compensate for skill deficiencies among children from disadvantaged environments through early training for language acquisition and personality development. Describes a program in Iran…

Discusses the theory and practice of rural socioeconomic surveys in developing nations. Highlights the close links between choice of research topic, field area and research methods, and the ethics of field research. Offers a personal commentary on some practical problems concerning field research. (MJP)

Low-income Hispanic elementary students were surveyed to determine tobacco use patterns and sociobehavioral correlates. Tobacco experimentation rates increased by age, with boys more prone to starting than girls. Being offered cigarettes was the strongest environmental indicator of tobacco use, followed by having adult smokers at home, and having…

Summarizes the responses of 38 Canadian principals and inner-city teachers reflecting on their experiences with students exhibiting resiliency. Resiliency is defined as overcoming social and personal disadvantages often through protective or compensatory strategies. Identifies a broad range of compensatory factors including human relationships,…

Background: Disadvantaged communities are increasingly the target for interventions. Sure Start was launched in England in 1999 to tackle child poverty and improve child and family services, with Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) targeted at relatively small areas of marked deprivation. However, they are located in a range of different types of…

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), every school is subject to the controversial mandates for annual test score gains contained in the federal law. The law represents a profound change in the relationship between the federal government and state and local education agencies regarding who controls education and has direct implications for…

This final report describes the activities of Project Dakota Outreach, an early education program for children with disabilities designed to assist families living in Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Empowerment and Enterprise Zones in Texas, New York, and Minnesota. The major feature of the model is power-balancing, a concept…

Extreme environments, such as polar regions or space crafts, provide an analogue for speculations concerning the needs of, educational provisions for, and environmental impacts on ghetto youth in kindergarten through the third grade. This discussion first centers on the common qualities of an extreme environment (whether exotic or mundane): forced…

This study examines effectiveness of preschool and family intervention in prevention of cultural-familial retardation. It attempts to resolve part of the complex of influences on early intellectual development in those born into seriously disadvantaged environments that could account for the increased risk for certain children to be identified as…

As "Saving the African American Child" (the report of the Task Force on Black Academic and Cultural Excellence) emphasizes, African American educators must be aggressive in carrying out their inherent obligation to eliminate the impediments to growth and development which restrict the life chances of African Americans. Black America…

Compiled from the resource collection of Michigan State University's Non-Formal Education (NFE) Information Center, this bibliography contains over 100 references to international publications related to children's education, environment, development, labor, and health, and the training of persons involved in child education, development, and…

In 1997, twelve Karen Burmese teachers brought a Vision Paper to the Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand. The teachers had recently written this Paper after much consultation with their Mergui-Tavoy villagers, students, leaders, and school dropouts. Over the following five years teams developed a project outlining 10 steps to educational reform,…

The children of migrant agricultural families are the most educationally disadvantaged group in the United States; they under-perform all other groups, have the highest dropout rate, have the lowest academic level, and have the highest number of school failures. The majority are Mexican American, Black, and Puerto Rican children whose families…

AN INTERVENTION PILOT PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED TO PROVIDE DISADVANTAGED INFANTS WITH STIMULATING EXPERIENCES TO HLEP THEM ACHIEVE HIGHER LEVELS OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT THAN MIGHT NORMALLY BE EXPECTED IN CHILDREN FROM DEPRIVED HOMES. FIFTEEN DISADVANTAGED WOMEN TRAINED AS "PARENT EDUCATORS" WENT INTO 100 HOMES ONCE A WEEK FOR 40 WEEKS…

A study conducted in a rural and an urban county in Texas sought to determine factors affecting changes in occupational patterns taking place in selected Spanish American populations from each of the 2 areas. An attempt was also made to determine levels of living, income, education, and aspirations of parents for their children's futures. The…