Relationships between parenting and children's school readiness were examined within socioeconomically comparable samples of African American and Euro-American kindergarten children, mothers, and teachers. Although similarities existed across ethnic groups in the relationships between parenting and school performance, family income moderated…

Uses stories of families in one early childhood program to illustrate educators' challenges to communicate with families whose backgrounds are different from theirs, including low income families. Identifies strategies for supporting and involving families, including using empathy and patience to forge relationships, linking families with needed…

Examines whether economic conditions similarly influence the college enrollment of adolescents from different groups. Indicates effects of income returns varies systematically by race, class, gender, and cognitive skills. Argues that college enrollment of white males from lower socioeconomic origins with lower cognitive skills is most consistent…

Adolescents with homosexual and bisexual orientations have higher levels of psychological distress than other adolescents. Drawing from previous studies, I hypothesize that this epidemiological pattern is due largely to the interpersonal problems that sexual minorities experience at home and at school. Analysis of longitudinal data based on a…

Rural America, in direct competition with growing suburban and urban America, has struggled to maintain a high quality of life. Rural out-migration levels are high, as are poverty and illiteracy rates. Rural community colleges have worked to defend and expand opportunities in rural settings, yet face their own challenges tied to resources,…

Based on the several surveys conducted since the 1990s onward, this paper aims to demonstrate that in terms of the access to higher education, social class differentiation is far starker than that of urban/rural income in contemporary China. According to the investigation that focused on students enrolled in 37 universities, the chance of farmers…

Using data from Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this study examines the social disparity of family involvement. A total of 4,405 students from 140 Hong Kong secondary schools participated in the first cycle of PISA study identifying four types of…

A case study was made of the implementation of an innovative measurement program. In this instance, curriculum implementation was seen as a process in pedagogical, occupational, and sociocultural contexts in which social groups with unequal power, and in contradictory ways, contended for control. "Beyond academic achievement" emerged as…

This paper reports the results of a comparative study carried out with populations from two distinct cultural environments: kibbutz and city raised children in Israel. The study examined how perceptions and responses to television differ across social environments and how children's perceptions of, and reactions to, television may affect…

Economic status determined the effects of declining public revenues and a tighter economy on residents of Farmville, Virginia, a small, conservative, rural, Southern community with underdeveloped social services, whose class relations still reflect racial segregation, whose concern for local autonomy is so great that external funding sources are…

In the broader context of school decentralization, two school-community groups in Toronto were studied in order to determine the establishment and developmental stages of such groups, and the processes whereby inputs are exchanged between school and community. One of the groups was Chinese and predominantly working class, the other was largely…

Fifty-four middle and lower class, black and white adolescents were observed interacting with their mothers during a discussion of seven child rearing problems. Maternal references to a range of disciplinary measures were identified, analyzed, and related to the subjects' scholastic performances. A factor analysis of process measures confirmed…

In this study, everyday mother-to-toddler speech patterns among disadvantaged and advantaged groups were examined in the home environment. The Schachter FIS-C (Functions of Interpersonal Speech of Caretakers) language measuring instrument was applied to mother speech in three sociolinguistic urban groups: black disadvantaged, black advantaged, and…

The findings of nine studies comparing the symbolic play of middle-class and lower-class children are summarized and examined in detail. Related research problems are discussed and directions for future research are indicated. Examination of the studies indicated that few general conclusions can be drawn from them about the relative quality of…

In the past five years, the Women's Movement and rising ethnic identity among white and racial minority groups have become facts of life in American society. Both movements challenged the myth of the American melting pot and the promise of "freedom, justice and liberty for all." The answer to apparent societal fragmentation may be found in an…