A study investigated parental behaviors or practices associated with seven high-achieving, limited-English-proficient children (ages 3-11) of low-income, educationally disadvantaged Hispanic mothers. The mothers had high expectations, a firm belief in the educational system, and a desire to be linked with the school. A list of 36 supportive…

Argues that the shortage of financial aid for minority students is a serious national problem deserving of special attention. A study of 131 black college students shows that the burden of self-financing their education triggered a variety of other educational and personal difficulties. Coping efforts and outcomes related to the educational…

Examines what is known about immigrant children and families, and identifies relevant issues that warrant further research. Emerging themes include the need to address health care and education policies regarding immigrant children, the importance of understanding public concern over the costs of immigrants, and the value of looking at immigrant…

Examined 585 African Americans' attitudes toward drug use in Atlanta (GA) and Washington (DC). Findings reveal that marital status, age, home ownership status, and education accounted for differences in attitudes toward drug use among Atlanta residents; while family income and marital status differences in drug use were found among residents of…

Highlights and reviews a number of children's and young adult books that feature homeless children and families. Broadly categorizes the books according to qualities and plot elements, including appreciation of people, nonstereotypical portrayals, positive tone, and story appeal. Offers a bibliography of 24 recommended books. (MJP)

Examined low socioeconomic-status (SES) preschool classrooms for teacher perceptions of children and teacher/child interactions as a function of ethnicity. Hispanic teachers described Hispanic boys as having high levels of difficulty; they engaged in high levels of interaction with them. Perceptions of girls were more positive and less influenced…

Presents books to be used in a thematic unit focusing on readers as heroes and heroines in which characters become readers despite being poor, homeless, deaf, visually impaired, dyslexic, or having parents who are illiterate or who read and write in another language. Describes student activities: research, art, writing, family reading, letter…

Declines in the welfare caseload in the late 1990s brought significant change to the lives of many low-educated, single mothers. Many single mothers left welfare and entered the labor market and others found different ways to avoid going on public assistance. These changes may have affected the health and health behaviors of these women. To date,…

The aim of this study was to determine whether the "Frequency with which parents read to their children, Preschool Exposure" and the initial "Age" that students "who are economically at-risk" were first exposed to significant literacy activities at home or in a preschool setting affected their reading grades.…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This April 16, 2004 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Shimmering with Stories" (Biemiller, Lawrence); (2) "Cultures…

The major premise of this paper concerns the existence of an intrinsic connection between the institutional culture of school and students' dispositions to learning. The data presented shows three things in particular. These are firstly, the strong mono-culture of the Israeli school, secondly, a virtual absence of knowledge, understanding and…

Working memory plays a key role in supporting children's learning over the school years, and beyond this into adulthood. It is proposed here that working memory is crucially required to store information while other material is being mentally manipulated during the classroom learning activities that form the foundations for the acquisition of…

As policymakers and education leaders around the country make plans to meet the ambitious goals in the federal No Child Left Behind Act, they would be well advised to take a close look at the distribution of teacher talent. In fact, the act requires exactly that. State and local education leaders must now publicly report data on the number of poor…

Children's lead and pesticide exposures are used as examples to examine social disparities in exposure reduction efforts as well as environmental policies impacting children in poverty and minority children. The review also presents an estimate of the effect of social disparities in lead exposure on standardized test performance. Because including…

In contrast to the many studies that have examined parenting in low-income families from a deficit perspective, this study examines their strengths by proposing and testing a model of parenting goals derived from social and developmental theories on goal-orientation, motivation, attachment, and child socialization. The model posits two categories…