This book was written to raise educators' consciousness and to encourage their active participation in the politics of everyday life in schools, educational systems, homes, and communities. Authors in nine chapters document and interpret the political action and inaction of educators in various settings. Contents include the following: (1)…

In order to better serve Illinois individuals and schools, human service organizations must pursue collaboration among and within state agencies, community organizations and resources, and families. Families have the primary responsibility for raising their children, but economic and social factors make it increasingly harder for families to do…

This collection documents how far we still are in the United States from putting our knowledge about child well being and policy into practice. It provides an overview of the changing nature of child poverty in the United States through the contributions of authors who use a number of qualitative and quantitative approaches to look at children in…

This paper examines the state of current research on ethnic minorities and their children and discusses areas in which further study is needed so that effective policy guidelines may be developed within the framework of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A number of examples of ethnic minority situations are presented to…

The strongest recent statement that inequality in America is the natural result of a free market came in "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray. These authors argued that intelligence determines how well people do in life, and the rich are rich largely because they are…

Authors of color share their thoughts on diversity, difference, pluralism, privilege, and ethnicity in essays that are meant to speak to the attempt by white scholars to reserve to themselves the power to define these terms. Each writer represented in this collection is attempting to validate a marginalized perspective and its corollary arguments…

This autobiographical narrative describes the early life of Luis J. Rodriguez, a journalist and poet who was immersed in the youth gang culture of Los Angeles (California). Framed by the story of the pull of the gang life for the poet's son, it recounts his experiences from his childhood on the United States-Mexico border through his family's…

Studies have indicated that pregnancy is only one of the factors that cause female students to drop out of school. A study was conducted at a Chicago (Illinois) public high school to determine if there was a significant difference in the dropout rate for teens who were pregnant and those who were not. The population for the study included female…

This report summarizes the current status and trends in nonmarital childbearing in the United States, and presents a series of supplemental papers by experts from social science disciplines. "Nonmarital Childbearing in the United States" (Kristin A. Moore) introduces the topic, indicating that nearly a third of all births in the country…

It is estimated that by the year 2010, 50 percent of the population of southeast Asia will be under 15 years of age. Based on a research project completed in 1993, this book provides a regional overview of the quality of life for these children, and is targeted not only at those with an academic and professional interest in child care and social…

Minority voices in Western psychology have been encouraging clinical and counseling psychologists for years to make their psychological interventions more relevant to minority group issues by attending to clients' social contexts. The National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology recently has responded by means such as…

This report documents the development and progress of Marin City Families First (MCFF), a project undertaken in Marin City (California) in 1993 by the Far West Laboratory's (FWL) Center for Child and Family Studies. Its goal was to develop a model comprehensive child and family support system for low-income communities. In pursuing its objective…

This book presents speeches and essays by Jane Addams, from the period between 1893 and 1930, that present a view of education as a broad process of cultural transformation and renewal, as the foundation of democracy. Among the topics presented are: (1) an exploration of some of the problems women faced upon graduating from college and returning…

"The Bell Curve" by Richard Herrnstein and Charles E. Murray has created a great deal of controversy because of its assertion that the key to explaining inequality and social problems in the United States is stratification by a unitary entity called intelligence, or cognitive ability, as measured by the intelligence quotient (IQ). Their…

The 12 chapters of this volume offer a comprehensive portrait of today's children and their challenging urban environments. The opportunities and obstacles that confront children are examined in detail, and key social problems are discussed in the following contributions: (1) "Growing Up in the Urban Environment: Opportunities and Obstacles for…