The economic and physical decline of urban neighborhoods has become a widespread and widely misunderstood phenomenon in post-war America. It has not been restricted to aging central cities: most growing cities and many suburbs possess areas of decay as well. After decades of changing occupancy, dwellings have fallen into disrepair, and the quality…

There are two very distinct schools of thought concerning the causation of many of Appalachia'a problems. One school treats the region's socio-cultural pecularities as the major cause of developmental problems; the other blames the coal industry. This paper suggests that, at the base, both schools of thought are valid in explaining cause and…

Using data from the Project Talent study of the high school class of 1961 and the National Longitudinal Study of the high school class of 1972 (NLS), current patterns of enrollment in post secondary education were compared with patterns of ten years ago. Differences in college entry rates were examined among groups defined by sex, ability, ethnic…

The relative development of Piagetian concrete logical operational abilities was investigated in Mexican American and Anglo American children. Performance was assessed on eight classification tasks and three forms of transitivity, measuring seriation skills. One phase of the study compared the performances of 30 Anglo and 30 Mexican American…

Project staff and experienced child welfare personnel adapted the Culture Simulator to train child welfare caseworkers to have an empathic understanding of minority children and families in order to encourage and support ethnic identity, integrity, and community life. The training technique used 4 self-instructional modules containing 40 critical…

Some findings about attrition from two- and four-year colleges and universities based on the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) are presented. Attrition is defined as withdrawal from college without completing a degree. After 2 years, the four-year institutions had lost 23.5 percent of their entrants. More two-year…

This paper investigates the isolation of the local black community within the social/cultural perspective. A profile of the community is given in terms of data collected from personal and family interviews. Personal interviews assessed how the Appalachian black viewed his group. Among the 13 variables studied are: trustworthiness, religion, work…

This is a partial report of a longitudinal investigation designed to assess the psychological effects of an experimentally conducted day care program on children during the first 30 months of life. The experimental subjects were Chinese and Caucasian children from working and middle class families who were cared for at a special group care center…

In studies conducted in the Baltimore City Public Schools by the Office of Pupil and Program Monitoring and Appraisal (OPPMA), pre-kindergarten pupils were found to be "growing scholastically". A program, Early School Admissions Program (ESAP) was based on nine objectives established to prepare pre-schoolers for "reading…

Current sociological theory, in which students are viewed as comprising a "new class," is discussed. "Student consciousness," an analogue to "class consciousness" in the Marxist social change model, is viewed from the aspects of dress, life style, taste, its common fate of dependence on academia and the aggregation of members in and around the…

The Equal Educational Opportunity Workshop for Human Rights Workers focused on the theme "Equal Educational Opportunity--What Does It Mean to the Human Rights Worker? A Deep Examination of Professional Commitment." Most school systems and educational institutions have human rights specialists devoting staff time and resources to race and…

Discusses cultural differences between Indian and white people in their perceptions of money and the meanings of certain English words such as greed and jealousy. Identifies possible sticking points in Indian-white communication and political/economic relationships. Relates intratribal disputes and factionalism to impose financial situations and…

This paper presents and discusses a theoretical model that broadens the context for human resource development (HRD) social mandates and provides a process model grounded in self-actualization awareness and thinking that facilitates the individual to go beyond the constraints of potential (as defined by the individual's environment). The model is…

Presents a theoretical framework suggesting ways to design peer intervention programs and group existing programs. Suggests criteria for effective racial awareness programs, discussing examples of successful college prejudice activities. Notes diversity education efforts are most successful when based on a theoretical model that recognizes the…

The personal aspect of knowledge--the everyday concepts--is located in the life setting of a person. These personal concepts are the foundation for the child's appropriation of subject matter concepts that qualify the child's personal concept so they can function as theoretical concepts. However, subject matter concepts are not universal, they are…