Despite reporting greater needs for career planning information, African American students are often less likely to use the services available to them. Understanding the factors influencing the career development of African American students is therefore critical if these students are to succeed both academically and in the world of work. This…

This paper presents findings from the pattern of participation and discourse analysis of the online interaction among in-service teachers in the teacher training institute in Singapore. It was found that the teachers formed a knowledge-building community and jointly discussed issues related to integrating information technology into the classroom.…

Religious communities have an obvious interest in passing on their beliefs and practices to future generations. Many traditional churches, however, report major difficulties in retaining the interest and involvement of adolescents. This paper seeks to explore some of the beliefs and values of Australian core Catholic youth (14- to 15-years-old).…

People are often driven to become "independent" as part of the desire to go out on their own. Independent evaluation consultants, however, frequently collaborate with others on evaluation projects. This chapter explores such collaborative relationships from both sides: those leading evaluations with subcontracted consultants and those who work as…

Purpose: There is a need for valid and reliable short scales that can be used to assess social networks and social supports and to screen for social isolation in older persons. Design and Methods: The present study is a cross-national and cross-cultural evaluation of the performance of an abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale…

Corporate learning leaders require a unique set of skills to sustain learning programs within their organizations. Leaders must have well-planned strategies and clear direction for learning initiatives. They must understand their organization as well as their learners, and be able to skillfully deploy appropriate learning technologies. A network…

This article argues that "new literacies" is a useful construct for recognizing and understanding the extent to which changes in the current conjuncture are extending social practices of using codes for making and exchanging meanings in directions that warrant serious rethinking of how and why we research literacies. It provides a…

An ethnolinguistic study of eight children (four girls, four boys) in an English nursery school is presented. The study examined the language and social behavior of the 3-year-old children during their initial adjustment to a school environment. All were third-generation British born to families of Pakistani origin, and spoke Mirpuri, vernacular…

To specify different modes of individual children's social integration, this study examined qualitative and quantitative aspects characterizing distinct types of peer relationships. Subjects were 255 children in grades 2 through 5 of an inner-city primary school in Berlin, Germany. Subjects were individually interviewed at school about their…

Many cross-cultural studies have been criticized for imposing instruments on peoples of other cultures as if the constructed measure were universal. This study attempts to establish a cross-cultural equivalence of measurement and construct validity in an examination of the functions of social networks in Zimbabwean, Chinese, and American…

This study examined issues related to both support and stress in the social networks of mothers of adolescent parents. Specifically, it examined who provides support or causes stress for grandmothers, as well as what types of support and stress, and investigated how the characteristics of the grandmothers' social networks affect their…

This study explored the development of children's representations of the affiliative structure of their peer group during primary school. Subjects were 467 boys and girls in first through sixth grade, who were assessed using a standard sociometric procedure and asked to give their perception of the existing networks in their peer group. Variance…

One segment of a larger study examined literacy activities occurring within the homes of immigrant families in Chicago's Mexican-American community. During the first year and a half of fieldwork, literacy practices seemed minimal and infrequent. However, further analysis indicated that such practices were occurring, and were woven into the fabric…

Principals can influence instruction by working through the linkages that govern teacher behavior. What these linkages are, how they affect instruction, and the impact of the principal on them are the focus of this paper. Two kinds of linkages are distinguished: bureaucratic and cultural. An explantation of both, with particular attention to…

Evidence concerning the contributions of social networks to the subjective well-being of older persons is inconsistent, reflecting the conceptual complexity of social networks and supports. In order to investigate the relative importance of different types of social ties and supports, the distinction between objective and subjective dimensions of…