This introductory paper identifies critical issues related to organization of caregiving environments for young children with handicaps, including physical and programmatic features, transitions between activities, transition between special preschool and kindergarten settings, classroom organization, the social-physical environment, the home…

Explains a model of drop-out from distance education courses and illustrates it with quotations from case studies of students in Australia; Papua, New Guinea; and the United Kingdom. Topics discussed include individual student characteristics, home and family circumstances, employment situation, educational background, motivation, and cost benefit…

Comments on Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper's article in this issue. Discusses the claim for a connection of stressful childhood environments and early pubertal maturation. Argues that early puberty need not imply a shift from a "quality" toward a "quantity" reproductive strategy and that nonevolutionary factors can account for…

Describes functional assessment, discusses the need to translate research findings into formats and processes that can be used efficiently in applied settings, and stresses the need for research to continue to build a technology of functional assessment that meets the range of situations faced in schools and communities. (Author/CR)

Researchers have identified four types of at-home parental engagement consistently associated with school performance: actively organizing and monitoring children's time, helping with homework, discussing school matters with children, and promoting reading activities. Research has not consistently linked parents' in-school engagement and student…

Reviews educational trends in the United Kingdom concerning parents' involvement in their children's education, and examines families as a context for development. Lists functions parents perform for their children and explains several parenting styles. Discusses parents as educators in three particular areas: (1) numeracy and mathematics; (2)…

The number of felony-murder convictions of adolescents on death row in the United States is arguably a warning beacon about the serious nature of juvenile homicide. Reviews the research on adolescent homicide and highlights significant family variables. The contribution of a family studies perspective for understanding adolescent homicide is…

This article examines the risk and resilience literature, focusing on the protective factors in the lives of both gifted individuals and those with learning disabilities. Implications for gifted children with learning disabilities are discussed and recommendations are suggested for nurturing resilience in these students. (Contains references.)…

Using multivariate discriminant analysis and the data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999, this paper made 5 individual comparisons between the U.S. middle school system and 5 Asian middle school systems, which have typically been top ranked in mathematics and science achievement scores. The discriminant…

Feelings of stigma and self-blame were studied among 62 Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican mothers of 4- to 10-year-old children with disruptive behaviors. Data were collected and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results indicated that 42% blamed themselves for their children's behaviors, and 39% felt stigmatized by others.…

This paper reviews 5 articles published in 1995 on family literacy research. The articles reviewed are: (1) a study on literacy in Iceland by Ronald Taylor which examined how Icelandic families share language and reading related activities; (2) an article by Barbara Moss and Gay Fawcett which describes and comments on different home literacy…

Children who live with chronic illness are confronted with challenges that frequently force them to cope in myriad ways. The ways in which children face chronic illness are summarized in this literature review. Also covered, are how the effects of family can influence coping strategies and how family members, especially parents, cope with their…

This paper reviews research on social competence in young children, outlining nine factors that influence the development of social competence. These are: (1) positive self-esteem; (2) a positive attitude; (3) active participation; (4) respect for others; (5) effective communication skills; (6) problem-solving ability; (7) an outgoing personality;…

Studies have shown that work-related stressors are compounded by the stressors that employees bring to the workplace. Although interdisciplinary interest in the work-family relationship has increased during the past 2 decades, a conceptual understanding of how work affects the family or the reciprocal relationship between family and work has yet…

Effective communication with children is a human process that can help or hinder development. The term "communication" encompasses both the content perspective (what is communicated) and the transportation perspective (the manner in which meaning is communicated). The most important communication factor, human perspective, has two implications for…