This paper outlines the changes that occur in family systems when a child is diagnosed with special needs and examines the structure of dysfunctional families in which there is a child with physical disabilities, including chronic illness; behavior disorders, including social maladjustment; learning disabilities; or mental retardation. (JDD)

Shares the reflections on school atmosphere of two high school dropouts who returned to a public alternative school and went on to college. Common themes include student dissatisfaction with traditional high school and middle school, and their positive responses to the support and engagement found in the alternative school. (SLD)

Examines cognitive processes that distort judgments about men and women thus perpetuating discriminatory practices in the professions and in academe. Cites studies of salary, rank, and tenure discrepancies and notes various unarticulated beliefs about gender that present obstacles to women's advancement. Affirmative action and institutional…

This article takes a detailed look at how a group of 10-year-old boys mutually construct an evolving multilinear scenario whilst playing a storytelling game in class, borrowing from a number of genres and forms of engagement in ICT-mediated popular culture to perform for each other in patterns which defy linear description or analysis. Their…

Research indicates that there is a correlation between exposure of violence in the media and in entertainment and student behavior. Many students have been victims themselves of violent, verbal, and physical assaults. Classroom teachers and educators continue to address this issue locally in classrooms and in their schools. Amid the various…

Changing occupational profiles in the hotel industry in France, Italy, and Spain were examined in case studies that included interviews with hotel managers, human resource managers, and individuals employed in hotel occupations identified as new or entailing new skills. The study focused on the following topics: (1) changes in the hotel industry…

In Germany and elsewhere, the literature on current and future work requirements rarely discusses the effects of globalization, internationalization, computerization, and other factors from the point of view of workers. Some have suggested that a blurring of limits will be one of the main changes in work in the future. This blurring will involve…

This chapter addresses the role of action research in projects that link literacy education and cultural action in peripheral rural areas. These programs aim to improve the living conditions of a population without destroying its cultural heritage or way of life. Action research begins with three broad questions: In what terms do local people pose…

This chapter focuses on the innermost level of Bronfenbrenner's four-level conception of the human environmental ecology, namely the microsystem, and more specifically, the child's socialization in the family. Following discussion of concepts related to socialization, competence, and environmental ecology, selected research studies are reviewed to…

Although Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, their history and literature are seldom taught in American classrooms. A study of over 3,000 high school sophomores in the Southwest revealed that neither Anglos nor Hispanics were aware of the contributions of Mexican Americans. Incorporating Mexican American…

Though not a new concept, child effect has yet to be integrated into mainstream research. This book offers a review of what is already "known" but generally ignored in the area of how children affect their parents, what kinds of children most affect their parents, and what characteristics in parents make them especially vulnerable to…

Focusing on community college programs designed to achieve multicultural climates and minority student success, this monograph provides profiles from documents in the ERIC database of such programs established in the 1990s by individual colleges or developed in partnerships with community, business, or other educational institutions. Introductory…

The first part of this paper reviews the literature on fundamental issues that relate to the work of teachers as the national curriculum is implemented in the United Kingdom. These issues include: (1) the work day of junior and secondary school teachers; (2) the politics and sociology of teaching; (3) the work of primary school teachers; and (4)…

The program goal of family literacy is to use early intervention to break the cycle of illiteracy perpetuated by parents' undereducation. This paper describes family literacy as a dropout prevention strategy that should be most heavily concentrated on the prenatal through 8-year-old child; a child ready for school is less likely to become a…

This chapter draws on an extensive literature review to examine factors that influence the access and achievement of American Indians and Alaska Natives in higher education. American Indians are less likely to attend college than other U.S. ethnic groups. This underrepresentation is partly due to precollege attributes: low scores on college…