Reveals that, among a low-income Latino population, parents who participate in school choice programs share significant characteristics. These include mother's education, high parental involvement, and higher education expectations. Characteristics remained the same for parents choosing private or public schools. (MJP)

Community involvement is conceptualized as a typology of the following processes of social change: (1) conversion; (2) mobilization; (3) allocation of resources; and (4) instruction. The effects of these forms of involvement are considered in a review of 13 evaluations of programs for disadvantaged youth involving the community. (SLD)

Explores the use of ability grouping as a guideline for educational decision making. Ability grouping is often detrimental because it may foster segregation and poor teaching and lower students' self-esteem. Some studies demonstrate a slight positive effect on achievement. Higher ability students may derive more academic benefit from grouping.…

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…

This report summarizes data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which has been monitoring the scholastic achievement of America's 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds since 1969. The 1990 NAEP trend data provide several ways of describing changes in student achievement in each curriculum area. For science, mathematics, and reading,…

The seven narratives in this document were drawn from the reflective writings of administrators of color involved in the Nevada Project LEAD. Six school principals and one district administrator describe experiences they have encountered in managing ethnically and racially diverse elementary and secondary schools in Nevada. The first and last…

A review of literature on the use of wordless picture books to develop language skills is presented as background for the relatively brief description of a project in which wordless picture books were used with Latino children. The project is a collaborative one between Bloomsburg University, Kutztown University, and Thomas Ford Elementary School…

The rapid impoverishment of women and their children has serious implications for the American family and for the nation. This report includes testimony before the Illinois Commission on the Status of Women from national and state representatives of women's organizations, social services agencies, advocacy groups, and civil rights organizations. A…

Focusing on the Hispanic deaf child, the book begins with an overview which briefly discusses the history, litigation, legislation, and recent trends in bilingual and special education, and the issues regarding minority hearing-impaired children. Next, the status of Hispanics in special education is discussed, followed by reports of a 1979-80…

Presenting data and analyses from the first wave of the study "High School and Beyond" (HS&B), a longitudinal study of United States high school sophomores and seniors, the report focuses on the composition of the Hispanic tenth and twelfth grade student population with respect to various characteristics; i.e., language use and…

Criticizes the school choice proponents' belief that exiting students would result in schools upgrading their services to remain competitive. Contends that school choice programs create less than 1% exit from public schools. Asserts that voucher programs only help the families of students already enrolled in private schools. (MJP)

This book examines the school failure and success of Chicano students from a wide variety of perspectives. It attempts to promote further understanding of what constitutes, maintains, and helps shape school failure among Chicano students, and to present research and policy agendas that may help to realize Chicano school success. Five sections…

Chicano school failure can be fully understood only when analyzed in the broadest political, economic, and cultural contexts. Objective economic and political conditions dynamically interrelate with schooling experiences to influence incidences of school success and failure. Any serious effort to reduce Chicano school failure must address the…

A study was done to identify social, economic, and childhood characteristics of high and low achieving children living in adverse environmental conditions, and to test the association between achievement and specific risk and protective factors. In addition, the study identified the most powerful model for predicting achievement by comparing…

This study examined factors affecting academic persistence for Hispanic college students at a private 2-year bilingual junior college (St. Augustine College, Illinois) in terms of the students' integration into the academic and social environment at the college. A sample of 277 Hispanic graduates (78 percent female) participated in the study.…