Disproportionately large numbers of Black youth experience repeated encounters with the juvenile justice system, and often these same youth present with a variety of school-related difficulties. Data from a sample of 842 Black males, assessed in five Ohio juvenile courts using the Global Risk Assessment Device (GRAD), are used to describe the…

Relations between children's sleep and cognitive functioning were examined over 2 years, and race and socioeconomic status were assessed as moderators of effects. Third-grade African American and European American children (N = 166; M = 8.72 years) participated at Time 1 and again 2 years later (N = 132). At both Time 1 and Time 2, sleep was…

This paper reports results from an ethnographic study of African-American youth subculture in a New Orleans high school. The paper contends that youth subculture remains an important construct to situate stylistic resistance among subaltern groups like urban black youth that confront demands for conformity from representatives of institutional…

The scholarship of Kenneth B. and Mamie P. Clark, referenced in the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in "Brown v. Board of Education," emphasized the nation's color line, not only in the Jim Crow South but in American cities overall. The Clarks pointed out the critical role of context; however, they applied it narrowly to the issue…

Educators and community activists in Boston are talking together about academic achievement and persistence. However, they are also asking questions that are foreign to white suburban discussions of school success and college readiness. In this article, the author relates the range of concerns raised at the "Education of Black Youth in…

This article explores the scholarship of Asa G. Hilliard III on the theme of student academic and cultural excellence and the development of teachers. Throughout his career, Hilliard questioned the nation's commitment to ensuring the academic success of all children. The premise "Do we have the will to educate all children?" is reflected…

Research Findings: Child care delivery practices promoting continuous, primary caregiver-child relationships (relationship-focused child care) were evaluated for 223 preschool-age children (45% African American, 55% Latino) attending child care centers serving low-income children. Both relationship-focused and non-relationship-focused centers were…

This study examined the degree to which achievement gaps existed among different ethnic and racial groups before kindergarten entry. Using published data on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, this study found statistically significant differences in language knowledge and skills, literacy knowledge and skills, and mathematics…

Success in school is a vital developmental outcome for children. In recent decades, it has been shown that school outcomes are influenced by a variety of environments and social processes in the lives of children, both within and across the central microsystems of family, school, and neighborhood. The current study used a multilevel analytic…

The present study examined children's coping strategies as mediators and moderators of the association between parenting factors and outcomes in 235 African American children (mean age = 10.37 years). Information about parenting and child coping strategies was obtained by child self-report. School adjustment was assessed by standardized…

This study continues a line of empirical work examining the extent to which incorporating movement into learning conditions enhances performance for African American students. To date, few studies have examined different types of movement opportunity. As such, five qualitatively different movement conditions were tested in an urban sample of 100…

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine specific risk factors associated with obesity among African American, Hispanic and Caucasian children. Design: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 1076 fifth grade children from 17 elementary schools at Fort Worth, Texas. Data were collected through questionnaires and physical…

Purpose: This study examined the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on the early lexical performance of African American children. Method: Thirty African American toddlers (30 to 40 months old) from low-SES (n = 15) and middle-SES (n = 15) backgrounds participated in the study. Their lexical-semantic performance was examined on 2 norm-referenced…

Chicago's South Side has long been a renowned laboratory for groundbreaking research on Black urban life. The city's vast Black population, largely the product of the Great Migration, has made Chicago the home of both a celebrated Black middle class and an unsettling Black lower class. These two extremes have been meticulously documented over the…

This case study explores how a community-based truancy prevention program mediates against absenteeism, truancy, and dropping out and positively transforms the lives of Black and Latina/Latino middle school youth. Findings suggest that community-school partnerships are critical in the quest to combat truancy and the alarming dropout rate among…