An evaluation of the impact on clinical interviewing of a course in family and community care for health associate students at Johns Hopkins University is described. Students were observed interviewing and rated on their ability to obtain information about family situations. Results showed a significant increase in family orientation. (Author/JMD)

An elementary special education teacher describes her research on program decision making for students with learning disabilities. The research highlights the need to consider all factors that may impact decisions and identifies three characteristics of decisions that, when present, contribute to teachers' confidence that the decision made is…

Even though federal laws have had a major influence on foster care and child welfare policy for more than 40 years, additional reforms are needed to ensure safe and stable families for children in care. This article describes the complex array of policies that shape federal foster care and observes: A number of federal policies addressing issues…

A significant challenge facing the juvenile justice system is the task of transitioning and reintegrating juveniles from youth corrections facilities back into the community. This challenge, in part, is related to determining whether the referred community programs are effective. This article summarizes the literature on the effectiveness of…

A product of a year-long Governors' Campaign for Children initiative of the National Governors' Association (NGA), this report uses examples from several states in the NGA to describe the state of children and their needs. The Governors' Campaign for Children has sought to: (1) increase public awareness of the needs of young children; (2) simplify…

The impact of divorce upon the children's adaptation has increasingly become a topic of concern in developmental research. This study investigates how specific coping resources (self-efficacy, self-esteem) vary according to age and as a correlate of developmental level in children from divorced and intact homes. Researchers also examined the…

This book advances a philosophy of education and a vision of elementary schools as institutions that offer a solution that responds to the changing needs of today's families where schools become "schoolhomes" in which learning is animated by an ethic of social awareness. Following an introduction that sketches the sweeping social changes since the…

The report describes an Australian project to investigate ways in which gender issues affect adolescent girls with disabilities and associated educational implications. Interviews were conducted with 180 girls and women (ages 12-29) with mild or moderate disabilities. Additional information came from questionnaire responses and discussions with 48…

Continuing erosion of the structure of low-income families perpetuates a vicious cycle of moral and economic troubles--poverty, drug and alcohol dependency, out-of-wedlock births, child and spouse abuse, juvenile delinquency, and crime--that feed on and create more impaired families. Accordingly, this report contends that the major portion of the…

With the launch of the U.S. Department of Education's Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, measures of knowledge, skills, health, and behavior of a large and nationally representative sample of American Kindergartners are available. Drawing on data from the study, this report provides a portrait of kindergarten…

With over half the nation's infants and toddlers in regular, non-parental child care, the quality of that care is a priority concern for policymakers. Many studies show that high-quality child care supports the positive social, emotional, and cognitive development of young children. The research summarized in this policy brief identifies factors…

Describes PACT (Parents and Children Together), a project designed to help parents create a wholesome environment for the child so that the child can remain in or be returned to the home. Failing this, PACT offers documentation to the social service agency so that the child can be permanently placed. (CT)

The problems of rural children are discussed. Rural children are threatened by many of the same social and health problems that urban children face, complicated by distance, which affects access to health care and other services. Recommendations are made to assure that rural children receive the services they need. (SLD)

Describes the development of the Early Adolescent version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (EA-HOME) Inventory. Presents information on its usefulness with African Americans, Chinese Americans, European Americans, Mexican Americans, and Dominican Americans. Notes findings indicating high interobserver agreement, with…

This article examines the experiences of three African-American female educators and their families in responding to their own children with special needs. The authors draw upon the narratives provided by these three families to document their personal experiences in parenting children with disabilities. Using fictitious names to protect…