This open access book challenges international policy 'groupthink' about lifelong learning. Adult learning -- too long a servant of business competitiveness -- should be reimagined as central to democratic society. Young adults, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, engage more in education and training, and learn more day-to-day at work, if…

In response to the widespread youth mental health crisis, some kindergarten-through-12th-grade (K-12) schools have begun employing artificial intelligence (AI)--based tools to help identify students at risk for suicide and self-harm. The adoption of AI and other types of educational technology to partially address student mental health needs has…

This groundbreaking book critiques the boundaries of where adult education takes place through a candid examination of teaching, learning, and working practices in the social periphery. Lives in this context are diverse and made through complex practices that take place in the shadows of formal systems: on streetscapes and farms, in vehicles and…

Originally developed to treat antisocial behavior, multisystemic therapy (MST) has emerged as a leading evidence-based treatment for serious emotional disturbance in children and adolescents. This manual presents the MST approach to working with this challenging population. Delineated are ways to develop and implement collaborative interventions…

Teenagers are perplexing, intriguing, and spirited creatures. In an attempt to discover the secrets to their thoughts and actions, parents have tried talking, cajoling, and begging them for answers. The result has usually been just more confusion. Light is being shed on these mysterious young adults. What was once thought to be hormones run amuck…

In the past decade, states have taken an increasingly active role in designing new policies intended to reform America's high schools. This book offers a systematic, empirical look at the most widely adopted policy reform strategy--mandatory changes in high school graduation requirements. Maryland is used as a case study, exploring five…

Adverse health effects from exposure to lead are now recognized to be among industrialized society's most important health problems. This report, prepared by the National Research Council's Committee on Measuring Lead Exposure in Critical Populations, concurs with new findings issued by the Centers for Disease Control which state that lead…

This volume--the second in a two-volume set from the Monitoring the Future study--provides findings on the substance use and related behaviors of several segments of the adult population. It also contains findings on attitudes and beliefs about drugs, as well as on several particularly salient dimensions of their social environments. Volume I…

One of the aims of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is to accord due recognition to the fact that 'the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth". However, a question mark hangs over the extent to…

This study examines effectiveness of preschool and family intervention in prevention of cultural-familial retardation. It attempts to resolve part of the complex of influences on early intellectual development in those born into seriously disadvantaged environments that could account for the increased risk for certain children to be identified as…

The reasons given for the apparent decline in family well-being include weakened family values, poor parenting, detrimental behavior of parents and young people, and social and economic forces in the larger society that make it difficult for families to perform their functions well. So great is the concern that some observers are convinced that…

The lives of poor single mothers and their children are explored, first grounding the present situation historically and pointing out their "other" status when examined against normal motherhood and family images. The first two chapters discuss the historical images of childhood and the family as they have developed in Western civilization. Part 2…

One of every five children under age 18 living in the United States is an immigrant or has immigrant parents. The majority of these children are of Hispanic or Asian origin and, as such, are contributing to the growing racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. child and youth population. Because of the long-term importance of children in immigrant…

This single-volume resource provides detailed information on current large-scale and longitudinal research studies focusing on early childhood developmentthe situations and experiences of young American children. Twenty-eight studies are profiled, addressing such issues as early childhood interventions for children in poverty, neighborhood…

Using qualitative methods, the studies in this volume highlight certain aspects of the dynamics of poverty in eight countries of the former Soviet Union and the interactions of poverty with gender, age, and ethnicity. They deepen understanding of how poor people in these countries experience and cope with the shock of sudden poverty, worsening…