Literacy of Navajo Indians within an isolated community of a northeast Arizona Navajo reservation is discussed, based on an ethnographic investigation. Functions for English and Navajo literacy in two community settings where Navajos use standard and vernacular print are described. Using literacy artifacts, participant observation, and interview…

To provide a deeper look into the American political system that so intrigued the visiting French statesman Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831 and 1832, this monograph focuses on the role of the press in American politics in the the age of Jackson, the 1820s and early 1830s--a period of dramatic and substantive political party growth. In particular,…

Noting that Soviet prose, drama, and poetry reveal the nuances of the moods and policies fostered by the Soviet government while reflecting the Soviet reading public's interests and aspirations, this report describes a study of the values and attitudes by which the Soviets live as reflected in the literature published in Soviet literary magazines…

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the mass media act as agents of social control by varying the coverage of political groups in relation to how deviant they perceive the groups to be. Editors from the 100 largest daily newspapers in the United States were asked to rate 11 political groups on four scales thought to measure political…

Focusing specifically on the two largest federal education programs, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142), this study analyzes how states implement federal and state education programs. The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 offers background on federal-state…

During the last 30 years, direct mail campaigning has become an integral part of the political process, and more recently has also become an influential fund raising tool for other political and religious groups. Analysis of over 70 examples of direct mail campaigns reveals at least 4 major content norms featured in most direct mail. First, the…

A study examined data from 1,828 adults in 17 cities in the United States to test a model of how community integration (sense of community) and use of media affected voting and other political participation. The portion of the model dealing with mass media included the new concept "quasi-mass media," which involves more personalized…

The Arizona state legislature met from November 1979 to April 1980 for the sole purpose of restructuring and codifying rules that define school financial policy and reforming tax structures that support educational institutions. This case study investigated the role of special interest groups in shaping state educational policy at that session.…

This study focuses on the political processes involved in the preparation and passage in 1973 of a school finance reform package in Illinois. The author places particular emphasis on how language was used to promote support for the legislation, how partisan politics affected voting patterns in the legislature on this issue, and how legislators…

Examined in this document are specific political events, values, and styles of cultural revolt which have structured the parameters of rebellion and forged the tradition of outcast life styles. Some of the political events and values dealt with include the history of radicalism in the United States, and the Declaration of Independence, the…

In this report, the status of education in Puerto Rico is described and recommendations are made for educational improvement. It is found that Puerto Rican schools are not up to the National Education Association minimum standard for schools due to: (1) inadequate physical plants; (2) teachers who are demoralized by what they see as a stagnant…

Although individuals aim their attempts to exert legitimate political influence at particular levels of government, the hierarchical organization of "political influence attempts" is an aspect of political participation which has not yet received systematic study. In order to examine the perceived political influence of rural people in a…

Discrepancies between the pessimistic national evaluations and the more encouraging state and local evaluations of compensatory education programs are explored in this paper. A conventional explanation for the discrepancies, namely, that the averaging of test scores from a large national sample "cancels out" the results of successful…

Although Arizona's Chicano population has increased since 1960, their generally lower socioeconomic status has had a direct impact on their voting participation. Such problems as language, altered polling places and precinct boundaries, absence of bilingual staff, and literacy tests have also contributed to the voting difficulties encountered by…

This report evaluates the Systems Advocacy Model embodied in the operation of the Connecticut Child Advocacy Center (CCAC). The study was undertaken in order to: (1) describe the advocacy model used and compare it with other models in terms of relative effectiveness in meeting specific objectives; (2) determine the means used by the CCAC to arrive…