Background: Initiation of sexual intercourse during early adolescence is a known risk factor for teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Purpose: To examine young women's stories describing peer in?uences on their romantic and sexual decisions and behavior during early adolescence. Methods: Semistructured ethnographic interviews were…

Teen childbearing has been generally on a long-term decline in the United States since the late 1950s. In spite of these declines, the U.S. teen birth rate remains one of the highest among other industrialized countries. Moreover, childbearing by teenagers continues to be a matter of public concern because of the elevated health risks for teen…

Background: We describe the prevalence of behaviors that put American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) high school students at risk for teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and the relationships among race/ethnicity and these behaviors. Methods: We analyzed merged 2007 and 2009 data from the national Youth Risk Behavior…

The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) increased the federal presence in the test-based accountability movement with its goal of all children meeting standard by 2014. To measure progress toward this goal, each state created a series of intermediate goals. Schools or districts that attained the goal for a given year in 9 different subgroups made…

This study examines associations between binge drinking and other substance use and perpetration of violence against self and others. Data were pooled from the 2003, 2005, and 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys, yielding a sample of 43,172 U.S. high school students. A typology was constructed to reflect four categories of behaviors: other-directed…

In this study, we extend research on stereotype threat to adolescents and to school belonging. Stereotype threat refers to the impact of societal stereotypes on individual performance. Participants included adolescents from marginalized racial/ethnic minority groups including African Americans, American Indians, and Latinos and nonmarginalized…

As enrollment of ethnically diverse students continues to increase, so should the number of teachers increase who are trained in multicultural education methods. Traditionally, those culturally competent educators come from Minority Serving Institutions. Given the lack of current research or data on the benefits of this type of teaching at MSIs…

Using data from 6070 U.S. heterosexual internet dating profiles, this study examines how racial and gender exclusions are revealed in the preferences of black, Latino, Asian and white online daters. Consistent with social exchange and group positions theories, the study finds that whites are least open to out-dating and that, unlike blacks, Asians…

For more than 25 years, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has used the data-based advocacy of KIDS COUNT to raise the visibility of children's issues and to inform decision making at the state and local levels. Building on this work and the efforts of other groups nationwide that are using indicator analysis to contribute to positive change for…

National and regional trends mask important variation among states in the supply of high school graduates. This profile provides brief indicators for Montana related to: current levels of educational attainment, projections of high school graduates into the future, and two common barriers to student access and success--insufficient academic…

Few organizations have as racially and culturally diverse a work force as the organizations that make up the World Bank Group. Of its 13,000 employees, nearly 60 percent of whom are located in downtown Washington, D.C., and the rest scattered across 160 offices around the globe, nearly every nation in the world is represented in the World Bank…

According to a 2006 National Science Foundation study, African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians make up only 2.65 percent, 3.53 percent, and 0.59 percent, respectively, of life sciences academics at four-year institutions. The lack of biologists and other scientists from these ethnic groups is a threat to America's public health and…

Students of color often perceive the campus climate more negatively than do their White counterparts. Our study begins to uncover what students of color experience in residence halls. Using focus group data from a larger study exploring racial microaggressions at a predominantly White institution (PWI), we identified over 70 racial…

Can poor student performance on high-stakes assessment, including high school exit exams, indicate gaps in school and district curriculum and instruction? How might this affect students identified with special needs, and what could it mean in terms of a free and appropriate public education? This case illustrates how a student receiving special…

While a number of challenges contribute to the American Indian population's disconnect from information technology (IT), the most glaring is the low number of American Indian students pursuing computer science (CS) studies--a degree essential to IT's entry into and diffusion across communities. Yet, research is scant on factors that contribute to…