Many U.S. states provide public funding for charter schools--deregulated and privately managed schools operating in direct competition with government-run schools. While the impact of charter schools on student achievement and sorting has been intensely studied, less is known about the demand for these alternatives. Using precinct-level returns…

Communities That Care (CTC) is a prevention system designed to reduce adolescent substance use and delinquency through the selection of effective preventive interventions tailored to a community's specific profile of risk and protection. A community-randomized trial of CTC, the Community Youth Development Study, is currently being conducted in 24…

This study examined the relationship between students' reading attainment scores and key family environmental factors in Chinese and non-Chinese communities. Six family environmental factors were considered: parents' evaluation of their offspring's early literacy skills, early home literacy activities (EHLA), reading activities involving parents…

Generally, the Global Tibetan Professional Network of North America (GTPN-NA) considers lack of skills a problem among adult Tibetan immigrants. The GTPN-NA is a non-profit, volunteer-based networking forum focusing on Tibetan professionals and students from North America. By skills education, it means skills that may help support the transition…

The purpose of this research was to explore and explain the role housing plays in rural community vitality. Community vitality refers to economic strength and social well-being. In spring 2002 we collected primary interview data from informants in 134 small rural communities in nine north-central states and identified related secondary data from…

For more than a century, communities across the United States legally employed strategies to create and maintain racial divides. One particularly widespread and effective practice was that of "sundown towns," which signaled to African Americans and others that they were not welcome within the city limits after dark. Though nearly 1,000…

Using data from Add Health, this study investigates the role of neighborhood violence in mediating the effects of neighborhood disadvantage on high school graduation and teenage pregnancy. Results show that neighborhood violence is a strong predictor of both outcomes, net of individual, family, community and school controls. Neighborhood violence…

Contextual analysis of the achievement gap has gained much momentum within the last few decades. This study furthers the discourse by examining the applicability of 2 sociological contextual development approaches on achievement. We analyzed 79 neighborhoods organized by the level of crime and poverty from both a social disorganization and social…

In order to more fully understand how individual differences influence adaptation to violence, this study examined the moderating influence of resting heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) between community violence (CV) exposure and child reactive/proactive aggression. Forty 7-13-year-old community children self-reported CV exposure (i.e.,…

This article outlines a philosophical and theoretical framework for conducting school violence assessments at the local level. The authors advocate that assessments employ a strong conceptual foundation based on social work values. These values include the active measurement of ecological factors inside and outside the school that reflect the…

Context: HIV/AIDS is occurring with increasing frequency in rural areas of the United States, and people living with HIV/AIDS in rural communities report higher levels of perceived stigma than their more urban counterparts. The extent to which stigmatized individuals perceive stigma could be influenced, in part, by prevailing community attitudes.…

The demand that today's schools shall produce better educational outcomes of their pupils is stronger than ever before, especially in front of the background of our globalized, competitive world. Past and current research has supported the hypothesis that the teacher is the most important ingredient in the educational process. As the Detroit…

Background: The prevalence of overweight children has reached epidemic proportions, and affects Latinos youth more than other subgroups in the United States. Given the prevalence of obesity and its economic consequences, community health initiatives have shifted toward primary prevention at younger ages. Methods: Data representing all levels of…

Community profiling is a tool that aims to help practitioners collect and make use of varied data to understand the diversity of stakeholders and issues in communities where they are delivering natural resource management programs. This paper will discuss some of the problems experienced with community profiling and propose a shift in the way in…

The relationship between poverty and juvenile involvement in delinquency remains central to the study of adolescent development, but firm conclusions on this relationship have been elusive. The purpose of this study is to address an important limitation of prior research that often has been overlooked. This involves the standard practice of…