Vulnerable to peer hostility, depression, and school failure, many gay students could use some special attention. Establishing special programs may not be in the cards politically. However, responsible school executives must try to ease the homophobic atmosphere pervading many schools and quietly help gay students find counseling and other needed…

Describes how parents in two communities constructed their roles in a social context shaped by economic resources, local notions of home-school relations, and information networks. Examines parenting as a social activity internalized by individuals through their daily interactions. Shows how family-role perceptions and school practices are…

Reviews theories of identity formation ranging from the classic work of E. H. Erikson to postmodern and feminist theories, and incorporates qualitative research examining the identity formation of 14 adolescent girls. The article suggests that schools can serve as sites for deconstructing issues of socioeconomic status identity, body image…

Examines the potential influence of family and community variables on the development of children in violent neighborhoods and reviews research on the prevalence and effects of children's exposure to community violence. It presents strategies for developing and empirically testing culturally specific interventions to promote positive developmental…

Investigated whether three types of family decision making on adolescent adjustment were moderated by ethnicity and/or community. Found that, for joint and unilateral youth decision making, community context interacted with ethnicity in three patterns of influence, refuting the notion that ethnic differences in the influence of parental strictness…

The curriculum of the Life Orientation (LO) learning area forms an excellent basis for equipping learners to respond positively to social demands, assume responsibilities, and optimise their life chances. I report on a qualitative study that focused on the extent to which schools and LO teachers succeeded in achieving the outcomes of the…

Children's outcomes are strongly correlated with those of their neighbours. The extent to which this is causal is the subject of an extensive literature. An identification problem exists because people with similar characteristics are observed to live in close proximity. Another major difficulty is that neighbourhoods measured in available data…

This guide provides history, format, contact names, addresses, and phone numbers of some African dance and African American marching units in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). The working papers are divided into two categories. "Part One: Movements of African Dance in Philadelphia" begins with a sensitive, detailed explanation of the…

A qualitative case study of Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs) (in which freshmen enroll in specific thematically linked courses their first semester) was carried out at a large, public, research university. The intent of the study was to understand how participation in a FIG influenced students' learning experiences, and how those experiences fit in…

Schools in Australian Aboriginal communities are pulled between an educational model that stresses cultural pride and preservation and one that emphasizes uniformity of education to prepare Aboriginal students for a place in the dominant society. The tension between these objectives is seen in these case studies of schools in two remote Queensland…

A major stumbling block for the implementation of Mexico's Global Development Plan has been the country's large rural population of Indians. One government strategy to integrate this sector into the mainstream of society has been to teach Spanish, the official language, as a second language, while at the same time fostering ethnic pride. The…

This booklet discusses the confinement of juveniles in adult jails, and offers suggestions for local citizens who want to remedy the problem. The first section presents background information on juveniles in adult jails, and discusses the following issues: the physically and psychologically damaging effects on juveniles of incarceration in adult…

A school board member responds to an article by Albert Shanker that appeared in the previous issue. (IRT)

Toronto (Ontario, Canada) and Los Angeles (California) are two cities that provide television programs for specific ethnic groups. During a sample week, 13 percent of the total broadcast time of stations serving Greater Toronto was devoted to programs for ethnic groups. In another sample week, minority ethnic broadcasts took up 17 percent of the…

Taking the view that principals play a key role in providing a solid educational foundation for students, this review of the literature is designed to better inform administrators, teachers, parents, and the general public about the principal's role and responsibilities. The review focuses on the elementary school principal and includes research…