This book emphasizes the importance of parents actively working to ensure that their children receive the best and most effective education, and aims to help parents and children have fun learning together. Chapter 1, "A Healthy Self-Concept," discusses the stages of middle childhood (6-10 years) and preadolescence (11-13 years) and issues of…

Investigated the effects of and relationship between the number of parenting transitions (divorce, remarriage) and adjustment in three samples of adolescent girls and boys not identified as being at risk for problems. Found qualified evidence of a negative linear relationship between the number of parenting transitions experienced and child…

Depression and maltreatment were analyzed as predictors of childhood adjustment problems, with 68 children (ages 8 through 12) at high risk due to poverty, physical abuse, and neglect. Depression and maltreatment predicted parents' and teachers' ratings of social competence. Depression also predicted parents' ratings of peer rejection, children's…

Examined differences in perceptions of relationships in preadolescence, early adolescence, midadolescence, and late adolescence. Findings were largely consistent with seven propositions derived from major theories of the developmental courses of personal relationships. Discussion centers around the role that various relationships are perceived as…

Discusses research on school-age child care programs and highlights three particularly significant issues: space constraints, staffing problems, and high summer enrollments. Discusses the place of school-age care in education reform and suggests that school-age care programs be modeled after the home rather than the school. (BB)

Examined the empirical validity of a model of human motivation as it applies to school success and failure, assessing how indicators of context, self, and action related to measures of risk and resiliency. Subjects were 10- to 16-year-old African American youth in 3 independent samples. Found that parental engagement predicted school performance…

A 10-year study identified risk factors and measured prevalence of alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and psychopathology in 523 urban American Indian adolescents and 276 urban Indian women. Describes study aims, research design, methods, sample characteristics, assessment instruments, substance use prevalence, and methodological issues related to…

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there has been a dramatic increase in the number of children being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the last several years. School nursing interventions need to be developed, implemented, and evaluated to address complexities experienced by this population. The…

This study represents the first to empirically validate the structure of social self-concept (SC) as proposed by the Shavelson model. For each of three age groups--preadolescents (252 3rd graders), early adolescents (290 7th graders), and late adolescents (335 11th graders)--analyses of covariance structures were used to test: (1) that social SC…

The cases in this book, based on classroom observations and interviews with principals and key teachers at 17 California middle schools, focus in depth on middle-grade reform in the classroom. Organized in four chapters, the cases look at four critical areas of curriculum and instruction: (1) heterogeneous grouping; (2) cooperative learning; (3)…

This review of the literature on women of color in mathematics, science, and engineering helps define the need for a national agenda for equity in these fields sponsored by the Educational Equity Policy Studies Program of the Center for Women Policy Studies, and for a comprehensive research program that examines barriers to the participation of…

This resource guide is the outcome of a 1989-1990 survey of school practices and programs that was distributed to all middle-level principals in Wisconsin public schools. The purposes of the survey were to assess the extent of middle-level programming in Wisconsin; highlight some needs in a school improvement effort; and share promising practices.…

This paper reports the outcomes of a motivation training program for preadolescents. The program consisted of activities, strategies, and 18 mini-lessons designed to enhance preadolescents' academic achievement motivation. Cartoon characters were used to present motivational concepts such as causal attributions, self-efficacy, persistence,…

This paper on a widespread nonformal American educational experience, the Boy Scouts, describes the close relationship between family socialization and scouting, and the education that occurs in three key scouting settings: camp-outs, troop meetings, and scout service projects. The paper argues that certain types of families deliberately use…

This study tested the hypothesis that there is no significant difference in reading achievement among children in grades 2 through 5 related to family structure. Researchers administered the Stanford Achievement Test to 119 students in an Alabama city suburban school system. Of the sample, 69 children lived in intact families and 50 lived in…