Among over 24,000 eighth graders in the National Education Longitudinal Study, the lower academic achievement of students in stepfamilies relative to those in intact 2-parent families was largely explained by differences in parents' economic and cultural resources and involvement in children's school and nonschool activities. Boys and girls fared…

Describes the teaching-upbringing complex (UVK) educational facilities in rural areas. Argues that UVKs create conditions that foster social, spiritual, and moral-esthetic development of rural students. Emphasizes the need for UVKs to provide guidance in literature, music, culture, and ethics. Encourages the channeling of students' free time into…

This bibliography (14 sources) of holiday-oriented titles provides resources for school, library, and home use that present engaging perspectives on cultural celebrations, informative content, and potential for interactive use. All incorporate diversity as an everyday way of life rather than a special occasion posture. (SLD)

Discusses ways in which Oglala Lakota College (South Dakota) helps to strengthen the cultural fabric of the Lakota community and how it has partnered with other institutions of higher learning throughout the state. Reports that the college has a number of community-based initiatives that emphasize the relationship between academics and ancestral…

This performance guide provides students with an introduction to Lakota Sioux history and culture and to the dances performed by the Lakota Sioux Indian Dance Theatre. The Lakota Sioux believe that life is a sacred circle in which all things are connected, and that the circle was broken for them in 1890 by the massacre at Wounded Knee. Only in…

This paper addresses the problem that children in the school were not participating in relevant inter-cultural studies that were contextual and interactive. The study was conducted in a private, tuition-based, enrichment program which included a kindergarten during school hours and an afterschool program for kindergarteners through fifth graders.…

Hazard Community College (HCC), located deep within the Appalachian mountains in southeastern Kentucky, created the Venture Program (VP) to acclimate a large influx of new faculty to the college and to Appalachian culture. The following four components were integral to the VP's holistic approach to faculty orientation: (1) a system that relied…

Eight essays discuss the relation of urban patterns of intellectual life and academic forms of higher learning. Themes that run through the essays include: the increasing incorporation of academic culture into the center of American life, socially and intellectually, is accompanied and causally related to a progressive impoverishment of the public…

Descriptions are provided of projects undertaken at three county colleges in New Jersey to improve the cultural enrichment opportunities of the surrounding communities. First, introductory material discusses the pluralistic components (i.e., federal, state, and local governments; philanthropic foundations; private patrons; business; and the market…

One-fourth of the students in Boston public schools have parents who were born outside of the United States. This guide contains a series of classroom activities, produced by Boston teachers and aides, that are designed to take advantage of the abundant cultural diversity found in Boston schools by encouraging these dual-culture students to share…

At the conference reported in this document, participants from eight Asian Pacific countries met to exchange experiences in regard to: (1) the use of artistic and cultural heritage for educational purposes; and (2) the contribution of the educational system to appreciating, preserving, and enhancing the artistic and cultural heritage, especially…

The teaching of English in the People's Republic of China has received much attention in recent years. The two papers included here deal with the teaching of the English language and English and American literature to Chinese students. The first, a summary of a questionnaire survey, "Why Bother about Culture in English Language…

The newsletter "Hoosier Heritage," produced monthly during the school year, was inaugurated as part of Hoosier Celebration '88, a planned statewide community-by-community celebration of Indiana's past and its potential for the future. A primary goal of "Hoosier Heritage" is to encourage public and private sector partnerships…

There are many ways in which science can be made culturally relevant: archeoastronomy, mathematics, geology, ethnobotany, chemistry, and art can all be taught from a perspective celebrating the accomplishments of Mexican American and American Indian science and encouraging exploration. A culturally relevant curriculum provides teachers with…

Radford University's program in Appalachian Studies, which was begun in 1981 in order to acquaint students with the distinctive Appalachian subculture, is presented in this report. The program has grown to encompass 15 courses in six disciplines. Core topics are history, culture, folklore, and literature, but many other subjects are included. Most…