Showing papers on "Disadvantaged published in 1979"

Feasibility and application of rural development participation: a state-of-the-art paper.

Abstract: Updates findings on rural development participation and attempts to define what is meant by participation what might usefully be included under this term and what kinds are productive and possible. 2 strategies based on popular participation--community development and "animation rurale" are reviewed. Possible institutions roles and group factors which might impinge on the decision for participation in rural development programs are also considered. A major concern in rural development programs geared toward local participation is knowing who is participating in what ways and with what effect. To highlight this concern attention is directed to the group of potential participants least often investigated--the landless and near landless women and disadvantaged ethnic groups. A range of rural development activities--agricultural research production and extension efforts water management health care and public works are profiled with respect to past experiences with the participatory approach. These activities were chosen as a representative selection of the most pressing concerns for rural development agencies. Included in 2 appendixes are: 1) a discussion of the framework for analyzing rural development participation; 2) a review of issues and approaches to participation.

Compensatory Education for Disadvantaged Children.

Abstract: With no intervention to stop this process, the intellectual prognosis for children from severely disadvantaged backgrounds is bleak. Although Bayley (1965) found no difference in mental test scores up to 15 months of age for infants of advantaged and disadvantaged parents, a number of cross-sectional studies of the disadvantaged have found apparent progressive declines on test scores with increasing age of the children (e.g., Coleman 1966; McCloskey 1967; Baughman and Dahlstrom 1968). It appears that this phenomenon is related to the degree of deprivation. Heber, Dever, and Conry (1968) found an apparent progressive decline based on cross-sectional data but only for children of intellectually very limited mothers (i.e., IQ less than 80). Similarly, Deutsch (1967) found that the more dis-

Sex Differences in Educational Attainment: A Cross-National Perspective

Abstract: Throughout the world, schools perpetuate the sexual inequalities of their cultural and economic environments. Jeremy Finn, Loretta Dulberg, and Janet Reis review crossnational studies of educational attainment, such as those sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement and the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and conclude that, regardless of the type of educational system or extent of opportunity, women are universally disadvantaged educationally.

Rethinking the Issues regarding the Culturally Disadvantaged Gifted

Abstract: T HIS discussion shall focus on issues relative to providing programs that meet the needs of the disadvantaged gifted population. The term disadvantaged shall be used generically to symbolize all of the numerous designations that have been used to refer to this population. That there might be gifted children among disadvantaged populations was relatively unheard of prior to the 1960's. With the exception of a few studies such as Witty and Jenkins (1934) and Jenkins (1948), the emphasis on disadvantaged populations had largely been on their academic and social difficulties. Attendant to this emphasis had been efforts that were primarily directed toward remediation. Heralded by those who began to suggest that the provision of appropriate educational opportunities indeed allowed students from impoverished backgrounds and racial and ethnic minorities to achieve (McClelland, 1958). the era of the disadvantaged gifted might be said to have begun. Reissman's (1962) writings about the culturally deprived gifted child were symbolic of the discussions that began to recognize that among the disadvantaged population there were those who had above average potential to succeed. Many questions arose for which answers are still being sought. Who are the disadvantaged gifted? How should they appropriately be designated (e.g., culturally deprived, culturally disadvantaged, culturally different)? In what ways do they differ from their nongifted counterparts and from the advantaged gifted? How should they be identified (i.e., should traditional identification criteria be used with modifications, or should supplementary measures be developed)?

Self-esteem and institutionalized delinquent offenders: the role of background characteristics.

Abstract: Some of the delinquency literature sustains the assumption that inept persons doing unworthy things is the self-view held by youth offenders, "Disadvantaged" or "adverse" background characteristics are often assumed to account for low self-esteem among delinquent offenders. However, the implications of control theory suggest that youths having few bonds to people and institutions are relatively "free" to drift into delinquency without serious damage to self-esteem. The hypothesis we examined was derived from the work of control theorists: that self-esteem would be higher for offenders "removed" from conventional ties, lower for those who maintained conventional attachments. Data from 75 male delinquent offenders incarcerated at a correctional youth institution are used in testing this relationship. Our hypothesis received strong support. The implication drawn from these results is that the impact of the correctional process on self-esteem may be far less important than the myriad relationships previously established with people and institutions. These results pertaining to a special category of youth are in keeping with the reported findings on the link between deprivation and self-esteem of general youth populations.

The health of the preschool child.

Abstract: A standardized medical examination of four to five year old children was introduced into Victorian preschools in 1977. This combined a neurodevelopmental screening with a physical examination. In a study to verify the effectiveness of this examination, a random sample of 512 children from inner urban and disadvantaged outer urban preschools was examined and compared with a group of 500 children from preschools in more advantaged areas. Of these 1012 children, 264 (26%) required referral for one or more previously unrecognized disabilities. The number of children referred for intervention or therapy from the disadvantaged group was 176 (34%) compared with 88 children (17.6%) from the more advantaged group. A standardized examination of the preschool child is desirable, so that consistently comparable results can be obtained and epidemiological trends can be more readily identified.

Priorities in education : pre-school; evidence and conclusions

Abstract: This paper presents and evaluates the broad results of pre-school intervention experiments and programs aimed at fostering the intellectual and social development of disadvantaged groups. Among the general findings discussed are that there is a sensitive, or even critical, period in child development, an age at which a child will be more susceptible to fostering; that a dominant share of intelligence develops during early childhood; that a gap in IQ between advantaged and disadvantaged groups exists before school entrance and widens thereafter; that traditional kindergartens do not protect disadvantaged children from lagging behind or failing in school; and that malnutrition or poor health have a marked effect on intellectual development. While studies have shown that IQ may be accelerated through pre-school programs, preschool is not the cure-all it was anticipated to be. Generally, children with initially lower IQs show the largest gains. But, in most studies, it was found that within a few years the children who were not in the special programs made up the difference with the fostered group.

Relevance of the RMC Models for Title I Policy Concerns

Abstract: In 1973, when Congress began to hold hearings on renewal of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the program was 8 years old and had cost more than $10 billion. Although the clear purpose of the program was to enhance the educational opportunities of disadvantaged youngsters in high-poverty areas and millions of dollars had been spent in earlier evaluation efforts, there was almost no information available on the characteristics and relative effective-

Ability in pre-schoolers, earning, and home-environment

Abstract: This paper explores on the basis of available data the role of various family characteristics in fostering abilities in pre-school children and the subsequent effect of ability on earnings. The paper is part of the Bank's effort to improve the understanding of the process of human capital development as a basic determinant of earnings. The results suggest that household income and the status of the mother are key predictors of abilities of pre-school children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Testing in Postsecondary Education: Some Unresolved Issues.

Abstract: One of the most gratifying outcomes of the controversy surrounding the recent Bakke case was that the higher education establishment lined up squarely behind the University of California in supporting minority-oriented affirmative action plans in college admissions. Even before the Supreme Court decision was handed down, representatives of the major educational associations were expressing their determination to continue and even expand minority-admissions programs. While these public pronouncements are reassuring to those of us concerned with expanding educational opportunities for minorities, it is not clear just how such laudable intentions are going to be translated into concrete actions that will, in fact, strengthen affirmative action efforts. No matter how commited educators may be in theory to minority causes, most of them are reluctant to recognize that some of their most time-honored practices pose serious obstables to providing access to minorities and the disadvantaged. The specific activities I have in mind are admis-

Children from socially disadvantaged families and special education

Abstract: This is the first of two articles in which some findings are examined from a study of severely disadvantaged families and their children. The samples are described in terms of living conditions, sc...

For the practitioner

Abstract: This article describes a successful library skills program for disadvantaged high school students although it should work well with all types of high school students in English or reading classes Much of the success of the program rests in the unusual manner of testing the students at the end of the week‐long unit A Library Game, pitting the students against the staff, is explained in enough detail that it can be adapted to any number of school situations Pretest/posttest gains on alternate forms of a standardized test show that in one week students can significantly increase their understanding of various ways they can find information in the library Experience also shows that students change their attitudes favorably about libraries and books

Women Teachers in Further Education

Abstract: Summary Women teachers form a small but significant minority in the further education sector. The fact that an even smaller proportion reach senior posts requires an explanation. This paper examines the relationship between promotion prospects for women and such factors as academic and professional qualifications, geographical mobility, level of aspiration, marital status and subject area. While the disadvantaged status of women teachers can in many ways be attributed to their position in the wider society, there are a number of areas in which further education may be seen as operating a system of discrimination, albeit indirectly. The role of part‐time teachers, a large number of whom are women, is also considered. The results reported here are from the recently‐concluded NFER project on ‘Career structure for teachers in further education’. The main report of the project has been published under the title Making the Grade: Careers in FE Teaching (Bradley and Silverleaf, NFER, 1979). Whilst the present ar...

Regulation and the Disadvantaged: The Case of the Creditors’ Remedies Rule:

Abstract: This paper discusses the development of, and key issues surrounding, an FTC regulation designed specifically to help the disadvantaged. Suggestions are made for improving: the input from the disadv...

Basic Skills: Closing the Gap.

Abstract: Remedial education for underprepared college freshmen has become a major academic enterprise. It is the natural consequence of a radical change in the American view of higher education from the old concept of a privilege to something very near a right. Open admission formalized that change. If everybody with a high school diploma is entitled to be admitted to college, what is the college's responsibility toward helping everybody to succeed? Public attitudes have changed radically on that point: While most of the midwestern state universities have operated under the principle of open admission for a long time, in practice their open door tended to be a revolving door through which the undereducated exited almost as fast as they entered. In the past decade, however, the burden of responsibility has shifted from the student to the university. Admission alone is no longer enough. Once the student has arrived, teachers are expected to provide the pedagogical support to pave the way toward graduation. There can be little doubt that the most powerful impetus for this change has come from, the admission of great numbers of minority students. The very fact that they were generally classified as "culturally disadvantaged" provided the rationale for remediation: If it is the culture's fault that certain young people are disadvantaged, then it is the culture's responsibility to erase the disadvantage. It would nevertheless be misleading to view remediation as a novelty created to deal only with the academic problems of certain racial and ethnic groups. Long before compensatory education was invented, there were a variety of provisions, such as "bonehead English" or even in the case of the highly selective City College of New York in the 1930s-English for Engineers. Moreover, when open admission let in a flood tide of students at such institutions as the City University of New York, the underprepared included great numbers of lower-class white students who needed as much remediation as their black or Puerto Rican contemporaries. In the context of this issue of Change, however, the focus is on remedial instruction as it is offered to black students in their legitimate demand for equal opportunity and full representation in higher education. For a variety of reasons, great numbers of black students arrive on the campuses with serious deficiencies in those basic skills which remain prerequisites for survival in college. FRED M. HECHINGER is president of the New York Times Company Foundation, Inc.

Follow Through: A Model for Inservice Teacher Training

Abstract: The Follow Through program provided models for teacher training as well as models for compensatory education. How successful it was in the long run in training teachers can be seen from a longitudinal, comprehensive observation study carried out by SRI International. The Follow Through program was established by Congress in 1967 under the Office of Economic Opportunity, when it became apparent that a program was needed in the early grades of public school (kindergarten through third grade) to reinforce and extend the academic gains made by economically disadvantaged children enrolled in Head Start or similar preschool programs. Project Follow Through is a "planned variation" research design; that is, the goal is to examine the differences in the effectiveness of programs based on different educational and developmental theories.

Children and families at risk: current problems and current policies

Abstract: The concept of increased risk for individuals and groups has a very long history and is still valid today. Nevertheless, its use in services for children and families raises a number of problems, theoretical and practical, ethical and political. These issues are discussed in relation to prevention and treatment in the fields of education, health and social services. The upsurge of interest in and concern about disadvantaged children and families over the past fifteen years or so is considered in the context of policies and policy‐orientated thought in Britain and in the USA over this period.

Improving education for disadvantaged children

Abstract: The Bernard van Leer Foundation has, as its remit, to give primary to preschool education as a major area of educational research in Belgium, to develop a wider awareness of the roots of social inequality in education and to provoke a critical reappraisal of educational institutions. The projects reported in this volume give a good picture of this work. The first project concerns 'socio-cultural handicap' defined as a pattern of psychological characteristics supposedly common to a great number of children from socially and culturally deprived environments, which would make these otherwise 'normal' children more or less able to take advantage of the primary education available in all industrialised societies. The risk is that a state of inferior intellectual development and a process of socio-cultural marginalisation is built into the child's mind. The factors responsible for this operate before the appearance of any sign of inferior intellectual development and a learning disability. This fundamental hypothesis led the researchers to look carefully at the preschool stages of a child's development. Thus the period between 6 and 24 months is of particular interest. Behavioural organisation is particularly rapid during this period when the child is thought to structure his experiences. The influences of the family and of the creche is focused on. The study is supposed to throw light on the genesis and determinants of the phenomenon of failure-an obvious prerequisite to any preventive or compensatory action. In short it is not unlikely that at least one of the factors probably explaining the way socio-cultural handicap works has been isolated-the patterns of mothers' attitudes predominant in the initial development of the child. Actions undertaken in the creche have proved fruitful. Thus it is possible to improve the quality of this institution by taking judicious measures, and to increase its educational values. It must be possible also to modify mothers'