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Showing papers on "Disadvantaged published in 1999"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show that in contexts of historical political subordination and low de facto legitimacy, descriptive representation helps create a social meaning of "ability to rule" and increases the attachment to the polity of members of the group.
Abstract: Disadvantaged groups gain advantages from descriptive representation in at least four contexts. In contexts of group mistrust and uncrystallized interests, the better communication and experiential knowledge of descriptive representatives enhances their substantive representation of the group's interests by improving the quality of deliberation. In contexts of historical political subordination and low de facto legitimacy, descriptive representation helps create a social meaning of "ability to rule" and increases the attachment to the polity of members of the group. When the implementation of descriptive representation involves some costs in other values, paying those costs makes most sense in these specific historical contexts.

1,886 citations


Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of early motherhood on later outcomes due to childhood precursors, especially experience of childhood poverty, were investigated. And the results showed that childhood poverty and early parenthood are associated with adverse outcomes in adulthood.
Abstract: Childhood poverty and early parenthood are both high on the political agenda. The key new issue addressed in this research is the relative importance of childhood poverty and of early motherhood as correlates of outcomes later in life. How far are the 'effects' of early motherhood on later outcomes due to childhood precursors, especially experience of childhood poverty? If there are powerful associations of both childhood poverty and early parenthood with later adult outcomes, there are a number of subsidiary questions relating to the magnitude of these associations, the particular threshold levels of childhood poverty that prove most critical, and whether it is, as often assumed, only teenage mothers who are subsequently disadvantaged, or also those who have their first birth in their early twenties? The source of data for this study is the National Child Development Study. We examine a range of outcomes at age 33 in a number of domains representing different aspects of adult social exclusion, including: welfare, socio-economic, physical health, and emotional well-being, as well as demographic behaviour. We control for a wide range of childhood factors: poverty; social class of origin and of father; mother's and father's school leaving age; family structure; housing tenure; mother's and father's interest in education; personality attributes; performance on educational tests; and contact with the police by age 16. We show that there are clear associations for the adult outcomes with age at first birth, even after controlling for childhood poverty and a wide range of other childhood background factors. Moreover, we demonstrate that the widest gulf in adult outcomes occurs for those who enter motherhood early (before age 23), though further reinforced for teenage motherhood for most adult outcomes. We also show that it is any experience of childhood poverty that is most clearly associated with adverse outcomes in adulthood, with additional reinforcement for highe

330 citations


Book
09 Dec 1999
TL;DR: In this article, Simon Charlesworth deals with the personal consequences of poverty and class and the effects of growing up as part of a poor and stigmatized group by focusing on a particular town - Rotherham - in South Yorkshire, England, and using the personal testimony of disadvantaged people who live there, acquired through recorded interviews and conversations.
Abstract: This moving and challenging book by Simon Charlesworth deals with the personal consequences of poverty and class and the effects of growing up as part of a poor and stigmatized group. Charlesworth examines these themes by focussing on a particular town - Rotherham - in South Yorkshire, England, and using the personal testimony of disadvantaged people who live there, acquired through recorded interviews and conversations. He applies to these life stories the interpretative tools of philosophy and social theory, drawing in particular on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Merleau-Ponty, in order to explore the social relations and experiences of a distinct but largely ignored social group. The culture described in this book is not unique to Rotherham and Charlesworth argues that the themes and problems identified in this book will be familiar to economically powerless and politically dispossessed people everywhere.

313 citations


Book
02 Feb 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, child attributes poverty and the family Demographic and Structural Features Poverty and the Family Psychological Processes Exosystemic Influences Future Directions, the family psychological processes are examined.
Abstract: Introduction Child Attributes Poverty and the Family Demographic and Structural Features Poverty and the Family Psychological Processes Exosystemic Influences Future Directions

309 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that white families assiduously avoid schools with higher percentages of African American students, while African American families do not show a similar sensitivity to race; instead they tend to select schools with lower poverty rates.
Abstract: This paper examines how families make choices within the context of a school choice program. School choice proponents suggest that increasing choices for disadvantaged children will have many benefits, including decreasing racial segregation in urban areas. This argument has not been supported with empirical data. In this paper, we use quantitative and interview data from an entire population of eighth graders in a large northeastern school district to examine the influence of race on the schools families select. We find compelling evidence that race is a very powerful force in guiding family choices. Specifically, white families assiduously avoid schools with higher percentages of African American students. After eliminating “black” schools from consideration, white families choose “white” schools, many of which have inferior safety records, test scores, and higher rates of poverty. In contrast, African American families do not show a similar sensitivity to race; instead they tend to select schools with lower poverty rates. These findings have a number of implications for theory and policy. In terms of policy, choice advocates argue that voucher programs will give poor, African American children the same alternatives currently available to more affluent, white families. This should make choice programs compatible with the goal of racial integration. However, our evidence suggests that the marked preference of white families to avoid “black” schools could exacerbate, rather than reduce, racial segregation. These findings also have conceptual implications. Decision-making is a socially charged activity; choices are not made merely on the basis of individual taste. Rather, preferences are shaped by social factors, including one's racial background. White and African American families make distinctly different school choices. Indeed, white families eliminate from consideration schools in which 90 percent or more of the children are African American. The further theoretical implication is that choices unfold in a multi-staged process in which some alternatives are eliminated from serious consideration based upon socially salient characteristics. This has the power to inform the choice process in the social settings of housing, hiring practices, and similar areas of social life.

218 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the results from three censuses conducted on school age children in rural Ghana which reveal contemporary patterns in enrolment and provide a profile of the school age population in basic education and contribute quantitative data on children out of school.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to discuss the results from three censuses conducted on school age children in rural Ghana which reveal contemporary patterns in enrolment. The data provide a profile of the school age population in basic education and contribute novel quantitative data on children out of school. The article examines the age at first enrolment, the gender disparities between classes, the classes where children drop out, and the proportion of children who never enrol in school. The stark contrast in enrolment between the disadvantaged north and the south of the country is also confirmed. Qualitative data from focus group discussions with parents, teachers and children highlight the major obstacles confronting education-these include a diversity of factors such as child labour, health, location and gender. Suggestions of policy options needed to increase access and attainment to schooling include reducing the over-age entry, increasing female access and participation, adapting culturally sensitive...

139 citations


01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: Men make better administrators than women simply because they are male as mentioned in this paper, and women are less capable, less competitive, or less productive than men in many areas of the workplace, such as education.
Abstract: The under representation of qualified women in leadership positions has created a gender gap that exists not only in education but in many areas of the workplace. Society has determined that only males make good leaders; therefore it continues to deny easy access for women seeking leadership roles because they do not fit the norm. Women who seek leadership positions face barriers and many times give up because they become overwhelmed in dealing with obvious barriers. uba Chliwniak (1997) defined leaders as individuals who provide vision and meaning for an institution and embodies the ideals toward which the organization strives. Traditional scholars like Birnbaum and Mintzberg (1992) viewed leaders as alike and genderless. If Chliwniak’s definition is an accurate and true description of leaders, then why are women having a difficult time gaining employment as administrators in the educational arena? Do men make better administrators than women simply because they are male? Research does not support that assumption. In fact, schools administered by women on the average were superior in performance to those managed by men. The quality of pupil learning and the professional performance of teachers appear to be higher, on the average, in schools with female administrators (Porat, 1991). Ryder (1994) described female principals as very effective and Hensel (1991) described them as capable and as productive as men in the academic arena. Some continue to hold to the belief that women are less capable, less competitive, or less productive than men. Females and Leadership Good school administration is more attuned to feminine than masculine modes of leadership behavior. Female attributes of nurturing, being sensitive, empathetic, intuitive, compromising, caring, cooperative, and accommodative are increasingly associated with effective administration. While these characteristics are innate and valuable, women possessing the qualities of a good leader still face higher attrition and slower career mobility particularly in higher education (Porat, 1991). Data on equality of opportunity in educational L administration reveals that gender, more than age, experience, background, or competence determines the role an individual will be assigned in education (Whitaker & Lane, 1990). African American women who hold leadership positions in the educational system face dual burdens of sexism and racism and confront special challenges in promotion and tenure. Race more than gender is the major obstacle to career advancement (Allen, Jacobson, & Lomotey, 1995; Singh, Robinson, & Williams-Green, 1995). Management seeks to fill its ranks, particularly at the highest level of management, with those persons that best fit the existing norm (Wesson, 1998). Case in point, the typical president of an American institution of higher education is Caucasian, male, and 54 years of age (Phelps & Taber, 1997). Since gender is a hindrance to women leaders, some believe compelled to lead in the manner that is considered the norm; that is, the way that men lead. Utilizing men’s method of leadership is the easiest way for a woman to be hired for administrative positions or any position of leadership, especially since this approach to leadership has repeatedly been established as acceptable to the public and successful in attracting promotion and recognition (Porat, 1991). In one school district, a Caucasian male administrator discouraged women and members of underrepresented groups from pursuing careers in administration because of the belief that women and/or minorities lacked the requisite leadership characteristics (Allen et al., 1995). They did not fit the existing norm of being Caucasian and male. Females in positions that are male-dominated indicated there was a need to be better qualified than the males with whom they competed. African American women believe they had to be twice as good and better than others with the same aspirations. Those women who had a desire to become administrators have found their institutions and districts do not select or recruit them for training programs in the administration field, making it harder to break into the system (Allen et al., 1995; Lindsay, 1999). There has been a rise in the hiring of women and minorities as superintendents and in administrative positions. Proportionately more women tend to occupy superintendencies in the smallest and least cosmopolitan districts, with the fewest central office administrators, declining student enrollments, more reported stress on the job, less satisfaction, and the greatest vulnerability lethal to school board conflict. Caucasian women were being hired in very small districts where their duties varied and with very little pay. African American women are being hired in troubled urban districts with inadequate financial resources or districts with a large concentration of minority students who are economically disadvantaged and have low achievement test scores (Tallerico & Burstyn, 1996; Wesson, 1998). Caucasian women and African American women found no problems obtaining principalships at the elementary school level (Pollard, 1997). Gender Gap and Gender-Based Models One reason so few women are hired for educational administrative positions is due to the gender gap. The gender gap may represent an impediment to potential institutional improvements (Chliwniak, 1997). Even though effective leadership is more behaviorally derived than gender based, gender remains an obstacle to women seeking and obtaining leadership positions (Getskow, 1996). There are three models that have been used to explain the under representation of women in educational leadership positions (see Table 1). The first is the meritocracy model or the individual perspective model (Estler, 1975; Schmuck, 1980). Both are psychological orientations (Tallerico & Burstyn, 1996). The model looks to women for cause: personal traits, characteristics, abilities, or qualities. Individual attitudes such as self-image and confidence, motivation, and aspirations also fall into this domain. The belief associated with this model is that women are not assertive enough, don’t

139 citations


Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the evidence for two general processes that produce mental health disparities: the distribution of life conditions and social evaluations, and found that people who occupy lower status positions perceive themselves as disadvantaged relative to others, but those perceptions depend on several contingencies.
Abstract: Systems of stratification produce mental health disparities. This chapter examines the evidence for two general processes that produce those disparities: the distribution of life conditions and social evaluations. Proximate life conditions depend on four generic resources: economic resources, social capital, power and authority, and civil rights. Evidence regarding the contributions of these resources to mental health disparities is mixed. Although the positions people occupy in stratification hierarchies are strongly associated with resources, not all resources are equally relevant to all dimensions of stratification or to mental health. Social evaluation processes involve comparisons of one’s accomplishments or experiences to those of others. Research on social comparisons, relative deprivation, subjective status, and justice and equity demonstrates that people who occupy lower status positions perceive themselves as disadvantaged relative to others, but those perceptions depend on several contingencies. Challenges for developing a conceptual model that takes these complex findings into account are discussed.

108 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors conduct a field experiment to investigate whether fears regarding the misleading effects of implied health claims, especially in educationally disadvantaged populations, are well founded, and conclude that they are not justified.
Abstract: The authors conduct afield experiment to investigate whether fears regarding the misleading effects of implied health claims, especially in educationally disadvantaged populations, are well founded...

104 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify five interlinked and interdependent issues characterizing institutional transformation in South African higher education are identified: democratising the governance structures of institutions increasing access for educationally and financially disadvantaged students restructuring the curriculum focusing on developmental needs in research and community service redressing inequalities in terms of race and gender.
Abstract: In South Africa the restructuring of the higher education system and the transformation of higher education institutions are located within the country's broad political and socio-economic transition to democracy. This paper focuses particularly on institutional transformation, and pays attention to the implications of the process of transformation for academic staff. The following five interlinked and interdependent issues characterizing institutional transformation in South African higher education are identified: democratising the governance structures of institutions increasing access for educationally and financially disadvantaged students restructuring the curriculum focusing on developmental needs in research and community service redressing inequalities in terms of race and gender. Although the overall effect of institutional transformation is experienced rather negatively by many academic staff members, the paper concludes that academics have to be empowered by means of staff development to remain active partners in the transformation process.

99 citations


Book
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a decision framework for education officials to design assessment and accountability systems that support high levels of student learning and to work toward continuous improvement, focusing on the needs of disadvantaged students covered by the 1994 reauthorization of Title I.
Abstract: State education departments and school districts face an important challenge in implementing a new law that requires disadvantaged students to be held to the same standards as other students. The new requirements come from provisions of the 1994 reauthorization of Title I, the largest federal effort in precollegiate education, which provides aid to "level the field" for disadvantaged students. Testing, Teaching, and Learning is written to help states and school districts comply with the new law, offering guidance for designing and implementing assessment and accountability systems. This book examines standards-based education reform and reviews the research on student assessment, focusing on the needs of disadvantaged students covered by Title I. With examples of states and districts that have track records in new systems, the committee develops a practical "decision framework" for education officials. The book explores how best to design assessment and accountability systems that support high levels of student learning and to work toward continuous improvement. Testing, Teaching, and Learning will be an important tool for all involved in educating disadvantaged studentsa "state and local administrators and classroom teachers.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Although it has been well-established that home-school collaboration benefits all children, it appears to be particularly important for children whose backgrounds include risk factors such as econo... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Although it has been well-established that home-school collaboration benefits all children, it appears to be particularly important for children whose backgrounds include risk factors such as econo...

Journal Article
TL;DR: The importance of mentors in youths' lives could be explained from several different perspectives as discussed by the authors, such as the importance of self-knowledge that pertains to how individuals think about their potential and about their future.
Abstract: Asizable proportion of economically disadvantaged, but able, students might not be able to realize their potential during their school years and beyond due, in part, to the complexity of factors associated with their home environment (Clark, 1988; McLoyd, 1990). Volumes of case studies, biographies, and autobiographies of successful individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds reveal the often pivotal role supportive mentoring by adults played in their lives. For example, in interviews with 500 economically disadvantaged youth, Lefkowitz (1986) found that a majority of them credited their success to the support of a caring adult in their lives. Countless and moving success stories have been described in various media sources in which youths tell how their lives were turned around through a mentoring relationship with a caring adult (cf. Morgan, 1995; Smalley, 1993). Given mentoring's appeal, it is not surprising that: "the current mentoring movement has spawned not only a flurry of activity, but enormous expectations for its effectiveness in helping disadvantaged youth" (Freedman, 1991, p. 41). The importance of mentors in youths' lives could be explained from several different perspectives. According to social capital theory (Coleman, 1987,1991), a mentoring relationship constitutes a social capital that is critical to human development, because it enables students to develop the necessary attitudes, effort, and conception of self that they need to succeed in school and as adults. Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) has postulated that humans tend to emulate the behavior they see in others they care for and admire. From this perspective, formal mentoring programs establish the critical oneon-one relationship with a caring adult, which supports the healthy development of youth. Egan (1994) has indicated a counseling perspective in which a mentor is considered to play similar roles to a counselor who helps clients have realistic beliefs, reduce fears and anxieties, and develop working knowledge, life skills, and resources so that they can succeed. Human performance is influenced by one's perceived competence, positive expectancies, perceived control, and will power (Bandura, 1977, 1986; Harter, 1983). Similarly, poor performance derives not only from deficits in skills and abilities, but also from doubts, anxieties, negative expectations, low perceived effectance, low perceived control, pessimism, low selfefficacy, and low self-esteem (Bandura, 1977, 1986; Harter, 1982; Scheier, Weintraub, & Carver, 1986). Accordingly, Bandura (1977, 1986) demonstrated the power of one's beliefs over one's current ability in explaining performance. For example, he explained that the stronger one's perceived self-efficacy, the more effort one will exert and the more one will persist on a given task. Other researchers have examined the role of future expectancies or aspirations on current performance. Singer (1974) and Torrance (1983) both noted that the way students see their future is directly related to their academic performance as well as their ability to live, cope, and grow in a high-change society. The theory of possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) points out the importance of self-knowledge that pertains to how individuals think about their potential and about their future. Markus, Cross, and Wurf (1990) maintain that long-term possible selves give form and direction to self-regulation, planning, and strategy selection. Day, Borkowski, Dietmeyer, Howsepian, and Saenz (1992) note that: Positive visions of one's future (such as 'me as a physician ) give meaning to school subjects related to those visions ('I study science so that I can realize my goal to become a physician ). (p. 185) According to an earlier study of successful persons from seriously economically disadvantaged backgrounds (Glaser & Ross, 1970), one of the main characteristics that differentiates successful persons and unsuccessful persons with both Black and Mexican ethnicity is goal orientation: Successful persons have longrange goals toward which they have moved by planning, preparation, work, or some kind of consistent effort, whereas unsuccessful persons have preferred short-range goals with tangible pleasures or rewards that involve little planning or consistent effort, nor do they talk in terms of goals. …


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The effectiveness of public participation in preventing or reducing environmental inequity depends upon the use of participation methodology which caters to the cultural and social needs of such groups as mentioned in this paper. And the extent to which public preferences are incorporated in policy decisions determines the worth of public-participation programs in promoting environmental equity.
Abstract: The principles and practice of public participation can serve to promote environmental equity for disadvantaged social groups. The effectiveness of such practice in preventing or reducing environmental inequity depends upon the use of participation methodology which caters to the cultural and social needs of such groups. These methods need to provide appropriate forms of information, suitable venues for participation, and access to expertise and education which enable the public to understand policy issues and formulate preferences. The extent to which public preferences are incorporated in policy decisions determines the worth of public participation programs in promoting environmental equity.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Gender equity initiatives in schools, curricula, and resources, especially reading materials, are intended to resolve equity problems that have withheld opportunity for female students as mentioned in this paper, however, recent literacy assessments in Canada and other parts of the world reveal differential patterns in males' and females' achievement in reading and writing.
Abstract: Gender equity initiatives in schools, curricula, and resources, especially reading materials, are intended to resolve equity problems that have withheld opportunity for female students. However, recent literacy assessments in Canada and other parts of the world reveal differential patterns in males' and females' achievement in reading and writing. Females outperform males in all areas of reading and writing at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels, and this literacy gap does not narrow or close with age. Males are disadvantaged in literacy by the time they complete high school. In this article we offer


Journal Article
Darla L. Henry1
TL;DR: The author deconstructs the words of resilient children into five themes that can help provide access into the children's world, a fresh viewpoint from which to assess the adopted children's reactive behaviors, and a foundation on which an adoptive relationship can be built.
Abstract: Children in the child welfare system face renewed issues of loss as they enter adoptive placements. Every move is a loss and an exercise for the child in establishing the perception of a "safe" environment. Resilient children who have been abused develop coping skills to adapt to their abusing "unsafe" environments. When these children become part of an adoptive family, these coping skills need to be recognized as providing important cues to the child's world, rather than as challenging behaviors. The author deconstructs the words of resilient children into five themes that can help provide access into the children's world, a fresh viewpoint from which to assess the adopted children's reactive behaviors, and a foundation on which an adoptive relationship can be built. A bused children develop a variety of behaviors to cope with and adapt to their abusive environments and to the positive and negative aspects of their relationships with their parents. For many, these coping behaviors are the strengths that enable them to survive in an unsafe environment. When entering new placements (to the children, a new, strange, and "unsafe" environment), children transfer these patterns of relating to their new parenting relationships. Often, the occurrences of these coping behaviors in the new families are viewed not as strengths, but as challenges to parents and placement professionals. Yet these behaviors provide important cues to help parents and professionals access the child's world and begin building new relationships. Resilient children who have adapted to their abusive environments have gained a sense of control in their lives. When they come into new families, they are asked to give up that control to the new parent-child relationship. Understanding the past allows the integration of the child's survival skills and allows the children to grieve their losses, build attachments, and begin the task of identity formation. This article deconstructs the words of resilient children into themes that provide cues to the reoccurrence of behaviors once needed to survive in abusive environments, but now challenging parents and professionals. A qualitative research study of resilient maltreated adolescents identified five themes that provide a basis from which to view children's behaviors during their adjustment to new placements, including adoption. These themes are: loyalty to parents, normalizing the abusive environment, invisibility to the abuser, self-value, and future vision. The research is summarized in the context of risk factors and protective factors, methodology, child narratives, and the emerging themes. Implications for the usefulness of these findings are discussed in relation to current and future practice. Literature Review The concept of resilience was created to help explain why some children do well under disadvantaged circumstances [Baldwin et al. 1993]. Resilience is attributed to children who grew up under unfavorable circumstances without showing unfavorable consequences [Masten 1989; Okun et al. 1994; Radke-Yarrow & Brown 1993; Werner 1993]. It is defined as the capacity for successful adaptation, positive functioning, or competence despite high risk, chronic stress, or prolonged or severe trauma [Egeland et al. 1993]. Interest has grown in the past two decades in identifying factors associated with resiliency in high-risk children [Arend et al. 1979; Beeghly & Cicchetti 1994; Crittenden 1985; Earls et al.1987; Farber & Egeland 1987; Kaufman et al.1994; Masten 1989; Richters & Martinez 1993; Werner 1993]. The research on resilience primarily has identified factors that increase the risk of stress and factors that protect against stress. The risk research has been retrospective, whereas the protective factor research has been progressive [Gero 1992]. No research has been conducted specific to resilience factors for children for whom adoption has been planned. …

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the expanding federal role in K-12 education after the mid-1960s and focus on two particularly large and popular federal initiatives: Title I and Head Start.
Abstract: After more than three decades, popular federal compensatory education programs are now being criticized for failing to have done enough to close the large gap in school achievement between disadvantaged students and their more fortunate counterparts. This article will analyze the expanding federal role in K-12 education after the mid-1960s and focus on two particularly large and popular federal initiatives: Title I and Head Start. A brief historical overview of these programs will be provided as well as a discussion of some of the major evaluations of them. Finally, some suggestions will be made on how we might try to improve the effectiveness of these programs in the future.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that current trends are leading toward the "Marketisation of education" (Ball, 1993; Gerwitz et al., 1995; Kenway, 1993) in Ontario, and that the harmful consequences of this shift will be felt most severely in relation to issues of equity and access in education.
Abstract: Market dynamics have begun to entrench themselves in educational systems around the world. Although this phenomenon has been addressed in several recent writings (Ball, 1993; Dehli, 1996; Gerwitz, Ball, & Bowe, 1995; Kenway, 1993; Robertson, 1995), few have incorporated a critical antiracist framework. As noted by Dehli (1996) the encroachment of market forms, relations, and concepts into educational sites usually results in the marginalization and muting of other dimensions of schooling. Using an integrative antiracist perspective that is informed by the findings of an ongoing study of inclusive schooling in Ontario (Dei et al, 1996), this article critically examines these ongoing reforms in a Canadian context, specifically in relation to the recent reforms in Ontario's educational system. We draw on knowledge about race and difference to argue for serious questioning of these reforms and their impact on socially disadvantaged groups. In doing so, the article asserts that current trends are leading toward the " Marketisation of education" (Ball, 1993; Gerwitz et al., 1995; Kenway, 1993) in Ontario, and that the harmful consequences of this shift will be felt most severely in relation to issues of equity and access in education. Through the rhetoric of cost-effectiveness and bureaucratic efficiency, the "official" agenda for educational change shifts focus away from equity considerations in schooling to those of capital, market forces, and big business. The article interrogates the rhetoric of reform and calls for equity to be placed at the centre of educational change. In conclusion we suggest new ways of examining and addressing genuine educational options in Canadian contexts.

01 Sep 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, Public/Private Ventures visited two exemplary school-based mentoring programs chosen by the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) and found that strong relationships can develop within the school context, and these relationships can make a difference in the lives of youth.
Abstract: Given the strong interest in school-based mentoring programs, Public/Private Ventures visited two exemplary mentoring programs chosen by the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA). One program was in Green County, Oklahoma, and the other in Jacksonville, Florida. Researchers talked with parents, teachers, children, and mentors to learn more about how the programs operated and the effects they have on the students and the school. The visits led to four conclusions: (1) school-based mentoring programs reach volunteers and youth who would not participate in community-based programs; (2) school staff provide information to BBBSA staff to help create strong matches and supervise these matches closely; (3) mentoring in the school context can provide volunteers with support and enable them to act as educational advocates for youth; and (4) strong relationships can develop within the school context, and these relationships can make a difference in the lives of youth. Study findings suggest that involving youth in well-run school-based mentoring programs can be an effective way to address the needs of disadvantaged youth. (Contains 17 endnotes.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the different ways in which the participatory principles of Agenda 21 are being put into practice in the UK, by reference to research in three "progressive" localities: Kirklees, Leicester and Mendip.
Abstract: This paper examines the different ways in which the participatory principles of Agenda 21 are being put into practice in the UK, by reference to research in three ’progressive’ localities: Kirklees, Leicester and Mendip. The investigation includes an examination of the reasons why a participatory approach is being adopted, how the local authorities are engaging the public in Local Agenda 21 (the levels, methods and scope of participation) and how effective their approaches have been. The research reveals that a variety of participatory methods and techniques are being employed at various scales. The three authorities emphasize a listening and open approach to the decision-making process, but despite their commitment to participation there had been limited success in securing widespread involvement of people, and especially disadvantaged groups, in the process. Key issues to emerge are the importance of the commitment of key elected representatives and the need for participation to be an ongoing commitment with a preparedness to begin with ’where people are at’ rather than to set aspirations too high. The implications are that change is needed in the way local authorities relate to the communities they serve, but this will place considerable demands on already stretched local authority resources, particularly where positive action is needed to ‘build capacity’. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discussed the case study analysis of nine high-achieving female students who participated in the larger three-year study and found that females who achieved in school participated in multiple extracurricular activities both after school and during the summer.
Abstract: Recently, researchers at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented completed a three-year study of thirty-five economically disadvantaged, ethnically diverse, talented high school students who either achieved or underachieved in their urban high school. In this article, the results are discussed of the case study analysis of nine high-achieving female students who participated in the larger three-year study. Qualitative methods were used to examine the perceptions of students, teachers, and administrators about the reasons that some academically talented students achieve at high levels. Female students who achieved in school acknowledged the importance of being grouped together in honors and advanced classes for academically talented students, and of receiving support and encouragement from each other and from supportive adults, including teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, and mentors. Females who achieved in school participated in multiple extracurricular activities both after school and during the summer. Most high-achieving females in this study chose not to date in order to be able to concentrate their energies on their studies. They also had a strong belief in self and were resilient about negative aspects of their families and their environment. Although parents of students in this study cared deeply about their children, their involvement in their children's high school education was minimal.

Posted Content
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that the widest gulf in adult outcomes occurs for those who enter motherhood early (before age 23), though further reinforced by teenage motherhood for most adult outcomes, and any experience of childhood poverty is clearly associated with adverse outcomes in adulthood.
Abstract: Childhood poverty and early parenthood are both high on the political agenda. The key new issue addressed in this research is the relative importance of childhood poverty and of early motherhood as correlates of outcomes later in life. How far are the 'effects' of early motherhood on later outcomes due to childhood precursors, especially experience of childhood poverty? If there are powerful associations of both childhood poverty and early parenthood with later adult outcomes, there are a number of subsidiary questions relating to the magnitude of these associations, the particular threshold levels of childhood poverty that prove most critical, and whether it is, as often assumed, only teenage mothers who are subsequently disadvantaged, or also those who have their first birth in their early twenties? The source of data for this study is the National Child Development Study. We examine a range of outcomes at age 33 in a number of domains representing different aspects of adult social exclusion, including: welfare, socio-economic, physical health, and emotional well-being, as well as demographic behaviour. We control for a wide range of childhood factors: poverty; social class of origin and of father; mother's and father's school leaving age; family structure; housing tenure; mother's and father's interest in education; personality attributes; performance on educational tests; and contact with the police by age 16. We show that there are clear associations for the adult outcomes with age at first birth, even after controlling for childhood poverty and a wide range of other childhood background factors. Moreover, we demonstrate that the widest gulf in adult outcomes occurs for those who enter motherhood early (before age 23), though further reinforced for teenage motherhood for most adult outcomes. We also show that it is any experience of childhood poverty that is most clearly associated with adverse outcomes in adulthood, with additional reinforcement for highe

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results showed that single-index representations of risk and promotion variables predicted child aggressive behaviors but not child anxious/depressed behaviors, while an additive model of individual risk indicators performed similarly.
Abstract: This study examined the relations between alternative representations of poverty cofactors and promotion processes and teacher reports of the problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families (N = 159). The results showed that single-index representations of risk and promotion variables predicted child aggressive behaviors but not child anxious/depressed behaviors. An additive model of individual risk indicators performed similarly. Smaller indexes representing clusters of parent adjustment variables and family instability variables, however, differentially predicted aggressive and anxious/depressed behaviors, respectively. The results suggest the importance of promotion processes and of representing environmental adversity at varying levels of specificity for children from economically disadvantaged families.

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TL;DR: Representativeness and conservative bias, it is argued, justify the use of these data for investigating life course influences on health in early old age.


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TL;DR: It is concluded that co-operation between welfare state agencies, when initiated in local settings and supported by local players, is a way of rejuvenating the existing Swedish model.
Abstract: Vocational rehabilitation targeted to the socially disadvantaged long-term sick requires that the client keep in touch with a number of welfare state agencies, all of which have different regulations, conflicting goals and various types of benefits. This is an arduous and time-consuming task for clients with medical, social and labour market problems. Many of these clients run the risk of ending up in a no-man's land or being endlessly circulated between agencies because their problems do not correspond to the profile of the typical client. Both government and welfare workers see institutional co-operation between welfare state agencies as the remedy to such problems. This article, which is based on interviews with participants in fourteen cooperating projects, focuses on difficulties and opportunities experienced in such co-operation. It is concluded that such co-operation, when initiated in local settings and supported by local players, is a way of rejuvenating the existing Swedish model.

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TL;DR: Postnatal home-based support programs appear to have no risks and may have benefits for socially disadvantaged mothers and their children, possibly including reduced rates of child injury.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Epidemiologic studies indicate that babies born to socio-economically disadvantaged mothers are at higher risk of injury, abuse and neglect, health problems in infancy, and are less likely to have regular well-child care Home visitation programs have long been advocated as a strategy for improving the health of disadvantaged children Over the past two decades, a number of randomised trials have examined the effect of home visitation programs on a range of maternal and child health outcomes The studies in this review evaluate programs which offer additional home based support for socially disadvantaged mothers and their children OBJECTIVES: Babies born in socio-economic disadvantage are likely to be at higher risk of injury, abuse and neglect, and to have health problems in infancy The objective of this review was to assess the effects of programs offering additional home-based support for women who have recently given birth and who are socially disadvantaged SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register Date of last search: 26 October 1998 SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised and quasi-randomised trials of one or more post-natal home visits with the aim of providing additional home based support for socially disadvantaged women who had recently given birth, compared to usual care DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Trial quality was assessed Study authors were contacted for additional information MAIN RESULTS: Eleven studies, involving 2992 families, were included Most of the trials had important methodological limitations Seven trial reports are awaiting further assessment There was a trend towards reduced child injury rates with additional support, although this was not statistically significant (odds ratio 074, 95% confidence interval 054 to 103) There appeared to be no difference for child abuse and neglect (odds ratio 112, 95% confidence interval 080 to 157), although differential surveillance between visited and non-visited families is an important methodological consideration Babies in the additional support groups were more likely to have complete well-child immunizations Based on the results of two trials, there was a trend towards reduced hospitalization, although this was not statistically significant AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Postnatal home-based support programs appear to have no risks and may have benefits for socially disadvantaged mothers and their children, possibly including reduced rates of child injury Differential surveillance does not allow easy interpretation of the child abuse and neglect findings Language: en