Nonminority Children Research Articles

Parent reports of child behavior problems: Bias in participation

This paper compares the characteristics of 274 children whose parents agreed to provide information about their children's functioning in research with children whose parents did not. Parents had provided permission for child participation in school-approved research. Measures included self-, peer, teacher, and parent ratings. Parents of minority children were less likely to participate than parents of nonminority children. Among nonminorities, children of parent participants were viewed as more socially skilled and liked by their peers; teachers rated them as having less attention problems, less depression, and better academic skills than children of nonparticipating parents. Among minorities, no differences emerged. Implications for research involving the use of parent ratings are discussed.

Ethnic Minorities, Migration and Risk of Undernutrition in Children

Well-controlled, comparative studies suggest that in "food rich" or "resource rich" environments, ethnic minority status is not an independent risk factor for malnutrition. In England, Australia, and the United States, nutrient intake, nutritional status measures and growth are comparable between children of ethnic minorities and non-minority children of similar economic status. Children of recent immigrants are an exception to this generalization, suggesting that recent arrival in a new environment is a risk factor for malnutrition. Family-level studies of intraethnic diversity are required to develop more sensitive and specific profiles of risk factors for malnutrition.

The Challenge of Education to Social Work: The Case for Minority Children

system is analyzed and critiqued, as is the role of social work within that system. Analysis is presented using in stitutional perspectives to explain the functional relationship between edu cation and the oppression of people of color. The author finds education culpable in the massive undereduca tion of minority children and social work powerless to prevent it. The rele vance of educational reform to the goals and purposes of social work in the broader context of fairness and equity is explained. The author recommends changes in social work practice and policy that will give the field a larger role and stronger voice in the reform of education. Education in the united States is in crisis, and this fact has enormous consequences for the social work profession. At the root of a host of social problems and problems of per sonal functioning is an educational bureaucracy that has failed to deliver promised benefits. In recognition of this crisis, the past decade has witnessed calls for educational reform from a variety of sectors and at several levels of government (Goodlad, 1983; National Commission on Excellence in Educa tion, 1983). These concerns have be come more pressing largely in response to putative losses in educational attain ment among nonminority children. The undereducation of minority children is arguably an equally serious if not a greater threat to the strength and well being of the U.S. economy, for these children will make up the bulk of the adult labor force in the next century. An underclass of poorly educated minority children would likely drain social, health, welfare, political, and economic

Reading Activities and Reading Proficiency among Hispanic, Black, and White Students

The most recent evidence from the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that, despite large gains in reading proficiency by minority children over the last decade, Hispanic and black children continue to read at significantly lower levels than do whites. The purpose of the present study is twofold. First, it attempts to examine the extent to which lower reading proficiency among Hispanic and black children is explained by parents' educational level and by reading activities and behaviors on the part of the family and child (e.g., reading materials in the home and amount of reading done for enjoyment). Second, it attempts to examine the direct effect of parents' education and reading activities on reading proficiency among minority and nonminority children. These research questions are addressed by conducting further analysis with the National Assessment of Educational Progress's 1984 survey of reading proficiency among in-school fourth, eighth, and eleventh graders. The results show that, while no one factor explained a large portion of the differences among racial/ethnic groups, after controlling for all the factors examined in this study, the racial/ethnic differences were reduced. Also, reading activities were found to directly affect the reading proficiency of both minority and nonminority children. The most important recommendation to be drawn from these results concerns increasing the level of reading activities among all children.

The portrayal of minorities and women in selected elementary science series

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to determine the quantitative and qualitative portrayal of females and minorities in the illustrations of seven contemporary elementary science textbook series. An evaluation instrument was devised to determine the current status of the targeted groups. Illustrations were evaluated on the basis of minority/nonminority and male/female repesentation. The activity and assumed role of the individuals were also tabulated. More than 5900 human illustrations were evaluated. The results reveal that female children as a group are represented with greater frequency than are other child groups. Minority children are represented less often than nonminority children and female and minority adults are depicted less often than nonminority male adults. The textbooks evaluated in this study display science positively for most societal groups. However, minorities are underrepresented and illustrated in a limited number of career roles. Implications and suggestions for teachers, supervisors, and teacher educators are provided.

Perpetrator and family characteristics related to child abuse and neglect: comparison of substantiated and unsubstantiated reports.

Numerous reports describe the characteristics of child-abusing families but most of these lack a comparison group of non-abusers. This study compares substantiated reports of abuse and neglect to unsubstantiated reports. The 733 reports investigated involved 923 children and 682 adults. Age, prior insult, and unemployment were associated with substantiated cases. Substantiated cases were more likely than unsubstantiated cases to come from intact two-parent homes. Minority children were more likely to be seriously injured than were nonminority children. Younger women and those having legal relationships with the other adult in their household were more likely to inflict severe abuse.

Revisiting what children say their reading interests are

Abstract The purpose of this study was to assess the reading interests of fourth grade boys and girls. Comparisons were made between the reading interests of boys and girls and between minority and nonminority children. In addition the results of part of the present study were compared with the results of a similar study conducted over two decades ago. The present study revealed that there are sex differences in children's reading preferences; however, at the same time the study showed that the reading interests of boys and girls do often overlap. Additionally, results of this study indicated that minority and nonminority children differed to some extent in their reading interests, but they had more similarities than differences. A comparison of the results of the present study with the results of the earlier study showed that the reading interests of males and females have changed very little over the intervening years.

The Validity of the Sra Achievement Series, Multilevel Edition: Reading, Language Arts, and Arithmetic Subtests for Minority and Non-Minority Group Fourth Grade Pupils

Significant positive correlations, with one exception, between ratings of fourth grade pupils by teachers on a three point scale and scores on the Reading, Language Arts, and Arithmetic subtests of the SRA Achievement Series, Multilevel Edition, Blue Form E suggested that these subtests would be valid measures of group academic achievement by both minority and non-minority children. A nonsignificant correlation between SRA reading and teacher's rating of minority group pupil reading achievement suggested a need for further investigation. Correlations between SRA subtest scores and teacher's ratings ranged from .20 to .57 for minority group pupils and from .46 to .55 for non-minority group pupils.