ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing
Author: Waldfogel, Jane
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Information Analyses
Subjects: Behavior Problems,Mothers,Children,Family Structure,Fathers,Well Being,Child Welfare,One Parent Family,Marital Status,Marriage,Parent Influence,Family Influence,Mental Disorders,Mental Health,Marital Satisfaction,Parenting Styles,Child Rearing,Influences,Child Health,Child Behavior,Cognitive Development,At Risk Persons,Pregnancy,Early Intervention

Jane Waldfogel, Terry-Ann Craigie, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn review recent studies that use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) to examine why children who grow up in single-mother and cohabiting families fare worse than children born into married-couple households. They also present findings from their own new research. Analysts have investigated five key pathways through which family structure might influence child well-being: parental resources, parental mental health, parental relationship quality, parenting quality, and father involvement. It is also important to consider the role of the selection of different types of men and women into different family types, as well as family stability. But analysts remain uncertain how each of these elements shapes children's outcomes. In addition to providing an overview of findings from other studies using FFCWS, Waldfogel, Craigie, and Brooks-Gunn report their own estimates of the effect of a consistently defined set of family structure and stability categories on cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes of children in the FFCWS study at age five. The authors find that the links between fragile families and child outcomes are not uniform. Family instability, for example, seems to matter more than family structure for cognitive and health outcomes, whereas growing up with a single mother (whether that family structure is stable or unstable over time) seems to matter more than instability for behavior problems. Overall, their results are consistent with other research findings that children raised by stable single or cohabiting parents are at less risk than those raised by unstable single or cohabiting parents. The authors conclude by pointing to three types of policy reforms that could improve outcomes for children. The first is to reduce the share of children growing up in fragile families (for example, through reducing the rate of unwed births or promoting family stability among unwed parents). The second is to address the pathways that place such children at risk (for example, through boosting resources in single-parent homes or fostering father involvement in fragile families). The third is to address directly the risks these children face (for example, through high-quality early childhood education or home-visiting policies). (Contains 3 figures, 1 table and 66 endnotes.)
Race and Ethnicity in Fragile Families
Author: Hummer, Robert A.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Gender Differences,African Americans,Racial Differences,At Risk Persons,Child Welfare,Asian Americans,Whites,Marital Status,Family Structure,Birth,Immigrants,Marriage,Divorce,Socioeconomic Status,Income,Access to Health Care,Child Care,Socioeconomic Influences

Robert Hummer and Erin Hamilton note that the prevalence of fragile families varies substantially by race and ethnicity. African Americans and Hispanics have the highest prevalence; Asian Americans, the lowest; and whites fall somewhere in the middle. The share of unmarried births is lower among most foreign-born mothers than among their U.S.-born ethnic counterparts. Immigrant-native differences are particularly large for Asians, whites, and blacks. The authors also find racial and ethnic differences in the composition and stability of fragile families over time. Although most parents of all racial and ethnic groups are romantically involved at the time of their child's birth, African American women are less likely to be in a cohabiting relationship than are white and Hispanic mothers. Over time, these racial and ethnic differences become more pronounced, with African American mothers having the lowest rates of marriage and cohabitation and the highest breakup rates, and Mexican immigrant mothers having the highest rates of marriage and cohabitation and the lowest breakup rates. Fragile families have far fewer socioeconomic resources than married families, though resources vary within fragile families by race and ethnicity. White mothers, in general, have more socioeconomic resources than black, Mexican American, and Mexican immigrant mothers; they are more likely to have incomes above the poverty limit, more likely to own a car, less likely to have children from a prior relationship, and more likely to report living in a safe neighborhood. Access to health care and child care follows a similar pattern. The exception is education; black and white unmarried mothers are equally likely to have finished high school, and Mexican immigrant and Mexican American mothers are less likely to have done so. The authors argue that socioeconomic differences are by far the biggest driver of racial and ethnic differences in marriage and family stability, and they support reforms to strengthen parents' economic security. They also discuss how sex ratios and culture affect family formation and stability. In particular, they note that despite severe poverty, Mexican immigrant families have high rates of marriage and cohabitation--an advantage that erodes by the second generation with assimilation. To address the paradox that marriage declines as socioeconomic status improves, they support policies that reinforce rather than undermine the family ties of Mexican immigrants. (Contains 4 figures, 1 table and 40 endnotes.)
An Ounce of Prevention: Policy Prescriptions to Reduce the Prevalence of Fragile Families
Author: Sawhill, Isabel
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Contraception,Prevention,Birth Rate,Pregnancy,Sexuality,Mass Media,Cost Effectiveness,At Risk Persons,Marital Status,Marriage,Social Problems,Motivation,Knowledge Level,Barriers,Access to Health Care,Sex Education,Cultural Influences,Adolescents

Isabel Sawhill, Adam Thomas, and Emily Monea believe that given the well-documented costs of nonmarital births to the children and parents in fragile families, as well as to society as a whole, policy makers' primary goal should be to reduce births to unmarried parents. The authors say that the nation's swiftly rising nonmarital birth rate has many explanations--a cultural shift toward acceptance of unwed childbearing; a lack of positive alternatives to motherhood among the less advantaged; a sense of fatalism or ambivalence about pregnancy; a lack of marriageable men; limited access to effective contraception; a lack of knowledge about contraception; and the difficulty of using contraception consistently and correctly. Noting that these explanations fall generally into three categories--motivation, knowledge, and access--the authors discuss policies designed to motivate individuals to avoid unintended pregnancies, to improve their knowledge about contraception, and to remove barriers to contraceptive access. Some motivational programs, such as media campaigns, have been effective in changing behavior. Some, but not all, sex education programs designed to reduce teen pregnancy have also been effective at reducing sexual activity or increasing contraceptive use, or both. Programs providing access to subsidized contraception have also been effective and would be even more so if they could increase the use not just of contraceptives, but of long-acting, reversible contraceptive methods such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants. Finally, the authors present simulations of the costs and effects of three policy initiatives--a mass media campaign that encourages men to use condoms, a teen pregnancy prevention program that discourages sexual activity and educates participants about proper contraceptive use, and an expansion in access to Medicaid-subsidized contraception. All three have benefit-cost ratios that are comfortably greater than one, making them excellent social investments that can actually save taxpayer dollars. (Contains 1 figure, 3 tables and 66 endnotes.)
Incarceration in Fragile Families
Author: Wildeman, Christopher
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Crime,Safety,Correctional Institutions,Economically Disadvantaged,Minority Group Children,Institutionalized Persons,At Risk Persons,Criminals,Child Welfare,Social Problems,Social Change,Males,Educational Attainment,Racial Differences,Whites,Hispanic Americans,African Americans,Age Differences,Dropouts,Parent Child Relationship,Marital Status

Since the mid-1970s the U.S. imprisonment rate has increased roughly fivefold. As Christopher Wildeman and Bruce Western explain, the effects of this sea change in the imprisonment rate--commonly called mass imprisonment or the prison boom--have been concentrated among those most likely to form fragile families: poor and minority men with little schooling. Imprisonment diminishes the earnings of adult men, compromises their health, reduces familial resources, and contributes to family breakup. It also adds to the deficits of poor children, thus ensuring that the effects of imprisonment on inequality are transferred intergenerationally. Perversely, incarceration has its most corrosive effects on families whose fathers were involved in neither domestic violence nor violent crime before being imprisoned. Because having a parent go to prison is now so common for poor, minority children and so negatively affects them, the authors argue that mass imprisonment may increase future racial and class inequality--and may even lead to more crime in the long term, thereby undoing any benefits of the prison boom. U.S. crime policy has thus, in the name of public safety, produced more vulnerable families and reduced the life chances of their children. Wildeman and Western advocate several policy reforms, such as limiting prison time for drug offenders and for parolees who violate the technical conditions of their parole, reconsidering sentence enhancements for repeat offenders, and expanding supports for prisoners and ex-prisoners. But Wildeman and Western argue that criminal justice reform alone will not solve the problems of school failure, joblessness, untreated addiction, and mental illness that pave the way to prison. In fact, focusing solely on criminal justice reforms would repeat the mistakes the nation made during the prison boom: trying to solve deep social problems with criminal justice policies. Addressing those broad problems, they say, requires a greater social commitment to education, public health, and the employment opportunities of low-skilled men and women. The primary sources of order and stability--public safety in its wide sense--are the informal social controls of family and work. Thus, broad social policies hold the promise not only of improving the well-being of fragile families, but also, by strengthening families and providing jobs, of contributing to public safety. (Contains 1 figure, 3 tables and 65 endnotes.)
Unmarried Parents in College
Author: Goldrick-Rab, Sara
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Counseling Services,Community Colleges,State Aid,College Attendance,College Credits,Student Financial Aid,Educational Experience,Marital Status,College Students,One Parent Family,Student Loan Programs,Federal Aid,Low Income Groups,Student Personnel Services,Access to Education,Gender Differences,Racial Differences,Graduation Rate,Enrollment Trends,Well Being,Postsecondary Education,Family Relationship,Interaction,Time Management,Educational Change,Mental Health,Physical Health

Noting that access to higher education has expanded dramatically in the past several decades, Sara Goldrick-Rab and Kia Sorensen focus on how unmarried parents fare once they enter college. Contrary to the expectation that access to college consistently promotes family stability and economic security, the authors argue that deficiencies in current policy lead college attendance to have adverse consequences for some families headed by unmarried parents. Although rates of college attendance have increased substantially among unmarried parents, their college completion rates are low. One explanation is inadequate academic preparation. Another is financial constraints, which can force unmarried students to interrupt their studies or increase their work hours, both of which compromise the quality of their educational experiences and the outcomes for their children. The authors point out that although many public programs offer support to unmarried parents attending college, the support is neither well coordinated nor easily accessed. Over the past three decades, loans have increasingly replaced grants as the most common form of federal and state financial aid. Confusion about what is available leads many low-income students to the two most "straightforward" sources of income--loans and work, both of which involve significant costs and can operate at cross-purposes with public forms of support. Too much work can lead to reductions in public benefits, and earnings do not always replace the lost income. A growing body of experimental evidence shows that providing social, financial, and academic supports to vulnerable community college students can improve achievement and attainment. Contextualized learning programs, for example, have enabled participants not only to move on from basic skills to credit-bearing coursework, but also to complete credits, earn certificates, and make gains on basic skills tests. Another successful initiative provided low-performing students with special counseling services and a small stipend of $150 per semester when they used those services. And researchers are conducting experimental performance-based financial aid programs at community colleges to test their effectiveness. Goldrick-Rab and Sorensen conclude that more effective support could enable unmarried students to complete college degree and certificate programs. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table and 101 endnotes.)
Marriage and Fatherhood Programs
Author: Cowan, Phillip A.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Middle Class,Program Development,Fathers,Marriage,Child Rearing,Parent Child Relationship,At Risk Persons,Interpersonal Relationship,Intervention,Low Income Groups,Marital Status,Parent Education

To improve the quality and stability of couple and father-child relationships in fragile families, researchers are beginning to consider how to tailor existing couple-relationship and father-involvement interventions, which are now targeted on married couples, to the specific needs of unwed couples in fragile families. The goal, explain Philip Cowan, Carolyn Pape Cowan, and Virginia Knox, is to provide a more supportive developmental context for mothers, fathers, and, especially, the children in fragile families. The authors present a conceptual model to explain why couple-relationship and father-involvement interventions developed for middle- and low-income married couples might be expected to provide benefits for children of unmarried parents. Then they summarize the extensive research on existing couple-relationship and father-involvement interventions, noting that only a few of the programs for couples and a handful of fatherhood programs have been systematically evaluated. Of those that have been evaluated, few have included unmarried couples as participants, and none has investigated whether interventions may have different effects when unmarried fathers live with or apart from the child. Furthermore, although the funders and creators of most programs for couples or for fathers justify their offerings in terms of potential benefits for children, the authors note that the programs rarely assess child outcomes systematically. Next, the authors consider whether interventions for working-class or middle-class fathers or couples that have shown benefits for family members and their relationships might be helpful to fragile families, in which the parents are not married at the time of their child's birth. Because evidence suggests that couple-oriented programs also have a positive effect on father involvement, the authors recommend integrating couple and fatherhood interventions to increase their power to reduce the risks and enhance the protective factors for children's development and well-being. The authors emphasize the need for more research on program development to understand the most effective ways to strengthen co-parenting by couples who are the biological parents of a child but who have relatively tenuous, or already dissolved, relationships with one another. In closing, the authors summarize how far the family-strengthening field has come and offer suggestions for where it might go from here to be helpful to fragile families. (Contains 4 tables and 50 endnotes.)
Technology Use in ESL: An Investigation of Students&apos; Experiences and the Implications for Language Education
Author: Tour, Ekaterina
Date: 2010-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Sociocultural Patterns,Multilingualism,Foreign Countries,Criticism,Immigrants,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Information Technology,Case Studies,Foreign Students,Technological Literacy,Second Language Instruction,Technology Integration,Language Teachers

In Australia, information and communication technologies (ICT) are a significant element of a multicultural and multilingual society. However, some people (in particular, international students, immigrants, refugees) may experience many challenges because they use technology in English as their second language (ESL) and in a new sociocultural environment. Informed by a sociocultural perspective and Bill Green's 3-D model (Green, 1988), the study views technology as a complex social, multimodal and multidimensional practice which requires relevant capabilities--technoliteracy. The case studies focus on four international students and their experiences with technology use in ESL. This paper introduces five interrelated categories of challenges--navigation, comprehension, application of discourses, critical analysis and the affective domain. It also outlines the capabilities required for technoliteracy practices in ESL--the English language capabilities, ICT capabilities, contextual capabilities and critical capabilities. The discussion focuses on the need for educators to rethink the use of ICT in a language classroom.
Some Ideas about Multilingualism and National Identity
Author: Bianco, Joseph Lo
Date: 2010-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Nationalism,Language Usage,Language Attitudes,Multilingualism,Language Skills,Communication Skills,Bilingualism

In this paper I argue that linguistic diversity is one of the most common characteristics of human history, so much so that it could be considered a &quot;natural&quot; characteristic of humanity (Skutnalb-Kangas, Maffi, &amp; Harmon, 2003). Linguistic diversity combines with interaction among human groups and, in this combination, is produced bilingualism (I use this term as a shorthand for multiple language skill) and other modes of communicating across our differences. Bilingualism, understood here as functioning in more than one language, in which many individuals and most groups use more than one linguistic code for communication, is usually organised purposively. This means that communication skills are differentiated according to purpose, function, or interlocutor. This combination of multiple languages meshed with diverse purposes makes for a very complex pattern of language capabilities and usage.
Classifying Teacher Questions in EFL Classrooms: Question Types and Their Proper Use
Author: Wong, Ruth
Date: 2010-09-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Case Studies,Classification,Questioning Techniques,Interviews,Observation,Language Teachers,Student Attitudes,Vocabulary Development,Grammar,Cognitive Ability,Language Usage,Teaching Methods,Instructional Effectiveness

This paper reports the findings of a case study investigating the taxonomy of question-types in Hong Kong EFL classrooms, their appropriate application by teachers, and the resulting effectiveness in helping students understand the correct lesson objectives. Triangulation was conducted in data collection using classroom observations, teacher in-depth interviews, and student interviews. Results indicated low-cognitive questions were common. Of those, knowledge-based questions were most frequently used for teaching vocabulary or confirming student understanding. This was regardless of whether the lesson's nature was straightforward grammar or task-based learning. Other findings indicated that teachers used questions inefficiently to manage the classroom or stage lessons. High-cognitive questions, which engender practical English use, were rarely used. Teacher-selected question-types are evaluated for effectiveness, and implications for classroom pedagogy are discussed.
Developing Assessment Profiles for Mathematically Gifted Children with Learning Difficulties at Three Schools in Cambridgeshire, England
Author: Al-Hroub, Anies
Date: 2011-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Measures (Individuals),Learning Problems,Academically Gifted,Task Analysis,Identification,Student Evaluation,Foreign Countries,Psychometrics,Case Studies,Mathematics,Tests,Scores,Profiles,Elementary School Students

This paper focuses on critical issues related to the identification of mathematically gifted children with learning difficulties (LDs). One purpose of the study is to broaden teachers' and educators' insight into the identification of gifted students with LDs, sometimes referred to as dual-exceptional children. A multiple case study approach was adopted and 5 case study profiles of mathematically gifted students with LDs in Years 4-6, ages 9 to 11 years and 5 months, were developed. An assessment plan was used to combine aspects of LDs and giftedness in an attempt to provide a multidimensional evaluation. The students received a multidimensional assessment, which indicates that psychometric test scores need to be supplemented with dynamic and informal assessments; historical data; task analysis of permanent products; and information from parents, teachers, and students. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)
Longitudinal Change and Maternal Influence on Occupational Aspirations of Gifted Female American and German Adolescents
Author: Fiebig, Jennifer Nepper
Date: 2011-01-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Academically Gifted,Females,Sex Role,Occupational Aspiration,Cultural Differences,Foreign Countries,Career Counseling,Mothers,Parent Influence,High School Students,Adolescents,Career Choice,Cultural Influences,Cross Cultural Studies,Middle School Students,Questionnaires,Check Lists

This study assessed 43 gifted adolescent females in the United States and Germany over a 4-year period (in 7th or 8th grade and again during the 11th or 12th grade). Factors that were examined included the daughter's career selection, the prestige level and the education required to pursue that career, and the impact of the mother's gender role attitudes on these factors. Both American and German girls remained consistent in their career selections over time and selected moderately prestigious careers. German girls, as compared to American, selected less traditional female occupations and careers that require more educational  training. Giftedness, cultural differences, and the implications for career counseling of gifted adolescent females are addressed. (Contains 1 table.)