Cross-age peer mentoring programs, in which teenagers mentor younger children, have proliferated in recent years, yet there is disagreement about the effectiveness of such programs. This study tested whether teen mentors' attitudes about children interact with their mentees' characteristics to moderate outcomes of cross-age peer mentoring. The…

This study examined whether the effects of employment-based policies on children's math and reading achievement differed for African American, Latino and Caucasian children of welfare receiving parents, and if so, why. Two kinds of employment policies were examined: "education-first" programs with an emphasis on adult education and job training;…

This study investigated U.S. ethnic majority and minority youth's perceptions of fair and unfair treatment by authorities and evaluations of three situations of interracial exclusion (N = 685). Findings revealed that older adolescents who reported fair treatment by authorities were more likely to perceive wrongfulness in interracial exclusion…

This study used a mixed methods methodology to investigate the reliability and validity of the Ounce Scale, an authentic, observational assessment of infants' and toddlers' development from birth through 42 months of age. Quantitative cross-sectional data were collected from 287 children and 124 teachers in seven urban Early Head Start programs;…

The toll of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse on economically disadvantaged women of color in the United States is a public health problem of epidemic proportions. Malnutrition, believed to be pervasive in this population, exacerbates the devastating health effects of addiction and HIV. This study documented dietary deficiencies in this population and…

Participation in after-school programs (ASPs) "can" positively affect the development of young people. However, "whether" ASPs are beneficial depends on program quality. Although many factors influence the quality of a program, the competencies of adult staff who lead ASPs are a critical determinant. Unfortunately, ASP staff members often do not…

The term "youth-adult partnership" increasingly is being used to define a relationship in which both youth and adults have the potential to contribute to decision making processes, to learn from one another, and to promote change. Establishing a relationship with an "intermediary organization" can provide much needed stability and sustainability…

This study explored the importance of using relevant measures when evaluating the effectiveness of early childhood interventions. Data from the federally-funded evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program were used to examine whether the behavior measure, the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), was an appropriate tool for the diverse…

The present longitudinal study employed two distinctive approaches (variable-oriented and person-oriented) to examine low-income children's academic and social functioning across the important transition from pre-k to first grade. Participants included 152 former urban Head Start children. Variable-oriented and person-oriented approaches were…

This study examined whether parental involvement in children's science schoolwork (i.e., discussions about science, homework helping and encouragement of science interest) varies for boys and girls, and how these behaviors relate to children's science achievement beliefs (i.e., ability perceptions and task-value) at the end of a school year. We…

This study investigated the links between racial discrimination and school engagement and the roles of racial socialization and ethnic identity as protective factors in those linkages in a sample of 148, sixth through twelfth grade African American adolescents from working and middle-class two-parent families. In home interviews, youth described…

Cluster analyses and hierarchical linear modeling were used to investigate the impact of perceptions of connectedness to family, school, and neighborhood contexts on academic and psycho-social outcomes for 437 urban ethnically diverse adolescents. Five profiles of connectedness to family, school, and neighborhood were identified. Two profiles were…

The goal of this study was to explore the longitudinal associations between youth activity participation and adjustment over the high school years by examining (a) correlations between participation and adjustment growth curves, and (b) bidirectional links between participation and adjustment from one year to the next. Participation was…

Social and behavioral problems can interfere with a child's acquisition of age-appropriate skills, which may lead to antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood. Thus, determining how best to support positive skills during early childhood is critical. Using data from the first three phases of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth…

We investigate whether the intervention designed by Kuhn and Udell (2003) to develop argument skills could be implemented productively among adolescent males in a residential juvenile detention facility--boys who were educationally disengaged and severely disadvantaged academically as well as socially. Compared to a control group from the same…