Merrill-Palmer Quarterly articles from April 2006

Merrill-Palmer Quarterly archives from April 2006

In service to children and youth: foreword to the special issue.(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... I am pleased to introduce this special issue of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, which brings together research and reflections on urban children's health, development, and education presented at Wayne State University's first national biennial...

Bridging campus to community in the lives of urban children and youth: introduction to the special issue.
April 1, 2006... This special issue brings together papers presented at a conference, "Promoting the Well-Being of Children and Youth in Urban America," held on the campus of Wayne State University in April 2004. These articles highlight multidisciplinary,...

Meeting children's needs: how does the United States measure up?
April 1, 2006... The majority of parents in the United States today must balance work and care-giving responsibilities. Workplace policies and community supports markedly influence the ability of parents to care for their children's health and education while...

Language, school functioning, and behavior among African American urban kindergartners.
April 1, 2006... Significant relations among language impairments, academic difficulties, and behavioral problems have been well established in previous research, primarily with impaired children or non-minority samples. However, how and why these three...

Effects of home and school computer use on school readiness and cognitive development among head start children: a randomized controlled pilot trial.
April 1, 2006... Data from 122 Head Start children were analyzed to examine the impact of computer use on school readiness and psychomotor skills. Children in the experimental group were given the opportunity to work on a computer for 15-20 minutes per day with...

Violence exposure, IQ, academic performance, and children's perception of safety: evidence of protective effects.
April 1, 2006... Community violence exposure (CVE), a critical urban problem, is associated with negative academic outcomes. Children who report feeling safe, however, may perform better than those who do not. The purpose of this study was to examine the...

Gaining options: a mathematics program for potentially talented at-risk adolescent girls.
April 1, 2006... In response to indicators that a decline in interest in mathematics occurs among girls--particularly those from low-income and minority groups--during middle school, the GO-GIRL (Gaining Options: Girls Investigate Real Life) program was...

Predictors of early substance use among African American and Caucasian youth from urban and suburban communities.
April 1, 2006... The deleterious effects of early substance use have been well documented. Past research has produced mixed results regarding the extent to which the profile of risk differs for urban African American and suburban Caucasian youth. Sixth graders...

Predictors of Arab American adolescent tobacco use.
April 1, 2006... This study examined personal, psychosocial, sociocultural, and environmental predictors in tobacco use for 1,671 Arab American adolescents. Cigarette smoking in the past 30 days was 6.9%. This increased from 1% at age 14 to 14% at age 18....

Trials, tribulations, and occasional jubilations while conducting research with homeless children, youth, and families.
April 1, 2006... A personal account of a program of research on homelessness and poverty spanning the past 20 years is provided, with a focus on the many methodological, practical, and ethical difficulties encountered. Interesting discoveries and enjoyable...

How can basic research on children and families be useful for the policy process?
April 1, 2006... Basic research can inform social policy in a number of ways. First, it can draw the attention of policy makers to problems. Second, it can deflect policy makers away from focusing on issues that are not really problems. Third, it can help...