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Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Push Outs -- Children of Color and includes: (1) Partnerships, Not Push Outs--Collaboration is Critical to Dealing with Disparities (Paula Johnson); (2) Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2016-17: High School Attrition Returns to 24 Percent After One Year Bump (Roy L. Johnson); and (3) Supporting LGBTQ Students Faced with Sexual & Gender Harassment (Susan Shaffer and Phyllis Lerner). (Individual articles contain references.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has redoubled attention to the challenges families face in making sure their children are fully prepared and supported in their journey through school. This first of three Quality Counts 2021 installments provides grades and scores for the nation and each state on a range of factors setting students up for success in school and later life, based mostly on federal data from 2019. To provide a more real-time perspective, the EdWeek Research Center offers an original analysis of U.S. Census Bureau surveys from fall 2020 on how families with children in school are coping with stresses from the coronavirus pandemic. Articles in this issue's Quality Counts report include: (1) Nation Notches Progress on Chance-for-Success Index (Sterling C. Lloyd and Alex Harwin); and (2) Census Data Show Impact on Home Learning Environment (Alex Harwin and Yukiko Furuya).

Enrollment forecasting is the central component of effective budget and program planning. The integrated enrollment forecast model is developed to achieve a better understanding of the variables affecting student enrollment and, ultimately, to perform accurate forecasts. The transfer function model of the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) methodology and linear regression model are major forecasting techniques. The structural approach embedded in the models allows the researcher to construct candidate models, eliminate inappropriate ones, and retain the most suitable model. In addition, the expert system for the ARIMA model is a supplementary tool used to verify the resulting models in terms of model structure and forecasting accuracy. The enrollment series of interest is the 1962-2004 student enrollment for Oklahoma State University (OSU). Fifteen independent variables are used in an attempt to increase explanatory power. These variables include demographics (Oklahoma high school graduates and competitor college enrollment from the University of Oklahoma), state funding, economic indicators, (e.g., state unemployment rate and gross national product), and one-year lagged demographics and economic indicators. The best ARIMA and linear regression models yield remarkably high R-squared values and exceptionally small mean absolute percentage errors (MAPEs), respectively. Moreover, they contain two identical demographics: Oklahoma high school graduates and one-year lagged OSU enrollment. Hence, the first-order autoregressive models appropriately depict the longitudinal and aggregated OSU enrollment series. An additional linear regression model shows that one-year lagged Oklahoma high school graduates and three economic indicators significantly contribute to OSU enrollment. This integrated enrollment forecast model has demonstrated its model validity and accuracy. Hence, it could be replicated for comparable universities elsewhere. (A bibliography is included. Contains 5 figures and 4 tables.)

Culture and systemic change are paramount to achieving significant and long-lasting gains in child and youth wellbeing and, in time, securing the future of our nation. This brief, based on a high-level synthesis of eight years of experience and research in place-based family strengthening, makes the case for a national transformation to a society that visibly promotes families, the most important asset shaping outcomes for children and youth. At the individual family level, evidence shows that children and youth thrive when three fundamental elements are present: nurturing relationships, financial stability, and positive connections. Making the family fundamentals a strong reality for the vast majority of Americans will occur only through a shift from a culture that "values" families to a society in which policies and practices reflect that value. What can prompt this cultural transformation? Macro recommendations include leadership from agencies serving children, youth, and families; public will campaigns; and policy and practice changes in multiple community sectors (e.g., youth development, human services, employment, faith, community development). The brief also summarizes promising approaches for creating the conditions for families to develop the three fundamentals. (Contains 63 endnotes and 4 figures.) [Document published by Family Strengthening Policy Center, National Human Services Assembly.]

The second "Every Child, Every Promise" research brief examines the association between a family's income and the presence of the Five Promises in their child's life. The report documents the Promise gap that exists between children in low-income families and those in higher income families. Although parents in low-income families are typically providing a safe, nurturing, and caring home for their children, these families need supports outside their homes to ensure that their children have the stimulating and educational experiences that lead to better academic and social outcomes. (Contains 3 footnotes and 3 tables.) [For the first "Every Child, Every Promise" issue brief, see ED505398.]

Over the past 30 years, welfare and other public programs for poor families have focused increasingly on promoting parents' self-sufficiency by requiring and supporting employment. Evidence from a diverse set of random-assignment experiments now reveals some of the conditions under which promoting work among low-income, single parents helps or hurts children. This report summarizes the results of recent research conducted as part of the Next Generation Project, a collaboration between researchers at MDRC and several leading research universities, which draws on data from welfare and employment experiments launched in the early 1990s aimed at increasing the self-sufficiency of low-income parents in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to providing evidence for policymakers to assess evolving welfare policies, this research helps advance our understanding of the effects of parents' economic circumstances and child care arrangements on the development of low-income children. A prior SRCD policy report on this topic (Morris, 2002) provided evidence that the effects of welfare policies on younger children in the short term (two to three years after parents entered the program) depended on the type of policy and its resulting effects on parents' employment and income (see also Morris, Huston, Duncan, Crosby, & Bos, 2001; Morris & Duncan, 2002). Programs that increased both employment and income had beneficial effects on school achievement for a broad group of preschool and early school-age children. Programs that increased employment alone had few effects, either positive or negative, on these young children. Subsequent work showed that these same policies had negative effects for adolescents (Gennetian et al., 2002). This report summarizes three types of new findings regarding the effects on younger children: (1) The precise pattern of effects of welfare and employment programs on school achievement across the ages and stages of childhood--i.e., from toddlerhood to, from preschool to middle childhood, and from early to later middle childhood; (2) The longer-term effects on the achievement of preschoolers--up to five years after their parents were randomly assigned to a welfare and employment program; and (3) An analysis of the role of increased income and increased use of center-based child care arrangements as mediating pathways of the effects of welfare and employment programs on the achievement of preschoolers. Owing to space limitations we confine our discussion to results on children who were assigned to programs prior to their adolescent years. Readers should bear in mind that there are different, and more negative, impacts for older children that our future research will aim to understand better. Overall, our analysis shows that younger children--those who are ages 2-5 when their parents enter a program--show small improvements in their school achievement when their parents participate in a program that includes earnings supplements, a benefit that is reduced as program effects on parents' economic outcomes decline. These effects on children appear to be due to increased family income and, perhaps, to increased use of center-based child care arrangements. (Contains 5 figures and 6 footnotes.)

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher education issues. This issue of "National CrossTalk" contains the following articles: (1) Texas Returns to Affirmative Action: Readjustment and Confusion in the Aftermath of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions (Carl Irving); (2) Can Athletics and Academics Coexist? Colleges and Universities Wrestle with Big-Time Sports (Don Campbell); (3) A Helping Hand: The Community College of Denver Reaches Out to First-Generation Students (Kay Mills); and (4) Ambitious Agenda: Michael Crow Has Brought an Entrepreneurial Spirit to Arizona State University (Kathy Witkowsky). Other Voices, a regularly featured section, presents: (1) Access Denied: Low-Income Students Are Hit Hardest by the Latest Round of Tuition Hikes and Budget Cuts (David L. Kirp); (2) The Business We're in: When Standard Formulas Fail, the Work of Policymakers Has Got to Change (Gordon K. Davies); and (3) "Policy Speak" in the Crosshairs: Jargon-Heads Face Friendly Fire (Todd Sallo). "Responding to the Crisis in College Opportunity," a special supplement to "National CrossTalk," is also included.

This digest, which is based on findings from a large variety of studies, reviews the known effects of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 on children to date and discusses the Act's possible future effects. Federal statistics show a positive trend in poverty reduction, though other sources are not optimistic that the trend will persist, noting that former welfare recipients often get jobs resulting in no more family income than welfare payments and offering none of the health care or other benefits previously available through assistance programs. Transitioning workers often cycle in and out of employment, leaving their families without any earned income for periods of time and ineligible for government assistance. Families need disposable income to provide children with educational and recreational enrichment at home and offset the negative effects of living in disadvantaged communities. Many researchers assert that of all the potential benefits of welfare reform, the most important by far is increasing family income. Important public and family resources needed to support child development include options for improving school readiness, availability of after-school and summer programs, and efforts to improve parenting skills in order to support children's learning. (Contains 10 references.) (SM)

This digest uses recent statistics, including Census 2000 data, to synthesize information on Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) children and families. The APIA population is diverse, and APIA groups vary widely in language, religion, beliefs, and health practices. The percentage of foreign born differs widely among APIA groups. The U.S. west is home to nearly half of all APIAs. Nearly one-third of APIAs reside in California, and over two-thirds of Hawaii's population consists of APIAs. Many first-generation APIAs established their own communities within American cities. Local services developed in these communities allowed APIAs of a single ethnicity to learn English and transition into a new life, with cultural and linguistic support benefiting families who remained in the communities. Educational completion rates differ widely among APIA groups. As a group, APIAs share no common language. Nearly two-thirds speak a non-English language at home. Support for English language learning and translation services is limited for APIAs. In 1997, the overall median income of APIA families and non-Hispanic whites was comparable, though there was great economic diversity among APIA groups. Employment and unemployment rates of APIAs in 1999 were equivalent to those of non-Hispanic whites, with APIAs more concentrated in managerial and professional specialty occupations than non-Hispanic whites. (SM)

This issue of "The Future of Children" examines whether programs implemented by the federal welfare reform law accomplished the goal of reducing the number of children growing up in poor, single-parent families and whether these programs benefited children. This examination coincides with debates in Congress on the reauthorization of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. This collection of articles includes "Statement of Purpose" (Richard E. Behrman); "Children and Welfare Reform: Analysis and Recommendations" (Margie K. Shields and Richard E. Behrman); "The 1996 Welfare Law: Key Elements and Reauthorization Issues Affecting Children" (Mark H. Greenberg, Jodie Levin-Epstein, Rutledge Q. Hutson, Theodora J. Ooms, Rachel Schumacher, Vicki Turetsky, and David Engstrom); "Reforms and Child Development" (Aletha C. Huston); "Experimental Studies on Welfare Reform and Children" (Martha J. Zaslow, Kristin A. Moore, Jennifer L. Brooks, Pamela A. Morris, Kathryn Tout, Zakia A. Redd, and Carol A. Emig); "Welfare Reform and Child Care Options for Low-Income Families" (Bruce Fuller, Sharon L. Kagan, Gretchen L. Caspary, and Christiane A. Gauthier); "Family Economic Resources in the Post-Reform Era" (Sheila Rafferty Zedlewski); "Welfare Reform, Fertility, and Father Involvement" (Sara S. McLanahan and Marcia J. Carlson); "Welfare Reform and Parenting: Reasonable Expectations" (P. Lindsay Chase-Landsdale and Laura D. Pittman); and "Five Commentaries: Looking to the Future" (Wendell E. Primus, Ron Haskins, Fernando A. Guerra, Eloise Anderson, and Barbara B. Blum). (SM)

This issue of WIN (Welfare Information Network) Issue Notes addresses what populations programs that provide services to incarcerated and released noncustodial parents should target, the support services that should be provided, and where and when these services can be most beneficial. Section 1 offers background. Section 2 answers these policy questions: why there is a need to develop programs and provide services to help noncustodial parents recently released from prison; how a flexible state child support system can be designed while following the federal guidelines; what kinds of services can be provided to noncustodial parents to prepare them to pay child support upon release; which entities should be involved in assisting felons; and how programs for currently and formerly incarcerated noncustodial parents can be funded. Section 3 summarizes findings of a study on experiences of fathers in prison for nonpayment of child support and an evaluation of a Denver community-based organization that provides support services to formerly imprisoned noncustodial parents. Section 4 describes innovative practices in Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and Volunteers of America. Nine resource contacts and eight publications are listed. (YLB)

This document is a collection of 12 issues of a monthly report on public policy and programs affecting postsecondary educational opportunity. Each issue contains two or three research articles analyzing postsecondary educational trends. Titles of articles include: "Students with Educational Disabilities"; "Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections: 1994 to 2005"; "Pell Grant Program Participation by State: 1993-1994"; "Freshman-to-Sophomore Persistence by Institutional Level, Control and Academic Selectivity"; "Fiscal Year 1996 State Budget Actions"; "Institutional Graduation Rates by Degree Level, Control and Academic Selectivity"; "Black Males in College or Behind Bars in the United States, 1980 to 1994"; "Earnings of Mid-Career Bachelor's Degree Holders by Major Field of Study in 1993"; "Children, Family Income and College Affordability"; "Public and Private Institutional Charges at Different Levels of Family Income, 1970 to 1994"; "Family Income by Educational Attainment of Householder, 1956 to 1994"; "College Affordability Concerns of College Freshmen Greatest in 30 Years"; "Academic Preparation for College by Gender, Race/Ethnicity and Family Income"; "College Freshmen Numbers Up but Reasons Differ from Past Growth Sources"; "Voting Rates by Educational Attainment"; "Chance for College by Age 19 by State in 1994"; "Federal Income Taxes Paid by College Educated Taxpayers, 1970 to 1994"; "Trends and Patterns in Interstate Migration Of College Freshmen"; "Freshmen Enrolling in College Farther from Home"; "Fiscal Year 1997 State Appropriations for Higher Education: A Year to Cherish"; "High School Grades of College Freshmen: Who Gets What Grades?"; "Pell Grant Program Participation"; "Clinton's Tuition Tax Breaks: Bad Tax Policy, Worse Education Policy"; "Political Engagement of College Students, 1966 to 1995"; "Family Income by Educational Attainment of Householder, 1956 to 1995"; "State Tax Fund Appropriations for Higher Education for Fiscal Year 1997 (and Beyond)"; "Institutional Graduation Rates by Pre-College Academic Records"; "The Story Told by the National Income and Product Accounts"; "Federal, State, Private and Institutional Financial Aid by State, 1994-95." (CH)

This document is a collection of 12 issues of a monthly publication on public policy and postsecondary education opportunity. Each issue contains one or two main articles providing an analysis of research on trends in postsecondary education. The major articles in these issues are: (1) "The Challenge of Educational Opportunity in Public Policy: Doing Much More with Much Less"; (2) "Net Interstate Migration of Pell Grant Recipients"; (3) "'I Worked my Way Through College. You Should Too.'"; (4) "Updating the Refinancing of Higher Education Through the National Income and Product Accounts: The Cost Shift to Students Accelerates"; (5) "Parental Educational Attainment and Chance for College: Surprise, Kids! Parents Do Matter!"; (6) "Institutional Graduation Rates: Important Information Often Misused"; (7) "For Some...Anxiety About Affordability... More than Others"; (8) "Private Correlates of Educational Attainment" (9) "Educational Attainment: It's All a Matter of Degrees" (10) "Income and Educational Attainment by Gender: Where More Really Means More"; (11) "Student Price Response Coefficients: Public Policy and Social Science"; (12) "1994 High School Graduates Entered College at 1991-1993 Rates: But the Numbers Are Up"; (13) "Why Freshmen Enroll in College: Getting Ready For Life"; (14) "Academic Core Course Completion by High School Graduates, 1982 to 1992: Academic Preparation for College"; (15) "The Growing Importance of Financial Considerations in College Choice: 1980 to 1994" (16) "Tax Effort in the United States: Private Wealth, Public Poverty"; (17) "What's Wrong with the Guys?: The Question Many Women Ponder"; (18) "State Appropriations for Need Based Undergraduate Grant Programs, FY 1994 to FY1996: Targeting State Investments on Needy Students"; (19) "Ranking the States: Outreach Efforts to Low Income Students: Some Do it Better, Some Do it Worse"; (20) "Starting Salaries of College Graduates 1947 to 1995: Return on Investment"; (21) "Educational Attainment by Family Income 1970 to 1994: Savage Inequalities"; (22) "State Tax Fund Appropriations for Higher Education for FY1996: Declining Social Investment in Higher Education"; (23) "Applicants for Title IV Federal Student Financial Aid: Seeking Financial Help to Attend College"; and (24) "Private Economic Benefits and Costs of Baccalaureate Education, 1975 to 1994: Is College Still Worth It? For Whom?" (JB)

This newsletter issue focuses on the basic sliding fee child care program, outlining the need for child care assistance, explaining how the program costs less than public assistance, examining the effects on families waiting for the program, providing an overview of how the program currently works with a county-by-county analysis (a 2-page chart accompanies this section), and offering recommendations for policymakers, citizens, employers, child advocates, and other citizens. Vignettes of individual family experiences highlight the individual articles. (AP)

This newsletter issue focuses on welfare reform and programs that help low-income children in Minnesota, including articles on the basic values which should guide welfare reform; current welfare reform proposals; the cost of welfare; the role of charities and the religious community; an overview of programs in Minnesota which assist low-income children; and a two-page chart showing the county-by-county analysis of the number of children aided by these programs. A section on what citizens can do about welfare reform is included. The second section contains an extended analysis of the effects on Minnesota of the U.S. House of Representatives' Welfare Reform Plan, including discussions of programs affected by proposed legislation. Definitions of several terms are included, and several articles contain references. (AP)

This document is a collection of 12 issues of a monthly newsletter on public policy and postsecondary education opportunity trends. Each issue contains one or two main articles providing an analysis of research on trends in postsecondary education. The major articles in these issues are: (1) "Children, Family Income and College Affordability"; (2) "Whose Responsibility Is It? Shifting Responsibilities for Financing Higher Education from Government to Individuals"; (3) "Choose the Suburbs...Maybe: Chance for College by Metropolitan Status"; (4) "Up, Up and Away...Institutional Charges"; (5) "Financial Need of College Freshmen Under the New Federal Methodology"; (6) "State Financial Aid Grant Allocation Models 1993-94"; (7) "State Need-Based Grant Coverage of Pell Grant Recipients"; (8) "State Tax Fund Appropriations for Higher Education Continued 15 Year Declines in 1993-94"; (9) "Hispanic Educational Progress: turning the Corner, Bus So Far To Go..."; (10) "State Student Incentive Grant Program: On the Chopping Block, Again"; (11) Every Year...More Unequal: Family Income Differences Influence Educational Opportunity at Every Step Toward Bachelor's Degree"; (12) "25 Year Slide...Where Will It End? State Colleges and Universities Share of State Government Expenditures Declines Further in 1992"; (13) "For Most...But Not for All: College Continuation Rate for Recent High School Graduates Reached Record in 1993"; (14) "Academic Preparation for College by Family Income Background"; (15) "Passing...The Buck: Restructuring Higher Education Finance; Shifting Financial Responsibility from Taxpayers to Students"; (16) "Part-Time College Enrollment: It's Mostly a Matter of Age"; (17) "FY1995 State Appropriations for Higher Education: Looking Better, But That isn't Saying Much"; (18) "Biting the Hand...that Feeds: Federal Income Taxes Paid by College Educated Workers 1970 to 1991"; (19) "Raising Tuitions Tuitions...To Build Prisons: Infatuation with Incarceration"; (20) "Chance for College by Age 19 by State in 1992"; (21) "Retrenchment in Allocation of State Resources to Public Higher Education Paused in FY1995"; (22) "Going Way Away...to College: Interstate Migration of College Freshmen"; and (23) "Reach Out...and Touch Someone: TRIO Outreaching." The first of these issues contains an index to issues 1-18. (JB)

This report highlights recent and projected economic trends that affect higher education, focusing on national economic conditions, government support for higher education, students' ability to pay for college, and labor market trends. It found that the U.S. economy, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP), is projected to grow at a slightly slower rate between 1992 and 2005 than it did during the 1979-1992 period. The share of GDP spent on higher education reached 3.1 percent in 1992, up from 2.6 percent in 1980. Between 1980 and 1993, federal appropriations for higher education, including research, increased from $30 billion to $33 billion in constant 1993 dollars. However, federal appropriations per full-time equivalent student decreased by about 9 percent in terms of constant 1993 dollars. The share of personal income that went to low- and middle-income families declined between 1980 and 1992, with their savings as a percentage of disposable income also declining. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that, with the exception of jobs in the service sector, the jobs expected to experience the most growth between 1992 and 2005 will require high levels of education. (MDM)

This report examined the demographic characteristics, educational attainment, language ability, labor force participation, and income levels of citizen and non-citizen immigrants in the United States in 1990. Based on recent census data, the report found that the foreign-born population of the United States, at nearly 20 million, is growing 4 times faster than the total U.S. population, and is the fastest growing segment of the population. Nearly 2.2 million immigrant children were enrolled in the nation's elementary and secondary schools, and about 2 million immigrants were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities. Nearly half of all immigrants reported that they did not speak English "very well," and 28 percent reported they lived in households where very little or no English was spoken. About 20 percent of all immigrants in the civilian labor force were employed in managerial and professional fields. Of this figure, 44 percent were employed in health services and 29 percent were in educational services. As many as 45 percent of immigrants had household incomes lower than $25,000, and 15 percent of all immigrant families lived in poverty. (MDM)

This newsletter issue focuses on the roles played by higher education finance and student financial aid in ensuring broad access to higher education. Specifically, the report discusses trends in family income and college costs that affect the need for student aid. The report finds that income remains a primary determinant of students' educational opportunities. Students from higher income families enroll in college at rates three to four times greater than students from lower income families. Government student aid programs have not successfully overcome financial barriers to college and significantly increased the college enrollment rates of students from lower income families. Colleges themselves, through institutionally funded grants, provide an important part of the access currently available to low-income students. College is becoming less and less affordable for lower income and middle income families. Because a high and increasing proportion of all American children are in lower income families, their access to college is likely to erode unless action is taken. Overcoming the financial barriers to college will require increasing amounts of student aid and guidelines that carefully target aid to the neediest students. Seventeen graphs present college-going rates by family income, percent of young adults enrolled in college, and trends in college costs. (JDD)

This bulletin explores the social, economic, and demographic trends that have contributed to the changing structure of the American family. Sections of the document discuss: (1) definitions of household and family; (2) types of families, including married couples with and without children and single-parent families; (3) living arrangements of children, young adults, and the elderly; (4) demographic data pertaining to marriage, and trends in marriage, divorce, and remarriage; (5) childbearing patterns, including issues of family size, teenage parents, unmarried mothers, and adoption; (6) the changing roles of wives, husbands, children, and grandparents; (7) the economic well-being of families, including a consideration of topics of family income, poverty rates, and income inequalities by social class, educational level, and race; and (8) the future of the American family. Numerous black and white photographs are included, and a reference list of 94 items and a list of 20 additional suggested readings are appended. (BC)

This document is a compilation of the first 18 issues of a newsletter on public policy and postsecondary education opportunity trends. Each monthly issue contains one or two main articles providing an analysis of research on trends in postsecondary education. The major articles in these issues are: (1) "Equity of Higher Education Opportunity: Women Reached Equity with Men in 1991 But Progress for Hispanics and Blacks Stalled for Last 15 Years"; (2) "Higher Education's Share of State Budgets Declined Again in 1990 as it Has for Most Years Since 1968"; (3) State Policies on Educational Opportunity through State Student Financial Aid Laws"; (4) "Top Quartile Ten Times More Likely to Earn Baccalaureate Degree by Age 24 than Students From Bottom Quartile of Family Income"; (5) "The National Education Goal of a 90 Percent High School Graduation Rate"; (6) "Women Surpassed Men in Four-Year College Attainment in 1991 Following Five Decades of Steady Progress"; (7) "Growth in College Enrollment Rates During 1980s Limited to Americans Under Age 25"; (8) "What is Wrong with Washington State? Statewide Enrollment Limits Gone Amuck"; (9) "College Entrance Rates for Recent High School Graduates Reached Record Levels in 1991--Except for Men and Blacks"; (10) Tuition's Share of Expenditures for Student Education in Higher Education Rose Sharply During 1980s"; (11) "Things Go from Bad to Worse" (recent public policy decisions which effectively curtail postsecondary education opportunities); (12) Blacks Make Progress in High School Graduation and College Access But Colleges Offset Gains with 25 Years of Declining College Completion" (13) Measuring College Affordability"; (14) "Downsizing the Military" (implications for higher education); (15) Higher Education Amendments of 1992: Report of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives"; (16) "Hispanics Are Less Than Half as Likely as Whites to Complete Four Years of College--and Slipping Farther Behind"; (17) "Target Populations to Achieve the National Goal of a 90 Percent High School Graduation Rate"; (18) The State Record and Outlook for Fiscal Year 1994 for Financing Postsecondary Education Opportunity"; "Focus on the States...Changes for College by Age 19 Show Strong Geographic Patterns"; (20) "Education Equity Index Update...No Progress for Blacks and Hispanics on Equity in 1992"; (21)"The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get... Disparities in Higher Education Opportunity across Family Income Levels Were Huge and Growing in 1991"; (22) "But a Quarter Didn't...Nearly Three-Quarters of College Freshmen Enrolled in First Choice of College in 1992"; (23) "The Outreach Market...Parental Educational Attainment Drives Educational Attainment of their Children"; (24) "What Else was There To Do? High School Graduates of 1992 Entered College by October at Record Rates, Again"; (25) "Up, Up and Away...Affordability Concerns Re-emerge among American College Freshmen in 1992"; (26) "It Helps To be...Family Income Backgrounds Continue to Determine Chances for Baccalaureate Degree in 1992"; (27) "The Launching Pad...Economic Stratification of Higher Education Enrollments is Alive and Thriving in 1992"; and (28) "Half Full? No! Half Empty! Blacks Still Only Half as Likely as Whites To Attain Baccalaureate Degree." (JB)

This document presents data on the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the Hispanic origin population in the United States obtained through the March 1991 supplement to the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of the Census. Differences are highlighted in selected characteristics of Hispanic Americans compared between March 1991 and March 1983, the end of the last recessionary period, and the first year after the Census Bureau introduced Hispanic American population controls based on the 1980 Census. Some of the principal findings include the following: (1) the labor force participation rate of Hispanic origin males in March 1991 was higher than that of Non-Hispanic males; (2) the proportion of Hispanic Americans 25 years or older who had completed 4 years of high school or more was 51 percent in 1991, 5 percent higher than 1983; (3) the aggregate before tax money income of Hispanic American households in 1990 increased by 70 billion since 1982; (4) a higher proportion of Hispanic American families had incomes of $50,000 or more in 1990 than in 1982; (5) over one third of Hispanic American children were living in poverty; and (6) of all persons in poverty in 1990, the proportion who were children under 18 years old was larger for Hispanic Americans. The report includes two text tables, four graphs, and four detailed tables. Appendices contain definitions and explanations, information on data source and accuracy, and data collection instrument facsimiles. (JB)

This research brief highlights student employment trends and their implications for higher education, and identifies major sources of national data on the subject. Text and tables provide data on: (1) number and percentage of college students employed, by age range, for 1988; (2) changes in the number and percent of employed college students, from 1972 to 1988; (3) percent of students in the work force by family income, by type of institution, and by race/ethnicity; (4) hours worked per week; (5) kinds of jobs held by college students; and (6) average earnings. Data highlights include: the percentage of employed full-time students aged 16 to 24 has risen from 35 percent in 1972 to 46.5 percent in 1988; 62 percent of students of all ages are working; and full-time students who are employed are working an average of 20 hours a week. Implications of student employment are noted, including the growth of part-time study, the growth in duration of study, and lower levels of participation in college activities. Descriptions of three data resources and a bibliography of nine items are provided. (JDD)

Can the contemporary family's problems be solved in ways that seemed effective in the past? The extent to which the family has changed argues in the negative. The American family has been stripped of two of its traditional social functions: serving as a unit for economic production and as a school for the vocational training of children. The first function has been usurped by commercial firms, the second by the state. The family is no longer an interdependent economic unit to which all members contribute. Women's roles in the family have been transformed, and the salience of the family has been markedly reduced. In the modal American family of the 1980s and 1990s, both parents work outside the home. Consequently, children have less time than before to spend with parents. Many children grow up in economic poverty: 21 percent of U.S. children are poor. Among parents under 30 years of age, the figure is 35 percent. Even grimmer, 75 percent of the children of young single-parent families live in poverty. Four policy initiatives are needed to provide family support in these conditions: (1) measures to protect young mothers and their children against poverty; (2) paid parental leave after childbirth; (3) assured access to high quality infant and child day care; and (4) education in parenthood. While implementation of these policies is no panacea, it will cushion children against poverty. (RH)

The purpose of "Focus" is to provide coverage of poverty-related research, events, and issues, and to acquaint a large audience with the work of the Institute for Research on Poverty by means of short essays on selected pieces of research. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Progress toward Improving the U.S. Poverty Measure: Developing the New Supplemental Poverty Measure (David Johnson); (2) Measuring Poverty in Wisconsin (Joanna Marks, Julia Isaacs, Katherine Thornton, and Timothy Smeeding); (3) How Well Do We Understand Achievement Gaps? (Eric A. Hanushek); (4) Transfers and Taxes and the Low-Income Population: Policy and Research Trends (Richard Burkhauser, Robert Moffitt, and John Karl Scholz); (5) Revisiting an Old Question: How Much Does Parental Income Affect Child Outcomes? (Susan E. Mayer); and (6) An Alien Parachutes into Economic Research on Low-Income Populations (Thomas D. Cook). Individual articles contain tables, figures and footnotes.

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "A Tipping Point in Education": Report Finds Educational Attainment of Younger Generations Has Not Increased; (2) Building a Healthier America: New Report Stresses Importance of Mother's Education and Family's Income to Child's Health; (3) Warning Signs: Issue Brief Describes Key Indicators That a Student is At Risk of Dropping Out; and (4) But What to do with Dropouts?: New Report Examines Ways to Reengage Dropouts and Put Them on a Pathway to a Good Job.

This volume examines conceptual frameworks and models that flow from scholars' definitions and operationalizations of social class: status attainment theory, human capital theory, the financial nexus model, Bourdieuian theory, and critical race theory. Since students often have multiple social locations that affect their educational process, the author looks at students' multiple identities, including examining the synergistic effects of being from a particular social class location while also belonging to specific racial and ethnic groups. She also explores how gender intersects with social class and racial/ethnic identities to shape college access, experiences, and outcomes. Because students' actions are made within an institutional context, the volume then turns to the contributions of organizational responses and policies specific to this group of students. Finally, the volume concludes with implications and recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. In order to draw those conclusions on how to increase the numbers of low-socioeconomic-status students who attend and graduate from colleges and universities, it is critical to first understand how researchers, policymakers, and practitioners define these students.

"ES Review" brings together in one publication recent Education Sector work that reflects both the reach of its policy projects and its commitment to translating the complexities of education policymaking for a wide range of audiences. Articles in this first edition of "ES Review" are: (1) Community College Confidential (Robert Margolis); (2) Staying Power: Teach for America Alumni in Public Education (Bridget Kelly); (3) Teachers Unions as Agents of Reform: An Interview with Brad Jupp; (4) The Black-White College Literacy Gap (Kevin Carey); (5) Colleges Giving More Financial Aid to Wealthy Students (Kevin Carey); (6) Challenged Index (Andrew J. Rotherham and Sara Mead); (7) Hot Air (Kevin Carey); (8) The Truth about Boys and Girls (Sara Mead); (9) Margins of Error (Thomas Toch); (10) Five Experts Square Off; (11) Learning on the Job: A Review (Bill Tucker); (11) Education Dragonslayer: A Review (Andrew J. Rotherham); (12) "65 Percent Solution" Doesn't Add Up (Kevin Carey); (13) Virtual Schools, Real Innovation (Andrew J. Rotherham); (14) Hollow Victory for Voucher Foes (Andrew J. Rotherham); (15) Here Today, Here Tomorrow (Elena Silva); (16) Expand the Pool of America's Future Scientists (Kevin Carey and Andrew J. Rotherham); (17) Now It's Time to Work on an Effective Preschool Program (Sara Mead); (18) Time to Take a Deep Breath: It's OK to Criticize the President, but Ranting Isn't Teaching (Andrew J. Rotherham); and (19) World Cup 2007: Thanks Title IX (Elena Silva).

These three issues of 2000-2001 "Focus" present a collection of papers focusing on issues related to poverty. The first issue discusses child support enforcement policy and low-income families, highlighting such issues as fragile families and child wellbeing; low-income families and the child support enforcement system; child support enforcement policies and never-married mothers; reshaping child support strategies for welfare families; the welfarization of family law; and child support policy regimes in the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries. The second issue focuses on understanding poverty, including such topics as mobility, persistence, and the intergenerational determinants of children's success; health policies for the nonelderly poor; reducing poverty through human capital investments; redefining the social contract for poor citizen families with children; housing discrimination and residential segregation as causes of poverty; and the role of group affiliations in determining socioeconomic outcomes. The third issue highlights such topics as evaluating welfare reform in an era of transition; the private food assistance network; medical spending, health insurance, and the measurement of U.S. poverty; incarceration, unemployment, and inequality; racial disparities in imprisonment; and United States poverty in a cross-national context. (SM)

The rising number of multi-earner families has been one of the most important socioeconomic developments of the 1970s; since 1970, the number of such families has increased by more than 3 million. Almost exclusively responsible for the rising number of multi-earner families have been the steep annual increases in the number and proportion of working wives. Since 1970, the number of wives in the work force has increased by one-third (to nearly 24 million). Many of the working wives were also working mothers, since 16.6 million or 54 percent of the women with children under 18 were working; 79 percent of divorced mothers worked in March 1979. Among the most striking changes that occurred during the 1970s was the sharp rise in the number of working women heading one-parent families (one of seven families in 1979). Tables in this report contain data on workers by race, sex, age, marital status, Hispanic origin, presence and age of children, number of wage-earners in family, contributions of wife's earnings, family income, single-parent family income, occupation, and full- or part-time employment. (KC)

Compiled to give readers information on current research in household production, this special issue focuses on the family as a provider of goods and services. It includes five feature articles, a summary of a survey of American farm women, and a brief analysis of sources of time-use data for estimating the value of household production. Covered in the first article is the household and farm task participation of women. The work load of married women is also examined. Measuring household production for the Gross National Product is the subject of the next article. Also discussed is the relationship of time, dual careers, and household productivity. New methods are described for studying household production. The final feature article deals with the issue of whether or not the modern housewife is a lady of leisure. Also included are a summary of a study on the use of time in rural and urban families and data on food costs in various regions of the United States. (MN)