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Background and Purpose-Research documents that African American and Latinos who have suffered an acute stroke recover more slowly than whites in the United States. This descriptive study examines (a) the racial/ethnic differences in the physical recovery from stroke of African American, Latino, and white stroke survivors over the course of a 2 year period, and (b) the role of caregivers in helping to explain racial/ethnic differences in stroke recovery. Methods-One hundred and thirty-five veterans who had been hospitalized after an acute stroke, released home, and identified an informal caregiver, were enrolled in the study. The racially and ethnically diverse veterans and their caregivers were interviewed at 5 time points over the course of 24 months to assess their recovery. Results- Results indicate linear and quadratic recovery trajectories over 24 months. White recovery is associated with lower caregiver depression, and lower hours of care per week. African American recovery is associated with more hours of caregiver employment and higher levels of patient education. Latino recovery is associated with younger patients, caregivers who do not reside in the home, caregivers who do not receive outside help in providing care, lower caregiver depression, and better caregiver health. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presently, African American students are more likely to drop out of school, obtain poor grades, occupy non-academic tracks, and score lower on standardized test when compared to white students (U.S. Department of Education 2005). Questions have been raised by researchers about the ability of the current teaching force (which is over 90% white) to adequately meet the needs of the growing number of African American and non-white student populations. Qualitative researchers suggest that attitudes about race/ethnicity shape the way that teachers interact with students; that less tolerant racial attitudes can lead to negative treatment and/or unequal social and academic outcomes for many minority students. To date, no studies have systematically examined and documented the racial attitudes of teachers specifically as a group. This study uses the 1994-2004 General Social Surveys to address this gap in the literature by providing an accurate portrait of current white teacher's racial attitudes. Findings suggest that teacher racial attitudes are similar to, and in some cases less tolerant than the racial attitudes of the general population. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research suggests that minority students have greater academic success if their teachers engage in a culturally relevant pedagogy. Teachers that emphasize academic achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness are identified as drawing from this pedagogy. Small samples have limited past researchers ability to identify characteristics of teachers and school contexts where culturally relevant pedagogy is likely to occur. Using surveys from Chicago Public School teachers, this research fills the gap in the literature by quantifying the concept of culturally relevant pedagogy and identifying teacher and school contextual predictors. Findings indicate that teacher characteristics, professional training, classroom attributes, curriculum control, and parent-teacher cooperation all serve as predictors of culturally relevant pedagogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]