Explaining the association of race and ethnicity with the HIV/AIDS-related attitudes,behaviors and skills of high school students

This study deals with intervening factors such as family composition, religiosity, and HIV/AIDS knowledge in understanding the association of race and ethnicity with HIV/AIDS-related attitudes and behaviors. Data represent Wave 1 of a five-month panel design involving 10th grade students in eight public high schools in Dade County (greater Miami) Florida. Significant differences in attitudes and behaviors were found among racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, Hispanics had more negative attitudes about condom use than blacks or whites. Whites had the most permissive, and blacks the least permissive, sexual attitudes. Hispanics felt least confident and blacks felt most confident about interpersonal sexual skills. Blacks were most likely to have had sexual intercourse, and whites least likely. Religiosity was found to be a significant intervening variable in the less permissive sexual attitudes of both blacks and Hispanics. The most significant implication of this study is that racial/ethnic differences in sexual behavior can be explained more fully by socio-environmental factors such as family structure or religiosity than by knowledge or attitudes. Thus, interventions directed toward minority populations should focus on the development of alternative social environments that would support more positive behaviors. More specifically, extended family, religious youth groups, and other community organizations should be brought into the HIV/AIDS risk-reduction arena.     

The influence of a multicultural teacher education program on teachers’ multicultural practices

This study examined the multicultural classroom practices of two novice secondary English teachers employed by the same US school district that serves a diverse student population. Findings indicated a high level of consistency between the teachers’ intended multicultural practices and their implemented practices. Based on classroom observations, both teachers implemented the general multicultural practices of critical pedagogy, real life application, student choice, multicultural literature, individual student attention, cultural physical adaptation, active learning and cooperative grouping. The factors supporting multicultural infusion were the teachers’ previous experiences with diverse populations, the teachers’ own previous meaningful high school experiences and the teachers’ backgrounds that were similar to their students. The impeding factors were the structure of the school, time constraints, racism and tracking.     

Innovating in Digital Government in the American States

Objective. The purpose of this research is to examine why some states have embraced digital government more extensively than others. Methods. Multivariate regression analysis is used to empirically test explanations for state innovation in e–government. The primary dependent variable is the percent of state–level government websites offering online services to citizens. Results. Republican–controlled legislatures are more likely to embrace e–government, implying that efficiency concerns may drive reliance on digital government. Innovators in e–government were states with fewer households with Internet access and less use of the initiative process, indicating that citizen demand was not a factor. More extensive use of e–government is also associated with legislative professionalization and professional networks—factors that may be useful for explaining the diffusion of other administrative reforms, and technical issues lacking political salience.
Conclusions. These data suggest e–government implementation is driven by legislative professionalism and, to a lesser extent, state professional networks, rather than citizen demand. These indicators fit Lowi's (1972) conception of "constituent policy" as a top–down process, confined to administrative or legislative circles, compared to distributive, regulatory, and redistributive policy. We hypothesize that other administrative reforms, particularly those lacking political salience, may exhibit similar relationships with legislative professionalization and professional networks.