Neighborhood characteristics, parental practices and children’s math achievement in elementary school

This paper investigates the relationships among neighborhood characteristics, education-related parental practices, and children’s academic achievement during a critical but under-studied stage of children’s educational trajectories - the elementary school years. Using a large, nationally representative database of American elementary school students - the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) - and contextual data from the 2000 US Census, we examine parental practices and neighborhood characteristics at the beginning of children’s school careers (grades K-1) and their associations with math achievement through the end of the 5th grade. Findings: Net of family-level characteristics, higher levels of early education-oriented parental practices were associated with higher mathematics achievement at the end of 5th grade, while neighborhood disadvantage was associated with lower 5th grade math achievement. Families residing in high poverty, high unemployment, low-education neighborhoods employed fewer education-oriented practices with their kindergarten-first grade children, but the positive effect of such parental practices on children’s mathematics achievement was stronger for children who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods.     

“I wanted a soul mate”: Gendered Anticipation and Frameworks of Accountability in Parents' Preferences for Sons and Daughters

This article draws on qualitative interview data from a diverse sample of parents in New England to explore the preferences they recall having for sons or daughters prior to parenthood. Before their children even arrive, potential parents are not only building the foundation for the gendered interests and tendencies they expect those children to have but also sharpening their sense of themselves as gendered persons, through the connections they anticipate sharing with their future children. Applying Fenstermaker, West, and Zimmerman's (2002) approach to gender as a situated accomplishment, I argue that through their gendered anticipation, parents reproduce a framework of accountability to gendered expectations, casting as essential features of their potential children and themselves gendered tendencies that are better understood as products rather than causes of the interactions parents anticipate. I consider the significance of such anticipation not only for the children these parents eventually raised but also for reproducing the frameworks of accountability that affect other parents and children more broadly.     

Autonomy and relatedness in early adolescent friendships as predictors of short‐ and long‐term academic success

This study examined early adolescent autonomy and relatedness during disagreements with friends as key social competencies likely to predict academic achievement during the transition to high school and academic attainment into early adulthood. A sample of 184 adolescents was followed through age 29 to assess predictions to academic success from observed autonomy and relatedness during a disagreement task with a close friend. Observed autonomy and relatedness at age 13 predicted relative increases in grade point average (GPA) from 13 to 15, and greater academic attainment by age 29, after accounting for baseline GPA. Findings remained after accounting for peer acceptance, social competence, scholastic competence, externalizing and depressive symptoms, suggesting a key role for autonomy, and relatedness during disagreements in helping adolescents navigate challenges in the transition to high school and beyond.     

Differences in disability among older women and men in Egypt and Tunisia

Research on child survival and health has indicated disparities between boys and girls in selected Middle Eastern countries. Health disparities in later life are understudied in this region. In this article, we examine differences between women and men in later-life activity limitation in Egypt and Tunisia. Difficulty executing physical tasks is more common for women than for men in both study sites, although differences are smaller after adjustment for underlying illness. Differences in the difficulty of executing physical tasks also are sensitive to environmental controls in variable ways across the study sites. The findings caution against the sole use of reported disability in comparative studies of gender and aging.     

AIN'T I A FILIPINO (WOMAN)?: An Analysis of Authorship/Authority Through the Construction of “Filipina” on the Net

In this article, I examine the process by which Filipino women's identity was articulated, reified and renegotiated on soc.culture.filipino, a newsgroup community on the Internet that, as a hub, sustains a flux membership of 20,000 registrants. By observing several online debates, I witnessed the process by which members of the diaspora negotiated the meaning of Filipino women's identity with people in the Philippines and how they atempted to forge a cultural identity for the community itself. In this article, I show that articulated stereotypes of Filipino and Asian women were intimately connected to racial empowerment, anti-colonial, and nationalist projects. In doing Internet research, I was able to document the intersection between postcolonial studies and computer mediated communication theories on studying identity in flux and was able to analyze the role of the Internet in decentering identities as well as the possibility of dismantling Grand Narratives.     

Lessons for Multisite Nonprofits from the United Church of Christ

This article describes the restructuring process currently underway at the United Church of Christ (UCC)—a 1.4 million member Protestant denomination. Three main questions are addressed: What are the central goals of the UCC restructure? What factors might explain the particular strategic direction pursued in UCC restructuring? and How might the UCC case inform recent thinking about the structure and performance of multisite nonprofits?     

When Can We Expect the Unexpected? Predicting Educational Attainment When it Differs from Previous Expectations

Individuals' expectations are strong predictors of their behaviors; educational expectations predict enrollment in postsecondary education. Yet in many cases, a youth's previous educational expectations are not met or are exceeded. This study examines correlates of educational expectations and unexpected educational attainment using longitudinal data from Monitoring the Future, a U.S. national study. Demographic characteristics, educational experiences in high school, and other risk and protective factors were related to expectations for educational attainment during high school. Logistic regressions indicated that high school curriculum, average grades, educational aspirations, and parents' educational level were particularly strong indicators of youth not meeting their expectation to graduate from a 4-year college, or graduating from college despite expecting not to graduate by age 25/26. We discuss the implications of unexpected pathways in terms of discontinuity during transitions and consider the implications for improved educational and career counseling during high school .