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July 31, 2007Prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke raises blood pressure in infantsFrom Journal of the American Heart Association: Infants whose mothers smoke during pregnancy have substantially higher blood pressures in their first months of life, Dutch researchers reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. A study of 456 infants in The Netherlands showed that, by age 2 months, babies born to mothers who smoked had higher systolic blood pressures compared to those whose mothers didn't smoke and weren't exposed to smoke during pregnancy. "Our findings indicate maternal smoking during pregnancy has a direct substantial impact on systolic blood pressure in early infancy and is another reason for women not to smoke during pregnancy," said Caroline C. Geerts, lead author of the study and a doctoral student at Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center Utrecht in The Netherlands. Infants born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy had 5.4 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) higher systolic blood pressure levels than babies whose mothers were not exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy. For years, women have been advised against smoking during pregnancy, which can result in intrauterine growth retardation, insufficient fetal growth that leads to low birth weight. In the study -- Wheezing Illnesses Study Leidsche Rijn (WHISTLER) -- researchers assessed parents of newborns living in a residential area of Utrecht. "We can only speculate on the reason for this," said Geerts, adding that it has been shown that male infants react significantly different in response to pain with an increase in systolic blood pressure. Geerts said it's important to study infants and children to obtain a better insight into cardiovascular disease that occurs later in life. Posted by Michael at 8:43 PM | TrackBack 'ED in '08' Warns Candidates: Voters Believe America's Schools are in Serious TroubleFrom PR Newswire: Today Strong American Schools' ED in '08 Campaign Chairman Roy Romer issued a statement on his blog (http://www.edin08.com), warning presidential candidates that a new poll of American voters reveals many are worried about public schools and they are fed up with candidates who are not addressing the country's K-12 education crisis. -- Seventy-three percent of those polled describe America's public schools either in crisis (29 percent) or as a major problem (45 percent). -- Three out of four believe America's schools have serious problems. -- Thirty-four percent think their children will enjoy a better of quality of life than they do, even though 70 percent of them think they have a better of qualify of life than their parents. -- Only 29 percent say they are satisfied with candidates' positions on children's issues, including schools, while 39 percent are dissatisfied. "This new poll reveals voters believe our schools are in serious trouble," said Romer. "They are pessimistic about their children's future. If candidates really want to get voters attention then they should pay attention to this crucial issue." Strong American Schools does not support or oppose any candidate for public office and does not take positions on legislation. Advisors, is a nonpartisan campaign supported by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promoting sound education policies for all Americans. SAS does not support or oppose any candidate for public office and does not take positions on legislation. Posted by Michael at 8:39 PM | TrackBack Test scores slow under No Child Left Behind reforms, gauged by states/federal assessmentFrom University of California: The article "Gauging Growth: How to Judge No Child Left Behind"" is authored by Bruce Fuller, Joseph Wright, Kathryn Gesicki, and Erin Kang, and is one of four featured works published in the current issue of ER---a peer-reviewed scholarly journal of the American Educational Research Association. Bruce Fuller, lead author and professor of education and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, noted that the strong advances in narrowing racial and income-based achievement gaps seen in the 1990s have faded since passage of 'No Child'. "The slowing of achievement gains, even declines in reading, since 2002 suggests that state-led accountability efforts---well underway by the mid-1990s---packed more of a punch in raising student performance, compared with the flattening-out of scores during the 'No Child' era," he observed. "We are not suggesting that 'No Child' has dampened the earlier progress made by the states," Fuller said. This approach captured the generally positive effects of maturing state-led accountability programs in both reading and math, gauged by state officials and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Following passage of the 'No Child' law, federal reading scores among elementary school students declined in the 12 states tracked by the researchers -- after climbing steadily during the 1990s. The share of fourth-graders proficient in reading, based on federal NAEP results, climbed by one-half a percentage point each year, on average, between the mid-1990s and 2002. The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the national interdisciplinary research association for approximately 25,000 scholars who undertake research in education. Posted by Michael at 8:38 PM | TrackBack AERA scholar examines historical record behind a 'color-blind' constitutionFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: James D. Anderson, noted historian of education, examines issues of equality and diversity in the context of the 14th Amendment and in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibiting race-conscious school assignment. His article, "Race-Conscious Educational Policies Versus a 'Color-Blind Constitution': A Historical Perspective," appears in the current issue of Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:37 PM | TrackBack Colleges That Change Lives Tours Offer Advice for Stress-Free College AdmissionsFrom Ascribe Newsfeed: It is possible to experience a stress-free, successful college search process that ends with a college fit that is right for each student. This is the message that Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) will bring to 17 cities during its tenth annual national tour of colleges chosen for their notable impact on students' educational experiences. The Colleges That Change Lives tour, inspired by a book of that title by former New York Times education editor Loren Pope, features colleges and universities where faculty are focused on teaching and advising undergraduate students and that provide unique undergraduate research opportunities and an emphasis on campus involvement. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:33 PM | TrackBack More Than Four in 10 Adults in New Orleans Report Worse Health Care Access Post-KatrinaFrom Kaiser Family Foundation: As the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall approaches, new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation of its household survey of people in the New Orleans area shows that more than four in 10 (43 percent) adults reported at least one health care access problem in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Underscoring the racial disparities documented generally in the Kaiser household survey, 70 percent of the one in four adults without health insurance in Orleans Parish were African Americans. The newly released, Health Challenges for the People of New Orleans, is a follow-up to the May 2007 report, Giving Voice to the People of New Orleans: The Kaiser Post-Katrina Baseline Survey. The new 65-page report examines the health care status of the adult population of Greater New Orleans based on a Fall 2006 household interview survey of residents of the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Bernard and details their health coverage and access to health care services after the disaster. Some of the most frequently reported health access problems included deterioration in the ability to have health needs met now compared to before Katrina (22 percent), having a harder time getting to their place of medical care now (18 percent), and having a different medical provider after Katrina (16 percent). "Louisiana is among the state leaders in covering low-income children, but ranks at the very bottom of coverage of their low-income adult population, with Medicaid eligibility levels at 20 percent of the Federal Poverty Level or $4,130 per year for an adult in a working family of four," said Foundation Executive Vice President Diane Rowland, Sc.D. Posted by Michael at 8:30 PM | TrackBack Estimating the Effects of Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare BeneficiariesFrom The Commonwealth Fund: Medicare Part D was enacted to subsidize the costs of prescription drugs for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. But, in doing so, the new benefit raises serious questions about costs and utilization--namely, how prescription drug coverage affects drug use and what the impact is on subsequent costs. Posted by Michael at 8:26 PM | TrackBack 14 Grantees Share $25 Million in Funds from the Voluntary School Choice ProgramFrom Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced that 14 projects in 12 states will share $25 million in grants under No Child Left Behind's Voluntary School Choice Program (VSCP) to help states and school districts create or expand public school choice initiatives. By giving families more choices and injecting a little competition into the system, we support innovations that help students and schools improve," Spellings said. The grantees---states, school districts or partnerships---are in Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Illinois, Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Alaska, and South Carolina. Seven grantees are also recipients from the first implementation of the program in 2002. The VSCP is a competitive program that supports projects for up to five years that aim to offer the widest variety of choices to students in participating schools, including options that allow students to transfer from low-performing schools to higher performing schools, and projects that seek to implement an inter-district approach. Under No Child Left Behind, students in under-performing Title I schools must be given the option to transfer to a higher performing school in their school district, if their school has not met adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years. Grantees develop the program with parental and community involvement, in concert with those who will carry out the program, including teachers, administrators and other staff. To ensure the widest possible reach and participation, the funds can be used to help notify parents about the existence of the choice program, what the program offers and the program's availability. A portion of the funds can be used to provide transportation (or the costs of transportation to and from public elementary, secondary or charter schools) for students selected to participate in the program. Posted by Michael at 8:25 PM | TrackBack Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools Holds National ConferenceFrom Education Newsfeed: Keeping our schools safe, healthy and drug-free is the focus of a three-day conference hosted by the U.S Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. The national conference, "Celebrating 20 Years of Collaboration to Make Schools Safe, Healthy and Drug-Free: Reflecting on the Past and Looking Ahead," will take place Aug. 2-4 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H St. N.W., Washington, D.C. It will feature more than 1,300 participants, ranging from education leaders, mental health representatives and parents to experts in the field of substance abuse, violence prevention and emergency preparedness. "Schools should be sanctuaries of hope and learning where students can learn, challenge themselves and expand their potential, free from fear," U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said. "All of our goals for student achievement start with safe, healthy and orderly learning environments. Showcasing prevention programs that demonstrate effectiveness in reducing student alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, and that prevent school violence. Providing opportunities for leaders, decision-makers and policy setters to expand their knowledge about substance abuse, violence prevention and other emerging issues facing schools today. Gaining knowledge and new perspectives from nationally known prevention experts, representatives from federal agencies, leaders from local and state agencies, and school site leaders. "We know that schools are on the front line confronting many of the issues our young people are facing, and we have designed this conference to provide the tools and strategies that educators need to help address the challenges they face everyday," Deborah Price, assistant deputy secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, said. There are numerous workshops. Meeting highlights and important information are on the Web at www.osdfsnationalconference.org. Posted by Michael at 8:23 PM | TrackBack Investing in Parents to Invest in ChildrenFrom MDRC: In these remarks, delivered at Speaker Nancy Pelosi's National Summit on America's Children on May 22, MDRC President Gordon Berlin summarizes rigorous research evidence showing that supplementing the earnings of parents helps raise families out of poverty and improves the school performance of young children. At MDRC, we focus on finding solutions to the problems that confront the poor by designing and rigorously evaluating programs in education (from preschool to postsecondary), income and work supports, workforce development, and community development, among other policy realms --- all with a goal of improving the lives of low-income families and children. This morning we've heard compelling evidence about the effects of the environment on early brain development and about promising interventions for poor children, as well as concerns about the daunting challenges and frequent failures when taking high-quality programs to scale. But even the most successful programs for children are likely to be undermined if we don't address the poverty of the families in which these children are growing up. Today, I will summarize a remarkably strong body of research --- much of it based on large-scale, well-implemented, experimental research designs --- showing that supplementing the earnings of parents helps raise families out of poverty and improves the school performance of young children. Posted by Michael at 8:23 PM | TrackBack HOPE VI'd and On the MoveFrom Urban Institute: Most HOPE VI residents have not moved back. The largest number of families---43 percent---received Housing Choice Vouchers, and another third were still living in traditional public housing. Residents who have moved to the private market or to mixed-income developments reported substantial improvements in the quality of their housing and are living in neighborhoods that are considerably lower poverty. The baseline survey in 2001 showed conditions in these developments were terrible: respondents reported substandard conditions such as peeling paint, mold, inadequate heat, and infestations of cockroaches and other vermin. Some sites have imposed relatively stringent screening criteria that have excluded some former residents. And, on the positive side, many former residents who have received vouchers are satisfied with their new housing and are not interested in returning. Finally, at a few more troubled sites, long histories of mismanagement and neglect mean that residents do not trust the housing authority's promises of better conditions and choose not to return (Buron et al. 2002; Popkin et al. 2004). We find that for the most part, the story for former residents is positive---they are living in better housing in less-troubled neighborhoods. Posted by Michael at 8:17 PM | TrackBack Encouraging Homeownership Through the Tax CodeFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: Americans are taught from an early age to aspire to homeownership, and several long-standing federal institutions and regulations support owner-occupied residential housing. The income tax deduction for mortgage interest payments is possibly the best-known federal housing policy. Evidence suggests, however, that the mortgage interest deduction (MID) does little if anything to encourage homeownership. We propose a tax credit and a subsidized saving vehicle for first-time home buyers, financed by the elimination of the MID. Relative to current policy or to the President's Advisory Panel's recommendations, our proposals would be less expensive, more progressive, and more effective in encouraging homeownership. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:17 PM | TrackBack Health Insurance Coverage in Maine 2004-2005From Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: The Maine Health Care Access Foundation funded this profile of Maine health insurance coverage. According to data from the Current Population Survey, 124,000 Maine residents did not have health insurance during the 20042005 period. The majority (84%) of uninsured people were adults. Just over half of Maine residents who were uninsured came from low-income families residents. Low-income young adults (ages 1934) were particularly at risk for being uninsured, and one-quarter lacked coverage. Over 86,000 of Maine's uninsured people were workers. Forty-seven percent of this uninsured group were low-income, over half (55%) were employed by firms with fewer than 25 workers, and just over two-thirds worked in industries with low rates of job-based health coverage. Over two-thirds (67%) of Maine's uninsured people came from families with one or more full-time worker, while another 19 percent are from families with a part-time worker. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:16 PM | TrackBack District of Columbia Housing Monitor: Spring 2007From Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: The District of Columbia Housing Monitor provides a quarterly look at the Washington, D.C., housing market, tracking home prices, real estate listings, new construction, and affordable housing. This issue's special section examines mortgage lending trends through 2005 and highlights the declining share of low income home buyers in neighborhoods throughout the city. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:15 PM | TrackBack The Distribution of Federal TaxesFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: Overall, the federal tax system is highly progressive: On average, households with higher incomes pay taxes that are a larger share of their income. The 2007 average effective federal tax rate tax paid as a percentage of cash income rises from 3.4 percent for the bottom quintile or fifth of the income distribution to 25.9 percent for the top fifth.1 Within the top quintile, average rates climb from 30.4 percent for the top 1 percent to 32.8 percent for the top one-tenth of 1 percent. The individual income tax is the most progressive of the major revenue sources while payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare are regressive. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:14 PM | TrackBack Finding Work on the Outside: Results from the Returning Home Project in ChicagoFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: As part of the multi-state Returning Home project, researchers at the Urban Institute directed interviews with 400 former prisoners before and after their release from Illinois prisons to examine their employment experiences prior to their incarceration and after their return to Chicago. Less than 30 percent were employed at six months after release and about half reported having worked at least one month since their release. Employment before prison, participation in job training during prison, strong family relationships, and an absence of health problems led to a greater likelihood of finding work after release. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:14 PM | TrackBack Work-Support Spending Varies Widely Across NationFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: Low-income families in Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont received more than $4,000 in work supports per person in 2005, more than double what their counterparts in Idaho, Nevada, and Utah received, an Urban Institute analysis of data for 44 states reveals. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:13 PM | TrackBack History, Principles, Context, and Approach: The Special Homeless Initiative of the Massachusetts Department of Mental HealthFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: This is the first report in the Urban Institutes evaluation of the Special Homeless Initiative (HI), state funding to the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health that is used to prevent or end the homelessness of people with serious mental illness who are or are eligible to become DMH clients. The report covers the history of the HI, its public policy principles, and the larger context of DMH programs and policies into which the HI fits. It describes how DMH staff use the HI in negotiation with housing developers and homeless service providers to expand the supply of permanent supportive housing, the array of housing made available through the HI and the other types of housing that DMH offers, as well as use of HI funds to provide specialized services such as supports for substance abuse recovery and employment. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:13 PM | TrackBack Estimating the Public Costs and Benefits of HOPE VI Investments: Methodological ReportFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: The HOPE VI program has invested over $6 billion in federal funds for the redevelopment of severely distressed public housing. Drawing on the existing research evidence, this study systematically compares the costs (both monetary and nonmonetary) of maintaining severely distressed public housing developments to the potential costs and benefits of effectively revitalizing them. An effective redevelopment strategy can dramatically improve living conditions for families, resulting in better physical and mental health and increased employment and earnings. Moreover, redevelopment can trigger the revitalization of previously blighted communities. These outcomes also save public resources. In fact, for a typical distressed public housing project, mixed-income redevelopment can save the public more than $20 million over 20 years. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:12 PM | TrackBack Dissemination Lessons LearnedFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: This paper describes the strategies and tactics used by the Urban Institute's Assessing the New Federalism (ANF) project to communicate changes in the social safety net in the wake of welfare reform. From 1997 to 2004, the growth of electronic communications revolutionized the way people communicate. This report documents how ANF adapted to these changes and offers lessons for future work. Several themes run through this work: continual evaluation of the dissemination program led to continual evolution; cost, time and outcomes were major measures of effectiveness; and being timely and relevant required new communication strategies. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:12 PM | TrackBack TANF Policies for the Hard to Employ: Understanding State Approaches and Future DirectionsFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: This study examines states approaches to serving TANF recipients facing multiple barriers to work in fall 2006. It also describes changes states anticipate (partly in response to TANF reauthorization) in the near future to help these recipients move into work and off the caseload. Study results are based primarily on structured interviews with state TANF program officials in 17 states including the states with the largest TANF caseloads. The findings highlight the different approaches taken by state TANF programs on how to best help recipients with serious barriers and provide early information on states thinking on how their approach may change for this group in the future. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:11 PM | TrackBack Low-Income Parents with Work Barriers Are Not Supported by a Comprehensive Service SystemFrom Urban Institute Latest ReportsSearch: Wide variation in states welfare policies and needy recipients access to local services pose special challenges to low-income parents who already have employment barriers. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:10 PM | TrackBack Secretary Spellings and Mrs. Laura Bush Announce Nearly $19 Million to Enhance Libraries in Low-Income SchoolsFrom Education Newsfeed: Waterbury, CT --- U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today joined Mrs. Laura Bush to announce nearly $19 million in federal funds to enhance libraries in 78 low-income school districts across the United States. Visiting Driggs Elementary School, a beneficiary of an Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Grant, Secretary Spellings and Mrs. Bush underscored the need to equip all students with a strong reading foundation so they can achieve grade-level success under No Child Left Behind. The grants announced today support the goals of the law by furthering opportunities for students to develop strong reading skills, which will help narrow our nation's achievement gap and sustain students throughout their lifetimes. These grants will help school libraries equip students with resources that build knowledge and foster a lifelong love of reading," Secretary Spellings said. "From Maine to California, these students from low-income communities will now have access to top-notch libraries," said Mrs. Bush. The Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program provides funds to help schools improve their library media and address the reading and other literacy challenges of their students. With the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Grant awarded today, Waterbury Public Schools will launch an innovative literacy project that integrates technology into curriculum and instruction. Waterbury will equip each of its twenty Title I elementary schools, including Driggs Elementary School, with advanced technology and non-fiction books to support reading in the core content areas. Additionally, library media specialists and teachers and will be equipped with resources to collaborate on the development of lessons for students promoting literacy and critical thinking. For more information about the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program, visit: www.ed.gov/programs/lsl. Posted by Michael at 8:09 PM | TrackBack Child abuse, neglect rise dramatically when Army parents deploy to combatFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Confirmed incidents of child abuse and neglect among Army families increase significantly when a parent is deployed to a combat zone, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health. Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:05 PM | TrackBack Barton-Deal SCHIP Bill Would Not Provide States Sufficient Funding Even To Maintain Current Caseloads: Bill Would Cause Significant Increase In Number Of Uninsured ChildrenFrom Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:04 PM | TrackBack Would Tax Incentives Be An Effective Way To Expand Health Coverage For Low-Income Children And Families?From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Read more from this post. Posted by Michael at 8:03 PM | TrackBack July 30, 2007A Review of Characteristics and the Programs Designed to Serve The Needs of Hard-to-Employ ParentsMany low-income parents with personal challenges that make work difficult (sometimes called the "hard to employ") seek help from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, but many do not. Hard-to-employ parents probably fare best when they enroll in TANF and receive a holistic set of supports. A redesigned system should marshal all program resources to provide an integrated system that addresses barriers and supports work simultaneously. Historically, antipoverty efforts in the United States sought to improve the well-being of children and their families by providing cash assistance (or "welfare"), primarily through the Aid to Dependent Families with Children (AFDC) program. Many families that turned to AFDC and now turn to TANF for assistance have personal challenges that make employment difficult without specialized services to address those challenges. TANF's work focus and the needs of many TANF families have expanded the discussion of the safety net for hard-to-employ parents to include other federal and state programs that have traditionally addressed physical and mental health problems and skill challenges, including the workforce development system, vocational rehabilitation, mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence services.1 The discussion also includes the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides cash assistance payments to those with severe disabilities. Now that fewer low-income families enroll in TANF than under the prior welfare system, do we need to think harder about ways to connect families to a broader set of non-welfare support services? Posted by Michael at 12:48 PM | TrackBack KIDS COUNT 2007 State-Level Data OnlineNational trends in child well-being taken together have improved slightly since 2000, according to a report released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Four areas of improvement: child death rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate, teens not in school and not working; Two areas of slight improvement: infant mortality rate, teen death rate; and Four areas have worsened: low-birthweight babies, children living in families where no parent has fulltime year-round employment, children in poverty, and children in single-parent families. These national trends are not on par with the well-being improvements that were seen at the end of the 1990s, with economic indicators taking a downturn in 2005. The report also examines America's child welfare system and challenges the country to make lifelong family connections for children and youth in foster care a national priority. The KIDS COUNT Data Book's essay, "Lifelong Family Connections: Supporting Permanence for Children in Foster Care," looks at how the United States can move toward having all children who are in foster care become part of a lifelong family. The KIDS COUNT Data Book's essay calls on our child welfare systems and federal legislators to make significant changes and support bold policies that can bring family connections and better life outcomes to all children and youth in foster care. The essay points out that African-American children and older youth in foster care are particularly vulnerable and have the most alarming life outcomes. "The nation needs to do more than simply talk about the importance of lifelong family connections for children in foster care," concludes Nelson. Posted by Michael at 9:50 AM | TrackBack Teens Can Learn to Manage their EmotionsFrom University of Illinois: Can teenagers experiencing powerful emotions learn to manage those emotions? A University of Illinois study in this month's Child Development reports that teens can become quite insightful about their emotional patterns and they can learn to intervene in their emotional episodes so they unfold positively. "There's a stereotype that teens don't manage their emotions, their emotions manage them," said Reed Larson, a professor of family ecology and the Pampered Chef Ltd. Endowed Chair in Family Resiliency at the U of I. "But this study showed that, in an atmosphere of trust and support, teens can become adept at identifying their emotions, learn to recognize the tricks emotions play on people, and begin to understand not only how to control their emotions, but to use them in positive ways," he said. The research examined 12 youth programs and found that the students participating in a high-school musical theater production showed particularly rich emotional growth. Larson conducted open-ended interviews and observations to learn how this growth had taken place. Ten teens were interviewed every two weeks over a three-month period during rehearsals, two adults who led the production were interviewed biweekly, and researchers observed the rehearsals weekly. Expressing emotions requires an atmosphere of trust," he noted. "If I've learned one scene, it's a big source of motivation, and I carry that over to the scenes I'm not so comfortable with," a participant said. "Still, parents can work hard to establish that atmosphere of trust, and there are opportunities for parents to be sensitive," he said. Posted by Michael at 2:05 AM | TrackBack Malt liquor linked to marijuana use among young adultsFrom University at Buffalo: Drinking malt liquor -- the cheap, high-alcohol beverage often marketed to teens -- may put young adults at increased risk for alcohol problems and use of illicit drugs, particularly marijuana, according to a new study of malt liquor drinkers and marijuana use by scientists at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA). "In our study of young adults who regularly drink malt liquor," reports lead researcher R. Lorraine Collins, senior research scientist at RIA, "we found that malt liquor use is significantly related to reports of alcohol problems, problems specific to the use of malt liquor and to marijuana use above and beyond typical alcohol use." Collins also is a research professor in the Department of Psychology, UB College of Arts and Sciences. The study consisted of 639 young adults (456 men) of approximately 23 years of age who regularly consume 40 ounces or more of malt liquor per week. The participants were heavy drinkers, averaging 30 alcoholic drinks -- including 17 malt liquor drinks -- per week. Sixty-one percent of the participants reported that they consumed one to two 40-ounce containers of malt liquor on a typical drinking occasion. "These results suggest that regular consumption of malt liquor, beyond that associated with typical alcohol use, may place young adults at increased risk for substance abuse problems," Collins says. The Research Institute on Addictions has been a leader in the study of addictions since 1970 and a research center of the University at Buffalo since 1999. Posted by Michael at 1:29 AM | TrackBack Work-Family Stress Studied among Immigrant LatinosFrom Wake Forest University: The findings, to be published in the August issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology, suggest that individuals from more collective cultures experience fewer conflicts between work and family than white, middle-class workers because they view work as a necessary and vital component of assuring family well-being. Work-family conflict refers to situations in which the demands and responsibilities of work and family roles are incompatible in some respect. Since the early 1970s when women began joining the workforce en masse, work-family conflict research has focused, almost exclusively, on professional white adults, said Grzywacz. "Work-family balance is a popular topic yet very little is known about the work-family experiences of Latinos, the fastest growing segment of the work force and a population that frequently finds themselves in difficult work arrangements," said Grzywacz. Researchers asked 226 recent immigrants from rural communities in Mexico and Central America who were employed in the poultry processing industry about their experiences combining work and family. Some of the variables examined included how much the physical and psychological demands of poultry processing work affects family life, including episodes of work-family conflict, the degree to which such conflicts contributed to poor health and how much gender influenced the severity of work-family conflicts. "In white, middle class America, everyone is talking about how combining work and family is so stressful." In contrast, the Latino workers view work and family as integrated, that work is a functional means to family well-being, and thus there is little to no work-family conflict, especially for men. Posted by Michael at 1:26 AM | TrackBack Study of First 200 Post-Conviction DNA Exonerations Shows Flawed Criminal SystemFrom University of Virginia: Law professor Brandon Garrett's groundbreaking study examining the cases of the first 200 wrongly convicted people later found innocent through DNA testing reveals fundamental flaws in the criminal system. Courts not only failed to redress trial errors over years and sometimes decades, but they often found innocent appellants to be guilty, and sometimes denied relief even after DNA testing proved innocence, Garrett says. The study, to be published by the Columbia Law Review in January 2008 as the first comprehensive inquiry to explore the cases, examined evidence introduced during the appellants' initial trials, each claim they raised during their appeals, how courts ruled on them, and how DNA testing ultimately freed them. Garrett has personal experience with the issue; he formerly litigated wrongful conviction cases as an associate at the law firm Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck in New York City. "This study shows what an uphill battle many of the Innocence Project's clients faced in the courts," says Peter Neufeld, co-director and co-founder of the Innocence Project, a nonprofit organization formed to assist prisoners who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. "In our experience, many exonerees suffered terribly unfair trials, were convicted based on unreliable evidence, and this should have been apparent long before they had DNA testing. "Surprisingly few innocent appellants brought claims regarding those facts, such as challenging an eyewitness identification for being suggestive, even though in 56 cases, the victim's identification was the sole noncircumstantial evidence supporting the conviction," Garrett says. AScribe transmits news releases directly to newsroom computer systems and desktops of major media organizations via a supremely trusted channel - The Associated Press. Posted by Michael at 1:08 AM | TrackBack Parental Qualities Found to Significantly Affect the Civic Competence of AdolescentsFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Washington, DC---What parents do with their adolescent children, and what parents know about politics and government, are generally more important for youth civic development than who the parents are in terms of background characteristics. The research is presented in an article entitled "The Influence of Family Political Discussion on Youth Civic Development: Which Parent Qualities Matter"" authored by Hugh McIntosh (independent scholar), Daniel Hart (Rutgers University), and James Youniss (Catholic University). The question of parental qualities in family political discussions is the focus of this study: "We ask whether youth-parent discussions of current events may be more effective at enhancing youth civic development when parents have higher, versus lower, levels of knowledge about politics and government." The authors assess the interaction of parental characteristics, the frequency of family political discussions, and measures representing civic outcomes in youth (political knowledge, news monitoring, public communication skill, and community service). In this case, what parents know about politics is the strongest predictor. Second, in terms of the other three civic outcomes of news monitoring, public communication skill, and community service on the part of youth---which involve the development of civic behaviors and skills---what parents do (i.e., discuss politics and current events) with their children is the strongest predictor of outcomes. Third, parental background characteristics---in particular, education levels---were found to play a role when the outcome is youth civic knowledge, a finding consistent with earlier research. Fourth, Black communities appear to experience lower levels of youth civic knowledge, a finding the authors suggest may be linked to a historic lack of access to civic resources combined with the effects of a youth demographic bulge compared to the adult population. For more news and information about political science research visit the APSA media website, www.politicalsciencenews.org. Posted by Michael at 1:06 AM | TrackBack California View of Farm Bill Offered on UC Web SiteFrom University of California Agricultural Issues Center: As Congress debates the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, Californians may wonder how it affects their lives. The Farm Bill isn't only of interest to farmers in the Midwest and South, who receive the bulk of the federal support, the Farm Bill is vitally important to everyone who cares about food, nutrition, trade, rural development and poverty, and the productivity and competitiveness of American agriculture. This material does not advocate policy positions. UC economists and scientists summarize information and data about the Farm Bill issues from a California perspective. Other briefs focus on nutrition, organic food and agriculture, research, dairy, environmental quality and energy issues. The Web site provides useful background on the issues and links to related material. We provide direct, immediate access to mainstream national media for 600 colleges, universities, medical centers, public-policy groups and other leading nonprofit organizations. Posted by Michael at 1:01 AM | TrackBack Prenatal Stress Keeps Infants, Toddlers Up at NightFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Anxious or depressed mothers-to-be are at increased risk of having children who will experience sleep problems in infancy and toddlerhood, finds a study that published this month in Early Human Development. While this finding presents itself as important news to tired new moms and dads -- for whom a soundly sleeping child spells out well-deserved respite -- it may carry even more value for babies. For them, sleep ranks as one of the most highly regarded indexes of healthy development, and plays a critical role in consolidating memory and facilitating learning, regulating metabolism and appetite, promoting good moods and sustaining both cardiovascular health and a vigorous immune function. More than 14,000 women -- an estimated 85 to 90 percent of those eligible -- responded to questionnaires that gauged how depressed or anxious they were at multiple points early on in, late in, and after their pregnancy. Surprisingly, babies born to mothers classified as anxious or depressed while pregnant dozed just as long as their unstressed-pregnancy counterparts -- about 12 hours. These prenatal mood disturbances worked as reliable predictors of children's sleep problems even when investigators controlled data for other factors already linked with poor sleep quality in children, including a mother's level of postnatal anxiety or depression, her smoking habit, or her social class. Related studies now show that stress, which is associated with increased exposure stress hormones, like cortisol, may disrupt a child's formation of a bundle of nerve cells in the brain -- called the suprachiasmatic nucleus -- which act as a signaling system that tune's body's internal clock. Several evidence-based therapies exist, and unlike medication, none of them are suspect in the least for causing adverse effects to baby. Posted by Michael at 12:57 AM | TrackBack July 29, 2007College Science Success Linked to Math and Same-Subject PreparationFrom Harvard University: Researchers at the University of Virginia and Harvard University have found that high school coursework in one of the sciences generally does not predict better college performance in other scientific disciplines. But there's one notable exception: Students with the most rigorous high school preparation in mathematics perform significantly better in college courses in biology, chemistry, and physics. "Many arguments have been made for chemistry and physics preparation to benefit the learning of biology," says Tai, an assistant professor in U.Va.'s Curry School of Education. "On the scale of single cells, many processes are physical, such as neurons 'firing' electrically. Yet our analysis provides no support for the argument that physics and chemistry principles are inherently beneficial to the study of biology at the introductory level." "Our findings knock out one of the primary claims of 'Physics First' advocates," says Sadler, F.W. Wright Senior Lecturer in Astronomy in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences and director of the Science Education Department at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Tai and Sadler subjected this raw data to robust modeling to correct for socioeconomic factors that may advantage some students, including race, parental education level, and mean educational level of students' home communities, as defined by ZIP code. Also, students with the most coursework in high school mathematics performed strikingly better in their introductory biology and chemistry courses in college; introductory college-level physics performance also benefited. Posted by Michael at 9:24 PM | TrackBack Janitors' Victory Brings Hope to Cincinnati Families, Creates New Model for Ensuring Good Jobs with Health Care for Region's Low-wage WorkersFrom PR Newswire: On the heels of recent high-profile contract victories that made dramatic gains for thousands of working families in Houston and Miami, Cincinnati janitors have won higher wages, more work hours, and health insurance in their first-ever city-wide union contract. The groundbreaking agreement will help lift more than a thousand janitors out of poverty, increasing the income of the majority of workers by an incredible 129 percent over the course of the contract nearly doubling their income of workers at the lowest end of the spectrum within the first 18 months alone. "This is a huge victory for our families and for our neighborhoods," said Cincinnati janitor Lauressie Dee Dee Tillman, "I am proud of what we have accomplished, not just for us and our families, but for all of the workers in this city who are paid so little. The agreement is already being hailed as a potential model for raising job and health care standards for low-wage workers throughout the region including in Columbus and Indianapolis where janitors are currently fighting for improvements in those cities. In their fight for a contract, Cincinnati janitors drew upon a strong coalition of faith, political and community leaders calling for good jobs with health care in a city that has seen a sharp increase in service-sector employment. The increase in wages and health insurance will dramatically improve the lives of 1,200 Cincinnati janitors, many of whom had been earning as little as $28 a day without benefits. Posted by Michael at 9:22 PM | TrackBack Females More Prone to Brain Damage from Alcohol AbuseFrom Oregon Health & Science University: Alcoholism has traditionally been considered a male disease because there are many more alcoholic males than females. But a new study by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center suggests that women are more prone to brain damage from alcohol abuse than men. "We designed the experiment to be able to identify gene expression differences between lines of mice that are genetically selected for severe alcohol withdrawal compared with mice that are resistant to alcohol withdrawal," Wiren said. Wiren and Joel Hashimoto, research associate of behavioral neuroscience at OHSU and the PVAMC Research Service, examined four groups of selectively bred mice: two female groups, including one prone to severe withdrawal and one resistant to severe withdrawal, and two similar male groups. Using DNA microarray or "gene chip" analysis, a laboratory process involving advanced robotics that allows large numbers of genes and their complex interactions to be observed, Wiren and Hashimoto examined 5,000 genes from the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain implicated in complex planning, personality expression and social behavior, and is involved in withdrawal-related brain circuitry. "We're interested in that part of the brain because it's important in inhibitory control. After identifying the alcohol-regulated gene pathways, Wiren and Hashimoto were able to home in on the extent of cell death. Ten days after alcohol withdrawal, they examined cells in the lateral parietal cortex area, which is part of the network of brain regions, in addition to the prefrontal cortex, involved in inhibitory control, and identified live and dead cells with tissue stains. Posted by Michael at 9:17 PM | TrackBack Nutritional Supplement Cuts Anemia in Poor Children by HalfFrom Cornell University: A nutritional supplement known as Sprinkles, which can be added to children's food, reduces anemia by more than half, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition. The study was led by Purnima Menon, Cornell Ph.D. '02, a research associate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. It is the first to show, using a rigorous study design, that Sprinkles can reduce the incidence of anemia among poor children enrolled in an ongoing fortified food aid program implemented under challenging, real-life conditions in developing countries. The research, conducted by Cornell's Division of Nutritional Sciences with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), offers promising insights on how to reduce iron and other micronutrient deficiencies among poor people in developing countries. These deficiencies are a devastating problem worldwide, causing poor health, premature death and impaired development, says Menon. "When combined with other food aid initiatives, the potential impact [of Sprinkles] is huge," said Marie Ruel, Cornell Ph.D. '90, director of IFPRI's Food Consumption and Nutrition Division and a co-author of the study. The findings are based on a study in rural Haiti, where at least two out of every three children under age 3 are anemic. After Sprinkles, a dry powder containing iron and other vitamins and minerals, were added to their food for two months, anemia rates among the children were reduced from 54 percent to 24 percent, and further reduced to 14 percent seven months later. However, anemia rates remained unchanged for those children in the study who did not receive Sprinkles. The study also found that fortified food aid alone is insufficient to prevent anemia in infants and young children, even if mothers are advised to complement the donated commodities with locally available, iron-rich foods. Posted by Michael at 8:59 PM | TrackBack The Week's Top Five Myths Regarding Congressional Efforts to Strengthen Children's Health CoverageFrom Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Myth #1: The bills before Congress to renew the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) would vastly expand program eligibility. Myth #2: The House bill would expand children’s health coverage by cutting health coverage for seniors. Myth #3: Strengthening public health programs is an inefficient way to reduce the ranks of the uninsured — much less efficient than the Administration’s proposed tax break for the purchase of private insurance — because most of the people who would gain public coverage already have insurance. Myth #4: Allowing states to use SCHIP funds to cover low-income parents violates the program’s goal of expanding coverage among children. Myth #5: Strengthening SCHIP would advance a “Washington-run, government-owned” health system. Posted by Michael at 8:57 PM | TrackBack July 27, 2007Unintended Pregnancy Predicts Feelings that Parenting is a BurdenFrom EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Analyzing data collected from the national evaluation of the Early Head Start program, Jean Ispa, professor and co-chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Environmental Science (HES), and her colleagues, found associations between how accepting mothers were of being pregnant and their toddlers' security of attachment. "The relation between mothers' pregnancy acceptance and toddler attachment security is noteworthy because if attachment problems continue into the later years, the child could have self-esteem problems, difficulty learning and a harder time forming relationships," Ispa said. Posted by Michael at 8:34 AM | TrackBack July 26, 2007One in Eight Oregonians Needs Congress to Halt the Erosion in Food StampsOregon Center for Public Policy The purchasing power of food stamps has declined because Congress has not updated the value of food stamp benefits to keep up with the rising cost of food. The U.S. House of Representatives will soon decide whether to put a stop to this erosion of food stamp benefits when they vote on the 2007 Farm Bill. In 2008, a typical working parent with two children will receive about $37 less in food stamps each month than they would have received if the standard deduction were allowed to reflect inflation. Two thirds of the value of the minimum benefit h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
