I
ro
I
hlte child n'
in ence I
diff r nt
EAST LANSI G - While,
family plays significant
rol in the educational and oc
cupational chi�ments of all
children, it i more i entia!
for Black adolescents, ceord
ing to a long-term tudy of
10w-inCOD;l youths in the
South
The findings indicate it .
I vital to involve Black families
: program for . chiIdreD,
according to La renee
Schiamberg, professor of
f mily nd child ecology t
Michigan State University. He
. among re earcher fro
eight universities involYed .
the tudy, whic began.in
1969.
Schiamberg - and graduate
tudent Me -Sok Lee recently
examined the factors inOuenc
ing how far Black and white
youths went in school and
hat jobs they held young
dulls. They identified .
factors, including the child's
10, self-concept and motiva
tion, nd the family bac -
ground and communication
. th th child, re the best
predictors of later success.
For wb ite youth, the best
predictor of the kind of job
they would later hold wa
achievement motivation -
how far the children !hought
Gra
a
on
they would go in school and
what jobs they thought they
mighty have when they gre
up.
While th ite family had
significant impact on its
children' chieveme t ,
Bl ck children ere ucb
more likely to be infl ced by
the parents' educational and
OCatpationalleve wen as
the amount of communication
with the child, the parenting
values and the parents' expec
tatio for the child, Schiam
berg said. These factors re
more influential than the
Black child's own achieve
ment motivation.
ena ep
Secretary. of Housing
Urban Develop eat Jack'
Kemp has nno reed t at
HUD ould provide S2S mil
lion - . grants of up to
S100,(XX) each to help pub •
hou ing residents become
managers of their housm
developments.
Kemp said: "Te aD
M emiDt is of my top
priori· . It provi the resi-
dents of public g
hope d opport icy for
fut e. �ese grants uld
p!ovidc technical . taaee
for for· dditio I resi
dent ment groups, d
IDO\fI02 existing IfOUPS closer
to the goal of bec.omiD self-.
ufficienl·
A notice. to be published in
the May 11 Federal Register
provides instructions to Resi
dent Management Corpora
tion (RMCs) or Resident
Counci (RQ) develop-
. and pr applica-
f the of ac-
·JUPPortofrca:leat
� __ �menl aDD��D'
dUlCIIII .. is J 30, 1989.
Gr of DOt more
S,loo,ooo per project y.
be approved.
T ere re a variety of
e Ie ctMbes . may
be funded and carried out.
Representative Terrell
stated; • A number of ongoing
and recent �Iopments in
Michigan and the nation are
creatiDg ser· concerns of
. happen· in the area
of civil rights for our citizens.
There are allegations of
ve
enc
re
He specul ted that the
strong Blac family influence
may be in response to a real or
perceived absence' of support
from society.
For white students, the
family impact w mor in
direct. The family influenced
the child's performance in
school and in his or her career,
Schiamberg said
The study, funded by the
U.S. Department of Agric1ul
ture, began in 1969 with 1,412
fifth- and ixth-graders from
10 -income,. mostly rural
areas in six southern slates.
The children were inter
viewed . in 1975 during
high school, and in 1m, a few
years after graduation.
"For anyone working with
Black adolescents in schoo
or in tbe community, the criti
cal point is to involve the fami
ly in direct way," he said.
"Very often school view
themselves as having the sole
prerogative in education, and
families as having, at best, a
supportive role. but it ·would
be a serious mistake to not in
v lve the Black family in the
educational process.
Such involvement could
mean programs that teach
parents how to m rotor their
children's homework or that
encour ge particiaption in
school-related fields trips or
science fairs, Schiamberg
said.
s to take over
They include: tr . ning of resi
dents, promoting economic
development initi rives;
determining the feasi ility or
resident m nagement of a
project, and administrative
cos necessary to implement
the activities.
In determining the funding
t of applications, evaluation
fact . cl de: the probable
cffectMn of the proposed
activities; experience of the
or ization; evidence of sup
port by the residents; evidence
of pport by the PHA and
lOcal 00 uoUy offi . d
capability of handling fanan
cial
slo
r our te colleges
.and UIliversi· ; the Supreme
Court reversed legislation
that would all the earmark-
ing of state d city public
works contracts for minority-
ed businesses; and there
has been a rise in child abuse,
ineons ten-
cies In fe ral
governments's e for
gathering data for the poor
rating Mich· an obtaine .
Michigan , ranked 48th
out of the 50 s es for h ving
a graduation rat 62.4 percent'
on the national aph.
Bemis said althoug hi
department still doesn't ve
farm figure, the preliminary re
search it has done indicated
that Michigan's ranking would
change from 48th to ap
proximately 20th.
The St te Board of &tuea
lion wi be able to relt
definite figure ODCle aU
report the· If .
to the stale De
Eduea· :
Currently oaIy 93 percent
of Micb· " school dis ids
h ve reported th· ioforma
ti to Bemis' departmen He
ticipa es the fiDal 7 pe cent
·U reporting . infonnation
in the next few Vt'eC •
domestic vioIeace· and crime
among minori These, and
other inciden� are ca .
widespread reaction with a cry
for addressi the i ues and
finding solution to prevent
and end further civil righ
violations."
Even with correct data,
Bemis . d be fee it is mor 1-
Iy and economically unaceep-
J ble that 25 percent of
Michigan's tudents drop out
of ell L
To help combat the
pr lem Berni has put into
effect a five-point pi n to
promote graduation.
The first point wi estab-
lish technical istanee tea
to help communiti comb
the dropout problem locally.
Secondly, Barbara Mar�
deputy superintendent of ·
public instruction, will be
in charge of all dropout
prevention programs.
Bemis will t ke steps to
correct the inaccurate data
reported by the U.S. Depart
ot of Education as hi third
step.
The fourth poin of the plaD
would be to require school
districts to report the dropout
, rate to the slate currently tha
is done on volunteer b .
The t point of the plaD
will be to pub· an annual
report on the progre of
Micbigan's chool for
icbigan citizen and the
4:gislature. ·
Bemi said he will also try
to brin re money into the
moo I ystem to elp promote
tbe 18 programs in his depart
ment tbat help encourage
positive school ex per . nee for
tudents.
"T . committee wouJd d
dress uch i ues relating to al
leged discrimination and ad
verse social problems that can
only erode society further."
, I