Barajas, M. S. ( 2011). Academic Achievement of Children in Single Parent homes: A Critical Review. The Hilltop Review , 4(2), 13-21.
In this article which appeared in the Hilltop Review, Barajas from the Western Michigan University examines the academic achievements of children from single parent families. He also explores the differences in children brought up in single parent families and two parents’ families. He also discusses the inherent difficulties that children have to go through in their activities and in particular academics. These include lower graduation rates, higher risk of getting into drug abuse, and lower GPAs. Despite these difficulties, he observes that some of the children achieve academic excellence. The article explores why these children are successful and what can be done to improve the achievements of others. The writer of the article, Mark Barajas is a post-doctoral Psychology fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He is experienced in the disciplines of secondary education and teaching, and counseling psychology. He has done several other types of research in this field which makes article credible for the project.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Carter, D. F. ( 2006). Key Issues in the Persistence of Underrepresented Minority Students. New directions for institutional research , 1 30: 33-46.
The article examines the gap between ethnic minority students and ethnic majority students. This is done in relation to the attainment of degrees in higher education. It also discusses the factors that lead to the gap and the consequences of the gap on attainment of educational goals. Despite the difficulties, statistics show that the underrepresented students still manage to achieve some level of success. The persistent of minority students is the contributing factor to their success. The retention of these students in school is one of the biggest problems they face. Most of these students drop out of school before they are able to obtain academic degrees. The research focuses on African-American , white and Hispanic students and their persistent in both public and private institution. Deborah Carter is a professor of Higher education at Clermont graduate University. She has years of experience in Higher education which makes her work credible for the research.
Colombo, G., Cullen, R., & Lisle, B. (2016). Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. New York, NY: Macmillan Higher Education. Print.
The book has a unique approach to the issue of cultural diversity in the Unites States. The book is directed at students to guide them as they grapple with the differences in perspectives due to the complexity of the society. It provokes students to explore cultural myths in dominant cultures to understand their foundations and contradictions. The text is relevant to the research since it provides and discusses the issues with cultural diversity that students have to face in the United States as they strive to achieve academic success. Rereading America has seen publications in various editions and is perhaps one of the most widely adopted books in the teaching of cultural diversity issues. The Authors, who are also the editors of the text; Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle are both expert in issues cultural diversity and minority issues.
Durbin, D., and Orrin H. (2001). "DREAM Act." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation . Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DREAM_Act.
DREAM Act is a short form for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors. It is a proposed law that would enable aliens in the US to be provided with conditional residency in the Unites States of America if they meet some conditions. They would also be given permanent residency upon further qualification. The bill has been reintroduced severally in the senate since 2001 but failed to pass. The legislative text presents the requirements for conditional resident status and requirements for permanent residency. It also provides the projection of the economic impact of the legislative. Undocumented immigrants have the potential of boosting the economy of the United States. The document also examines the criticism that the Act has faced including the attraction of more undocumented immigrants and the potential for massive fraud if immigrants that have already established their identities in other countries come into the United States as immigrants. This might also shield gangs from deportation.
Schultz, J. L. & Mueller, D. (2006). Effectiveness of Programs to Improve Postsecondary Education Enrollment and Success of Underrepresented Youth: A Literature Review. St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research : 1-31.
The text is an exploration of programs created to improve the enrollment of underrepresented youths in postsecondary education. It discusses their effectiveness at achieving their goals of increasing enrollment and the success of these students. It particularly discusses the effective of the programs particularly in students of color and those from low-income families. The text is relevant to the research because just as the other texts, it discusses the importance of post-secondary education to these minorities. Most careers in the United States presently require at least some level of post-secondary education. The achievement gap between minority and majority students has decreased significantly as more minorities are enrolling in college than before. This shows the programs have been successful to a certain extent some of them require improvements. Some gaps such as in grades and enrollments in science and mathematics courses are also examined in this text by Jennifer Schultz and Dan Muller.
Gonzales, R. G. (2009). Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students. College Board Advocacy & Policy Center .
The article examines the plight of minority children as they struggle to gain an education in the United States. Despite not being immigrants in the United States, the children have received most of their education in the country. This includes primary education and secondary education. The article states that the children are not able to attend college or work legally in the country because they have no means to get their status as Americans legalized. They are also sometimes deported to countries they know very little about. The waste of this talent leads to emotional and economic loss to the student and the country. Some states in the United States have a provision to allow undocumented students to attend college but most of them do not. The article also mentions the possible important role that the DREAM Act would play to offer a path to legal residency for the alien students. The integration of these students has positive implications for the economy and social well-being of the nation.
Goździak, E. M. (2014). To Dream or not to Dream: The Effects of Immigration Status, Discrimination, and Parental Influence on Latino Children’s Access to Education. Migration Studies 2(3): 392-414 .
The text is a report on a study conducted by Elżbieta Goździak on the daily experiences of immigrant children. It explores the difference in the routes and circumstances as they live in the United States. It examines children that are living illegally or that have at least one unauthorized parent. Their alien nature affects the children both directly and indirectly through their parents; thus influencing their futures. Concerning education, the research focuses on access to education to formal education by these children. The paper is relevant to the research since it presents the experiences of immigrant children in their lives and as they try to access education in the Unites States of America. Elżbieta Goździak is the Acting Director and Research Professor. She works at Georgetown University in the Institute for Study of International Migration. She is also the editor of the International Migration journal which makes her qualified to write about the topic.
Mulhere, K. (2015). Family Influence on Education. Inside Higher ED . Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/25/report-marks-growing-educational-disadvantage-children-single-parent-families.
The article examines the influence that families have on the education of children. It particularly focuses on the student in single parent families. Statistics show that these students dedicate fewer years to education than average and are less likely to obtain a degree in college. Research also shows that the gap for children in single-parent families and those with both parents has been increasing since 1978. The text tries to determine what causes this gap. Some of the identified factors include money matters. The author discusses how this can affect the students thus causing the gap that exists. Mulhere also describes the factors such as mother’s age and their years of education that can affect the child’s education. These and many factors are used predict the educational attainment of the students. The author also identifies that single parenting is more linked class rather than the traditional relation to race.
Murray, C. (2012). The New American Divide. Wall Street Journal , 21. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204301404577170733817181646.
This article appearing in the Wall Street Journal examines how the ideals of an American Way of Life are fading as the upper class becomes more isolated. The upper class is also falling further from institutions that traditionally defined the American way of life such as religion and marriage. The author points out that Americans have developed a new version of the upper class than what was the case fifty years ago. The new upper class has tastes and preferences that set them aside from other Americans. A new lower class has also been formed that is categorized due to its withdrawal from the core cultural institutions rather than poverty as it was the case in the past. The author also examines other aspects of culture such as industriousness, crime, and single parenthood. He discusses how they have changed over the years in Belmont and Fishtown to give impression of what has happened to the common culture from 1960 to 2010.
National Center for Education Statistics. (2016). Postsecondary Enrollment Rates. National Center for Education Statistics . Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98.
The Postsecondary Enrollment Statistics present data on the enrolment rates of in different levels of education in the United States of America. Enrollment in the institutions offering degrees increased between 1993 and 2003 by 18%. It also increased by 20% between 2003 and 2013. The statistics go on to present other values related to enrolment rates such as in terms of gender and state. It also discusses the differences in enrolment rates at undergraduate and postgraduate levels of education. This information is relevant to this research since it provides a way to quantify enrolments in the institution . It can also be utilised in the evaluation of the reason for increased or reduces enrollment . The National Centre for Education Statistics is the only federal entity charged with the collection and analysis of data related to education in the United States of America.
Reardon, S. F. (2011). The Widening Academic Achievement Gap between the Rich and the Poor: New Evidence and Possible Explanations. Whither opportunity , 91-116.
This article by Sean Reardon appears in chapter five of the book, “Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children’s Life Chances.” In the article, Reardon examines how the relationship between social-economic activities in families influence academic achievement has changed over the past years. He particularly focuses on the income inequality and whether this has any effects on the achievement disparity between students from different income level families. He identifies that the income gap has been growing exponentially and is now even more than the black-white achievement gap. He also points the effects of the gap between children and the reason for these effects. Reardon is a qualified author since he is the director of interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Program at Stanford Graduate School of Education and hold a doctrate in poverty and inequality in Education .
