The study examined (a) whether differences exist between Chicano and Anglo‐American families in the strategies that mothers use to teach their own children and (b) whether such differences, if they exist, are likely to persist or disappear as a result of effective social change toward increased educational and occupational equality in the society where the two groups coexist. Eighty‐three Chicano and Anglo‐American mothers were observed in their homes teaching cognitive‐perceptual tasks to their own five‐year‐old children. Significant differences in maternal teaching strategies were found between the two cultural groups. Results also showed that these differences appear to be the result of differences in the average level of formal education attained by the mothers in the two cultural populations. These results suggest that the observed differences in maternal teaching strategies may disappear as women in the two cultural groups attain similar levels of formal education.

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In contrast to the amount of attention and research devoted to the impact of schooling on individuals, relatively little research has been directed to answering questions about the effects of schooling on family interaction. Based on the available evidence, the author proffers a two‐fold general hypothesis: (a) Among the enduring effects of schooling on the individual are certain behavioral dispositions that determine how he or she will behave as a parent, e.g., how the person will interact with his or her children. (b) In turn, parental behavior will have important consequences for the child's development of specific cognitive skills, learning strategies, and personality characteristics. The primary focus in the article is a conceptual and empirical examination of the impact of schooling on the parent‐child relationship. In the course of a series of studies, attempts are made to determine whether parental schooling, parental occupational status, and maternal employment each have a distinct pattern of influences on educationally related aspects of the parent‐child relationship. The inquiry is conducted in the context of issues regarding ethnic diversity, individual variability within ethnic groups, and educational and occupational equity, giving particular attention to Chicano families. The findings regarding linkages between parental schooling and the parent‐child relationship suggest plausible explanations of the frequent scholastic failure observed among the members of certain ethnic minorities in the United States. Therefore, as a secondary focus, a broad theoretical model is presented that causally links parental schooling, family interaction processes, and children's scholastic performance.

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In every era in the history of U.S. public policies toward children, certain groups of children have been identified as being “at risk” and hence of social concern and responsibility. These groups consist of the physically handicapped and those with serious diseases; the emotionally disturbed; the mentally retarded; orphans; children whose mothers or fathers are permanently or temporarily absent; illegitimate, destitute, indigent, neglected, abused, and anti‐social or delinquent children. Only very recently have the children belonging to specified ethnic, racial, and language groups been added as major “risk” categories and thus become a major focus of social concern and public responsibility. The source of the social concern about all the groups listed above is the alleged inability of the family (when it exists) to cope with the problems implied by membership in the group, or the public danger that follows from leaving these problems untreated. This social concern does not mean that American society has always accepted full responsibility for children in these risk categories. It has not always provided care, treatment, or rehabilitation, nor has it always sought to prevent their misfortunes. Since colonial times, however, it has at least shown concern for certain categories of children. My principal purpose in this monograph is to trace major trends in the evolution of those aspects of social policies toward children that bear directly on issues of ethnic, racial, and language diversity in our society. I also seek to examine the public attitudes, the intellectual assumptions, and the sociodemographic trends that have accompanied these policy developments. In addition, I pay some attention to the roles that the social and behavioral sciences have played with regard to such policies.

Administered the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities to 84 Chicano and 87 non-Hispanic White Ss (aged 2 yrs 6 mo) to examine the levels and profiles of performance in 5 ability areas (verbal, reasoning, quantitative, memory, and motor). Data on family and language characteristics were obtained by individually administered interviews of mothers (Chicano mothers' mean age 28.4 yrs, non-Hispanic mothers' mean age 30.7 yrs) in their own homes. Results show ethnic group differences in (1) the absolute levels of performance and (2) the shapes of the profiles formed by the configuration of performance across the various ability areas. Chicanos' average performance was poorer on measures of verbal and quantitative ability and short-term memory. Analyses showed that these differences can be explained on the basis of the relatively low SES level and language minority status that characterized a disproportionately large number of Chicano families. Tests of regression parallelism in MANOVA are appended. (50 ref)

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