Research in the Service of Poor and Ethnic/Racial Minority Children: Fomenting Change in Models of Scholarship

Abstract

High rates of childhoodpovertyandrapid, significant increases in the ethnic minority population in the United States make it essential that thefield of child development markedly increase its production of knowledge useful in the development, delivery, and maintenance of programs that address the needs of poor and ethnic minority children,families, and communities. Developmental contextualism, with its emphasis on (a) diversity and context, (b) synthesizing research with policy and program design, delivery, and evaluation, and (c) collaboration among researchers and the communities where research and programs are being conducted, is especially promising as a model of scholarship that fosters progress toward this goal. The production of knowledge useful in meeting the needs of poor and ethnic minority children will also be promoted by more research funding; increases in the number of ethnic minority graduate students andfaculty; and ethnic, racial, and social class diversification of undergraduate and graduate curricula. Research training must include attention to the processes by which research is made culturally sensitive and to ethical issues that may arise in research and intervention with poor and ethnic minority children and parents.