Observes that the United Kingdom's National Curriculum pressures primary teachers to change their teaching methods, but research shows equivocal results. Argues that the problem stems from the way characteristics of classroom organization have been defined in various studies. Reports on nine case studies of change in rural primary schools. (DSK)

Evaluates two British ethnographic studies by Bruce Carrington and Edward Wood, and by Cecile Y. Wright claiming to find evidence of teachers' racist attitudes and behaviors toward Afro-Caribbean students that contributed to student underachievement. Delineates methodological flaws. Argues that Wright's findings that the source of racism is in…