Background/Context: While an abundance of evidence demonstrates how unequal conditions in schools contribute to unequal learning outcomes, the extent to which students' affective experiences of schooling reflect similar incongruences warrants further inquiry. Framing this discussion are empirical accounts and popular narratives of schools as…

Background/Context: The relationship between perceived discrimination and students' academic outcomes is well established, showing the negative effects of experiences of discrimination. Although much attention has focused on how to temper these effects for students, few studies have focused on the potential role that teachers can play in lessening…

Background: Research has demonstrated the importance of understanding the multiple factors that shape parents' relationships with schools, including the resources parents have at their disposal, their own educational histories, and the influence of school cultures and policies. Less is known, however, about how parents' engagement relates to their…

Background: Many school systems have ended social promotion by implementing accountability systems where students who fail academic assessments are retained in grade. Additionally, some parents have delayed their children's entry into school, believing that older students have an advantage. While research has examined outcomes for students who…

Background: Students continue to struggle with homework distraction well into the secondary school years. Recently, the concern over homework distraction has been growing, as new electronic media have offered diverse and nearly ubiquitous forms of diversion to students while they are doing homework. It is surprising to note, however, that a…

Background/Context: Although much research has dealt with the factors that influence educational expectations, few studies have addressed recent high school graduates who attend community colleges as their first postsecondary institutions. As the costs associated with attending a four-year institution keep rising, community colleges increasingly…

Background: In terms of high school graduation, college entry, and persistence to earning a college degree, young women now consistently outperform their male peers. Yet most research on gender inequalities in education continues to focus on aspects of education where women trail men, such as women's underrepresentation at top-tier institutions…

This article, based on work funded by the American Association of University Women, examines how personal and environmental factors shape non-college attendees' decisions to forgo college directly after high school. Group interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 48 racially diverse recent high school graduates (27 men and 21 women) who…