The causal-comparative research study examined if academic achievement differs between African American 8th-grade students in schools where they constitute the majority versus the minority in Clarendon County, South Carolina. The research questions investigated 8th-grade African American students' academic performance in English Language Arts and…

This article examines academic and economic progression of 8th graders using the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS 88). In terms of educational mobility, this analysis indicates it is clearly better to possess academic ability--middle-school students who have high-academic ability but low family socioeconomic status (SES)…

It is not the kind of atmosphere most adults would find helpful if they needed to study and learn-high dropout rates, kids promoted without learning, schools short on money, profanity and disrespect, fighting, drug and alcohol abuse. Yet these are "very serious" problems in schools, according to surprisingly large numbers of the nation's black and…