The purpose of the paper is to develop the theory that structural or procedural changes in institutions precede changes in education in a society. It examines the development of pre-modern institutions in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries and the influences this had on growth in literacy rates within these states. Literacy rates in…

The article highlights the history and features of parliamentarism development in the Latin America countries. In addition, the need for training on the subject and the effect of increasing students and educators' awareness in this field is examined. This process was lengthy, replete with the examples of various social groups, political trends and…

The federal Pell Grant was designed to help low-income students pay for college. But over the past two decades, a growing share of middle-income students have become eligible for the program. This was not policymakers' explicit goal. This report examines how the program came to increasingly provide students from middle-income families with grants,…

This study aims to understand the ways in which children's play is situated in and shaped by middle-class parenting practices in South Korea. Drawing on a set of data collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 parents having children aged 6-11 years, I observe that despite the widespread rhetoric of the significance of play, parents'…

This paper examines how the English educational state has consistently acted to support private schooling in areas where fee-paying schools would be otherwise financially unviable. Educational data on private school participation since the 2008 financial crisis reveals the stark regional divides between London and the South-East of England and the…

A half century of research details how segregating racial groups in separate schools corresponds with disparities in funding and quality teachers and culturally narrow curricula. But we know little about whether young Latino children have entered less or more segregated elementary schools over the past generation. This article details the growing…

Researchers examined enrollment and family income data from the past 50 years at Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian private elementary schools (that is, schools serving grades K-8). The study used data on families' incomes and elementary-school choices from the decennial census, Current Population Survey, U.S. Department of Education…

The pace of income growth since the 1970s has been slower for Pennsylvanians than in the 30 years following 1945. In addition to being slower, income growth since the 1970s has also been lopsided, with a small fraction of the highest-income households capturing most income growth in Pennsylvania. This report examines the extent to which these…

A phenomenological case study by Counsell (2007) explored and investigated the phenomenon of what happened as Florida's A+ Plan intersected with the life histories of one beginning African American female third grade teacher and one veteran White female third grade teacher at demographically different school communities in one Florida school…

Panda-hugger and dragon-slayer are phrases used to describe two different kinds of China-watchers, and increasingly, two different types of people in the general public. A panda-hugger is someone who says that almost everything going on in China is good, that China's progress is a great thing for the world, and that any problems are peripheral. A…

Americans are struggling through the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. In recent years, a significant body of research and analysis has documented the breakdown of the middle class and the impact of the current financial crisis on family income, housing, and jobs. But few reports have examined these impacts through the lens of…

This article reports that the number of international students enrolled in American colleges in the fall of 2007 shattered previous records and represents the largest one-year increase in decades, according to new data from the Institute of International Education. Educators and government officials say the bounce indicates that hostile…

Crime has become central to any discussion about the consolidation of democracy in South Africa. Concerns about crime intensified in the years after 1994, as the country attempted to grapple with the apparent "crime wave" that accompanied the transition. A decade later crime is still a priority for government and a concern among…

Income disparities between wealthy and other Americans widened significantly in the 1980s. The most affluent Americans reaped exceptionally large income gains during that decade, while middle-income Americans gained little, and low-income Americans fell further behind. The richest one percent of all Americans now receive as much income after taxes…

Using the MMPI, this study investigates the extent to which sex lines are diffused among college students who tend to represent the middle class. In a comparison of MMPI scores, male college students scored higher than females on all ten clinical scales with seven of these significant, indicating better adjustment in general for women. In regard…