Pursuing a college degree--and the open future for young adults it is believed to secure--anchors what it means to be middle class in the United States today. Acting on the conviction that the rising generation can and should do better than their parents is a middle-class inheritance, and getting young adults to and through college is at the heart…

Various sociological perspectives have been applied to facilitate school choice research over the past two decades, as showcased in this "2020 Yearbook of Politics of Education Association." Among them, Pierre Bourdieu's concepts and theories stand out as a catalyst for the field's sociological development. My first objective in this…

Chicago's magnet schools were one of the nation's earliest experiments in choice-driven school desegregation, originating among civil rights advocates and academic education experts in the 1960s and appearing at specific sites in Chicago's urban landscape during the 1970s. The specific concerns that motivated the creation of magnet schools during…

Jessica Calarco explains in this article that students from different backgrounds tend to manage problems in contrasting ways that can have real consequences in the classroom. More specifically, Calarco observed children from middle-class families tended to actively seek help from their teachers, while children from working-class families…

Positioning theory provides a lens through which to view the narrative accounts of working-class parents as dynamic, intentional acts of positioning intended to gain the recognition of school personnel as full partners in the education of their children. Knowing that school personnel will not treat them with the kind of respect given middle-class…

This article attempts to explain why it is that in England, despite twentieth-century moves towards egalitarianism in education, the selection and segregation of those regarded as being gifted, talented, or of higher ability in better resourced schools and programmes is now increasingly acceptable. Explanations for moves away from attempts to…

One of the most affluent segments of the population is also one of the least well prepared to face the reality of college costs. It is not the need analysis system that causes difficulty but a combination of rapidly increasing costs and the changing lifestyle of this group. (MSE)

Fueled by optimism and driven to succeed, middle- and upper-middle-class families--and those who aspire to join their ranks--are cherished by public schools. It is easy to see why. Better educated and more affluent, middle-class families tend to send their children to school ready (and eager) to learn. And, as 45% of American voters, middle-class…

This purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of parents with children with disabilities towards their children and how Mexican society treats their children. Using a focus group with a translator four middle class parents were interviewed about their children with disabilities in Guadalajara, Mexico. At a later date two other parents…

In this article, the author suggests that a Foucaultian analytics of power may be used to explain not only how white, middle-class parents make school choices, but also the effects such choices have on these parents. This essay looks at an empirical moment in which a group of white, middle-class parents responded to a change that occurred in their…

In a Fort Collins, Colorado, school district, parents whose children attend alternative schools choose schools for all the right reasons. Unfortunately, only a limited segment of parents exercises a choice. Teachers say alternative schools skim off the most motivated parents and students, leaving the problem children behind. These survey results…

Presented here are the findings of a telephone survey of randomly selected middle class families with preschool children. The survey, conducted as part of the Project in Television and Early Childhood Education at the University of Southern California, was initiated to provide a description of preschool children's viewing behavior and…

This study investigated the function of cooperation between parents and teachers, the needs of teachers and parents regarding cooperation, and the quality and form of cooperation that is most satisfactory to parents and teachers. Discussions generated by the investigation indicated that parents entertained widely differing opinions about school…