Studied socioeconomic differences in children's learning over the school year and the summer months using data for a representative sample of urban school children (final sample, 368). Findings show that the increase in the achievement gap over the primary grades can be traced mainly to the out-of-school environment. The seasonal pattern of…

Although much has been written about the ineffectiveness of schools in imparting cognitive skills, there is little reliable knowledge by which to judge such claims. While the typical school effectiveness study focuses on variation in educational outcomes between organizational units, there have been few studies which compared "school"…

Discusses what three researchers discovered about schools, home environments, and inequitable education, examining the achievement gap between middle-class and poor, minority students and noting that summer school does little to close the gap. Suggests a strategy to boost the summer achievement of poor children that would give them the extra…

A multivariate "school process" model is evaluated to explore the antecendents and consequences of curriculum enrollment. Selected characteristics of peer associates, measures of academic achievement, and three subjective outcome variables--educational plans, self-conceptions of academic competence, and intellectual orientations--are…

In investigating educational goals, academic performance, academic self-esteem, and educational attainment, researchers should realize the importance of the school environment as well as individual student characteristics. To evaluate the significance of school effects, a project was undertaken to ascertain why students in high status schools were…