Now that the school effectiveness field is maturing, more refined and contextually sensitive observations about schools are possible. This paper focuses on socioeconomic status (SES) as one social context variable demonstrating substantial predictive power in numerous school improvement studies. Instead of viewing middle class behavior as superior…

Explores the dilemmas posed by the analysis of working class issues in education by professional sociologists. Questions whether the inequalities experienced in the educational system by working class people have been "colonized" by middle class academics for their own professional purposes. (CFR)

Noting that there is near universal agreement that children from families with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have access to more of the resources needed to support their positive development than do lower SES children, this monograph examines the myriad questions remaining regarding relations among SES, parenting, and child development from a…