There is a growing concern in this country that the middle class is disappearing and not in the way one would hope. Instead of families moving into a higher socio-economic class and being able to provide richer life experiences for themselves and their children, vast numbers are shifting to a lower socio-economic status level. The gap between the…

Extensive research has explored the ability of young children to learn about the causal structure of the world from patterns of evidence. These studies, however, have been conducted with middle-class samples from North America and Europe. In the present study, low-income Peruvian 4- and 5-year-olds and adults, low-income U.S. 4- and 5-year-olds in…

There has been a rapid global expansion of English instruction in the early grades in public school curricula. Particularly in so-called developing countries, the increase of and its shift from exclusively private to public education is linked to the idea that acquiring English promotes personal, social, and economic development. The author takes…

This paper examines recent research for differences on rate of conservation achievement between the subcultures: (1) rural vs. urban-suburban, (2) white vs. black, (3) subculture of poverty vs. middle class WASP, and (4) lower vs. middle socioeconomic status. The author concluded from his examination of research that: (1) among middle-class whites…

In an attempt to specify the nature of the variables associated with socioeconomic status, Jensen has proposed a two-level model of mental abilities. The first level represents associative learning. The second level involves higher-order conceptualization, and problem solving. The purpose of the present study was to develop a matrix completion…

Discussed are the theoretical explanations of the observation that low intelligence quotient (IQ), low socioeconomic status children appear to be brighter in certain ways than low IQ middle class youngsters. The two different theories on IQ as a function of socioeconomic status--environmental or cultural vs. genetically determined biological…

Eight propositions regarding the interaction of teachers and students to create educational outcomes are presented and discussed: 1. It is necessary to look at both cognitive and affective outcomes whenever we want to evaluate the effectiveness of teachers, or an educational program. 2. There is a need for more research on the reciprocal…