Asserts that both efficiency and equity have been used as rationales for governmental support of postsecondary vocational education, but research has been hampered by inadequate data. Finds that postsecondary vocational education has positive effects on individual economic outcomes, but these effects are not found in all target groups. (CFR)

The issue of overrepresentation of minority groups in special education is discussed. The example of Mexican American and Puerto Rican children is used to illustrate that overrepresentation is justified and desirable if the relative need of the children in the groups differs in developmental and functional status. Policy implications are…

During the 1970s, the Hong Kong government declared elementary and lower secondary schooling to be free and compulsory and increased funding at all levels. Analysis of census data on birth cohorts in their upper teens in 1971-86 found increasing educational attainment over time and decreasing effects on educational attainment of parent income and…

Responds to "Identity, Metamorphosis, and Ethnographic Research: What Kind of Story Is Ways with Words?" by Suzanne deCastell and Tom Walker (1991). Describes the author's reaction to "Ways with Words--Language, Life and Work in Communities and Classrooms" by Shirley Brice Heath (1983). (SLD)

Sociometric surveys were completed at third grade for a low-socioeconomic status, urban sample of African-American youth, and delinquency data were gathered at grades 6, 8, and 10. For boys, the additive effect of childhood peer rejection and aggression predicted more serious delinquency, whereas for girls only aggression predicted more serious…

Twenty socioeconomically middle-class mother/toddler dyads (half White and half African American) were video recorded during joint book-reading activities. Unlike an earlier study, most book-reading behaviors were similar between the two groups, although the White group used significantly more labeling than the African-American group. Results…

Peers of a socially rejected seventh-grade girl were rewarded for publicly reporting positive aspects of the girl's behavior. Results indicated that positive peer reports reduced negative social interactions to near zero and increased positive interactions to above 70%. In addition, social acceptance ratings of the girl increased from…

Reports a study undertaken in Bahrain secondary schools to assess the contribution of tape recorders to learning outcomes in English as a Second Language (ESL). Findings revealed that students' proficiency correlated significantly with their perception of the frequency and skill with which their teacher use a tape recorder. (20 references)…

School or district size was found to interact with socioeconomic status to influence student achievement in West Virginia; small schools facilitated the achievement of impoverished students, whereas large schools facilitated the achievement of affluent students. Addresses implications for educational policy and future research into effects of…

Reports a study that analyzed relationships between enrollment in elementary magnet schools and related socioeconomic, racial, and geographic variables in a big city school system. Variables related to parent socioeconomic status and proximity to magnet schools were found to be significant predictors of magnet enrollment. (Author/SM)

A meta-analysis was conducted of 14 studies examining whether whole-language instruction increases the reading skills of low-SES students in grades K-3. Evidence suggested that low-SES primary school children do not benefit from whole-language instruction, compared to basal instruction. Findings indicated that there may be some advantages to the…

A 3-year ethnographic study of middle-school students in a two-way bilingual program found that Mexican-background students learned to value English over Spanish at school. The hidden curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment policy devalued the students' native linguistic cultural capital compelling them to use English in the classroom…

Identifies the unwritten Spanish language policy in the United States by historically analyzing the different roles that Spanish has had throughout U.S. history. The paper shows how Spanish has been used for the benefit of the Spanish- and English-speaking elite but restricted (or forbidden) as a socioeconomic tool and symbol of identity for less…

Conducted observations in urban and suburban schools, arguing that critical theorists should more closely examine differential structural constraints on pedagogical choice. Urban teachers made pedagogic choices that reinforced social hierarchies (partly to help students manage urban environmental risks). Changing the role of power in urban public…

Used discrete-time survival analysis technique to examine whether, and at what age, a national sample of 3,624 children first entered a childcare center. Found that after controlling for household-economic factors, the household's social structure and mother's language, childrearing beliefs, and practices predicted probability of selecting…