Views school readiness as an ideological issue affecting American society and dominated by middle-class white values, which results in different treatment for middle-class students and "deficient students." Advocates moving away from a two-tiered system of education and toward a more democratic form of schooling that recognizes multiple…

Explains the roots and meaning of Kwanzaa and discusses this holiday in terms of its multicultural efforts, claims regarding the importance of ethnic identity, and its commercialization. It explores Kwanzaa as a middle-class phenomenon, its effects on multiculturalism in the public schools, and whether it is a positive step for blacks or is simply…

This article reports on efforts of various private colleges to attract students, including admission of more students, large tuition discounts, achievement-based scholarships, and loans which convert to grants if academic achievement is high. Efforts are intended to attract more middle-income students away from the cheaper public institutions. (DB)

Examined the degree to which African-American mothers took a parent- versus child-oriented approach to disciplinary practices. Found associations of maternal education and age with mothers' use of physical punishment; mothers' age and concerns about child victimization with mothers' use of social control; and maternal education with restrictive…

Examines the attitudes toward schooling of middle-class, college-educated mothers in order to discern their curricular and pedagogical preferences, particularly as related to progressive education. Indicates a lack of support for progressive forms of schooling among its supposed proponents; middle-class, college-educated parents espouse typically…

As the United States grows more ethnically diverse, traditional school-integration tools are becoming less potent. Restoration of Horace Mann's common school represents the single best way to promote equal educational opportunity. Controlled public-school choice (via specialty schools) is the best way to achieve socioeconomic integration.…

A study of the impact of the Hope Scholarship, a federal program that gives families of college students a tax benefit, has had in Georgia found that the college attendance rate has increased. However, the gap between blacks and whites and between those from high- and low-income families has widened. (JOW)

Investigated 40 working-class and 40 middle-class parents' beliefs about the meaning of schooling by conducting in-depth interviews. Results indicated that middle-class parents tended to value schooling more for the credentials schools offered, whereas working class parents tended to value schooling more for the learning opportunities (applied and…

Considers discussion-based parents' forums at two British secondary schools. Each school has attracted an elite group of white, middle-class professional women with limited decision-making power that remains unconnected to the wider parent body. It is difficult for controversial parental issues to be heard. (Contains 39 references.) (MLH)

A longitudinal study of 94 low-socioeconomic-status rural Appalachian and 67 middle-class Pennsylvania mothers with infants found that, contrary to expectations, low-SES rural mothers were comparable to middle-class mothers on maternal self-efficacy, significantly higher on responsive attitude to infant crying, and comparable or better on…

The original article, published in 1983, applied Titmuss's framework of a three-tiered social welfare system. Based on new data and a more in-depth analysis, this article re-examines who benefits from and who pays for social, fiscal, and corporate welfare and concludes that all three systems continue to serve and favor the middle class, wealthy…

Explores the social class/parental agency relationship by analyzing findings of a qualitative research project exploring parental voice in British secondary schools. A typology of parental interventions illustrates differentials in parents' access to and deployment of social, cultural, and material resources. Occupational pathways and spatial…

Traditional American cultural narratives about hard work, self-improvement, and "success"--moving from "rags to riches"--play a very important role in shaping the thinking of most college students, and most other Americans too, of course, regardless of age, class, ethnicity, or gender. This article presents several narratives that will help shape…

This paper presents comments on Ceci and Papierno's article concerning advantaged and disadvantaged youth interventions. The author notes that while the article was more than welcome, the discussion was nevertheless still couched within a seriously culturally biased conceptual framework. Even though most psychologists accept this framework, it…

This investigation compares the computer practices of the Garza family, from the first study, with those of the Fuentes family, from the second study. As both families are of Mexican origin, they belong to an ethnicity that has been reported as falling on the "have-not" side of the "divide" (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999);…