One middle school principal stemmed the flight of white and middle-class black citizens from a Chattanooga school district and reopened a magnet middle school. Using staff development, she encouraged her teachers to learn how to work effectively to motivate students. (SM)

Causes of the emerging perception among middle-income students that their educational opportunities are being restricted are discussed, and potential solutions are offered, including controlling college costs, encouraging saving, and borrowing. The role of information and of values and priorities in helping middle-income families pay for college…

Examines the child-care needs and arrangements of working and nonworking-poor and working-class families relative to middle-class families. Suggests that child-care decisions of low-income parents appear to be very similar to those of high-income parents; what differs is access, including convenience, and the ability to afford adequate programs.…

Study examined the relationship between race, class awareness, and leisure preferences. Data came from a national probability survey. Results showed similarities in leisure preferences between blacks and whites who considered themselves middle class. Patterns of leisure preferences diverged among blacks and whites who considered themselves poor or…

Results of a survey of White (N=1,100) and Black (N=396) middle-class suburban high school students indicate meaningful differences in drug and alcohol sources of information. While both groups rated mass media as their best source of information, Black students more frequently cited family as a source of information and assistance. (IAH)

Explores narratives given by a group of British students on their future career aspirations, attending particularly to diversity. Offers an analysis of the self that is highly fractured, and reveals that inner diversity may account for contradictory student narratives. Suggests implications for an alternative feminist critical pedagogy that…

Describes the Israeli education system focusing on the unequal access to education for children of Middle Eastern origin, the creation of secondary education that was expected to eliminate the cultural gaps and equalize educational opportunities, and the use of parental choice as a means of freeing the schools from bureaucratic bonds. (CMK)

Notes storybook reenactments by 15 kindergarten children from working-class were transcribed and coded. Compares with the results from 24 children from middle-class homes. Finds the children in the present study did not show the same developmental progression as the children from the middle-class homes and, in fact, 11 of the 15 children did not…

Although most people believe that schools exist to help children learn and achieve, some wonder why children's instruction must be hurried and why kindergarten is becoming so academic. Full-day programs, which accommodate parents' work schedules, are now commonplace; they may benefit some disadvantaged kids more than their affluent counterparts.…

Describes the author's experiences and thoughts about being black and attending Yale University during the school's early years of racial integration. The author also highlights black, middle-class development and its promise for the future of blacks in America. (GR)

Asks seventh-grade boys (in a middle-class school and a school where 82% of students were eligible for Chapter 1 funding) about comic book reading. Finds that those who reported more comic book reading also reported more pleasure reading in general, greater reading enjoyment, and reading more books. Finds no difference in frequency of comic book…

Of all Australian secondary schools in the current period, the government comprehensive high school is in most difficulty. This article looks at the developing fate of this school in terms of middle class social practice in relation to changing schooling loyalties. The recent work of Michael Pusey, Stephen Ball, Janet McCalman, Richard Teese and…

Reacts to articles by Alan Kerckhoff, Maureen Hallinan, and Adam Gamoran in the 2001 theme issue of Sociology of Education. Evaluates articles and conclusions presented by these authors and responds to their arguments. Presents a detailed rebuttal to the article by Gamoran and disagrees with Gamoran's conclusions. (CAJ)

One possible source of variation in children's mathematical abilities upon entry to school may be the social support of early number skills children receive in the home. In the present study, we explored parental support of preschoolers' counting in the context of an everyday activity and whether parental ability to provide aid is influenced by…

This paper explores the ways in which sixth-form students in Milton Keynes negotiate their identities and the symbolic significance they attach to leisure activities in the process of doing this. The paper draws upon qualitative, young-person-centred interviews with sixth formers in state and private schools. It addresses the investments of sixth…