Lower middle-class whites who support their police, who paste flags in their car windows, and who comprise a most volatile political constituency are the subject of this book. In particular, Kensington, a blue-collar neighborhood in Philadelphia, is examined: Irish, Italians, and Poles are found to be as angry and disaffected as their neighboring…

It is contended that the middle class does the work, pays the bills, and gets blamed for everything. It is conversely contended that many student activists feel that middle-class society needlessly blocks personal growth. (CK)

This study investigated relationships among teacher, parent, and observer behavioral ratings of 3- and 4-year-old children using intra-class correlations and analysis of variance. Comparisons within and across children from middle-income (MI; N = 166; mean age = 54.25 months, standard deviation [SD] = 8.74) and low-income (LI; N = 199; mean age =…

Dutro discusses an analysis of the disconnect between the material realities of the lives of a group of third-grade children living in poverty and the middle-class assumptions of a district-mandated unit within a literacy curriculum. The analysis arose in the context of an ethnographic study of identity and classroom literacy practices; it was…

This article uses ethnographic research from two Year 8 classes in two middle-sized secondary schools about a kilometre apart in a Swedish west-coast town to examine how new policies for personalised learning have developed in practice, in the performative cultures of modern schools in a commodity society. One school stands in a predominantly…

Given recent trends, middle-class families may become an increasing presence in urban districts. Such parents could help secure badly needed resources and raise expectations. This study of parental involvement in two urban schools suggests that middle-class parental involvement may be more complex than often assumed. The authors find that…

This paper presents a psychosocial analysis of interview data of three Canadian, middle-class, Jewish mothers engaged in processes and practices of "school choice". We consider how middle-class, white identity intersects with Jewish ethnicity. We also examine how commitments to Canadian ideals of multiculturalism sit in contradiction…

This article presents Allan Ornstein's response to highly respected scholar, Bruce Cooper's review of Ornstein's 2007 book, "Class Counts: Education, Inequality and the Shrinking Middle Class." Here Ornstein attempts to elaborate on a few points that he felt Cooper missed in his review.

The recent decision by the Department of Education and Science in the Republic of Ireland to introduce the mandatory testing of children in Irish primary schools provides the broad context for this paper. This decision has particular implications for schools designated as disadvantaged. The main focus of this study is on identifying the strategies…

Comparisons revealed that working class youth were more likely than middle class youth to be in either an identity achievement or diffusion status, and less likely to be in a state of crisis or to have accepted the values of parents without question. Findings suggest identity development differs between social classes. (Author/DB)

This article is based on a research project carried out by the author between 1997 and 2001. The article or story has two main characters: the pacifier and the concept of childhood. The idea is to use the pacifier optically, as a text and a context where the pacifier is a starting point for interpretations and reflections about modern Norwegian…

In the context of widening participation policies, polarisation of types of university recruitment and a seemingly related high drop-out rate amongst first generation, working class students, we focus on the provision offered by the universities to their students. We discuss how middle class and working class student experiences compare across…

Typically, the period between the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in mid-January and the end of Black History Month in February sees serious and sober public discussions about the state of Black America. Those discussions have heated up earlier than expected due to the November release of a national survey on Black social progress by the…

This paper analyzes the contradictory location of the professional and managerial new middle class within the rising tension between old systems of the industrial capitalist model of education, epitomized by a reliance on high-stakes, standardized testing and the newer forms of production associated with the "fast" capitalism of the global…

This article argues that narratives forecasting spectacular mobility for Black people/people of color along with the growth of the Black middle class function as proof that America "works" and that the American dream is obtainable for all. However, what is concealed within this "meritocratic" discourse is that full acceptance into this society is…