In today's societal landscape, "adoption," the legal process by which a child becomes a full and permanent member of a new family, is becoming commonplace. Even though most people have had a personal experience with adoption in some capacity, those most closely associated with adoption (birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive parents) continue to be…

This paper draws on Matthew's story to illustrate the conflicting discourses of being a boy and being a student. Matthew is 12 years old and in Grade Six, his final year at Banrock Primary (a K-6 Australian State School). School is far from a happy place for Matthew--his tearful accounts of his combative relationships with his peers and his…

This paper draws on data from a year-long ethnographic study of a group of 12- to 13-year-old girls that explored the processes through which they negotiated gendered physicality within the context of physical education. Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and social fields and McNay's extension of his work underpin a discussion of three contexts where…

The goal of the study was twofold: (1) to examine the relationship between the gender-stereotyped perceptions of prototypic peers excelling in different school subjects and the personal liking for these subjects: (2) to examine whether the popularity of adolescents depends on their gender-role congruent achievement at school. Participants were n =…

Numerous researchers have devoted their careers to school reform. At the same time, many politicians have gotten elected by promising to fix failing schools. Although a lot of time, energy, and money have been invested in tackling this problem, the problem persists: Too many schools in the United States are failing to prepare too many students for…

American culture glorifies the self-made man and this self-making extends to individual identity. The United States celebrates geographical and social mobility and the very anomie this produces is also the site of secular rebirths. In this essay, the author examines a literary genre that draws upon the American faith in self-transformation in an…

This article documents a two-year journey developing and implementing a teacher education programme that required preservice teachers and teachers, administrators, and students in six cooperating schools to address issues of diversity, multi-/transculturalisms, inclusion, anti-racism/anti-oppression and social justice. We describe approaches and…

This document presents the proceedings of the 17th Annual Research Forum held June 29, 2012, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included herein are the following 25 action research papers: (1) "Reading and Writing": A Study Comparing the Strengths of Peer Review and Visible Author Writing Strategies (Elizabeth Behar); (2)…

Hispanics are one of the largest and fastest-growing minority groups in the United States. Projections indicate a need for an increase of 20% of practicing engineers by 2010. Despite the growing number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers in the American economy, education statistics suggest that too few Hispanic students…

Too often, African American elementary school students, including the gifted, disengage academically and underachieve in public schools. Increased research on the underachievement and low achievement of African American students in gifted education programs has suggested that an array of educational, personal/social, and familial factors (e.g.,…

This study investigates factors influencing participation of Afro-American female adolescents in sports. Following a review of the literature, two topics are addressed. The first of these, "Behavior in Sport," discusses benefits of sports to youth; stereotypes of Afro-American female sports participants; behaviors of female athletes; and…

Violence is a part of daily life in the United States, the world's leader in the number of homicides, rapes, and assaults. This working paper examines the issue of violence in the United States from a gender equity perspective. Gendered violence is reinforced by cultural beliefs that allow individuals and groups to use violence to establish and…

This document reports on an investigation that described patterns of interests in specific careers for academically talented seventh grade girls and boys. This study represents a step in addressing the unequal distribution of males and females in many occupational fields, most notably the low involvement of females in scientific and technical…

A qualitative study, presented in the form of an analytical narrative, examined children's symbolic and social use of superhero stories--popular media stories that vividly reveal societal beliefs about power and gender, which are themselves interwoven in complex ways with race, class, and physical demeanor. A second-grade classroom in an East San…

This conference proceedings focuses on structuring classrooms to optimize learning among Alberta (Canada) gifted students. The first paper, "Optimizing Parent Potential" (Trudy A. Harrold), describes a model and a process for helping parents acquire knowledge, organize their thinking, and act from a realistic base when dealing with their gifted…