Introduces this issue of Middle School Journal. Highlights articles presenting theories concerning how male and female adolescents face the development of self-concept, the dilemma of ensuring gender equity, as well as divergent perspectives on helping both genders develop positive self images about themselves as learners. (SD)

A model of social work education for undergraduates from primarily privileged backgrounds links postmodern perspectives of cultural competence, diversity, social constructionism, and a generalist strengths-based orientation for work with families. Four steps for helping students recognize the role of culture in generating a worldview and develop a…

IN A STUDY OF FACTORS RELATED TO HIGH AND LOW GEOGRAPHIC MOBILITY, SIXTH-GRADE CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES IN DOWNTOWN MINNEAPOLIS WERE COMPARED WITH CHILDREN FROM FAMILIES OF ABOVE AVERAGE INCOME LIVING IN OUTLYING AREAS. LARGE DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND BETWEEN THESE GROUPS IN--FAMILY INCOME, NUMBER OF CHILDREN AND PARENTS PER FAMILY, RACE,…

This study tests the hypothesis that disadvantaged children learn more from interaction with advantaged children in Head Start classrooms than when grouped solely with other disadvantaged children. Subjects were 32 disadvantaged children who were assigned to two experimental groups of eight each and a control group of 16. Eight advantaged children…

An examination of the literature on the characteristics of at-risk students largely cites demographics, socio-economic factors and minority status as identifying factors (DeRidder, 1988; Green and Scott, 1995; Peng, Lee, and Walberg, 1992; Rodriguez, 1997). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (1994), minority students of low…

It has been suggested that overscheduling of upper-class youth might underlie the high distress and substance use documented among them. This assumption was tested by considering suburban 8th graders' involvement in different activities along with their perceptions of parental attitudes toward achievement. Results indicated negligible evidence for…

As social scientists engage their own subjectivity, there is greater awareness of their own touristic "gaze," or at least the power relations that are evoked in the researcher-subject interaction. In teaching students involved in community service learning, the challenge is to provide a learning experience that addresses power inequities…

This qualitative study utilises the relational dialectics of Baxter and Montgomery (1996) to examine the relationship communication of six heterosexual intercultural couples living in Finland. In this study, I attempt to answer the following questions: what cultural issues are relevant in the couples' relationship? What intercultural relational…

This paper investigates patterns of distribution of formal secondary education among different social groups in the Ivory Coast. It reviews educational growth in less developed countries (LDC's) and the questions of unequal distribution of education (many LDC's have not reached universal primary enrollment). Reviewing research on educational…

Family policy makers must first understand changes taking place and factors influencing Australian society so that they can then ease the burden on the disadvantaged poor. Growing affluence, increasing de-institutionalization of women's roles, later marriage, delayed and smaller families and an elongated family life duration are among the trends…

REPORTED ARE SOME OF THE ACADEMIC EFFECTS OF THE OPTIONAL TRANSFER PLAN IN NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, WHERE STUDENTS FROM A NEGRO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WERE BUSED TO OTHER SCHOOLS. METROPOLITAN ACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORES OF TRANSFER STUDENTS IN GRADES ONE THROUGH FIVE SHOWED THAT THE MEAN GRADE EQUIVALENTS WERE CONSISTENT WITH GROWTH SCORES FOR NONTRANSFER…

This study investigated the health-related concerns of adolescents living on streets as compared to poor and privileged adolescents living with their families in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The different groups of respondents were similar in terms of individuals' fear of disease and lack of concern about health in old age. AIDS and cancer were feared by…

This paper examines the ways in which high school Canadian history textbooks authorized from 1945 to the present have represented national participation in wars and peace-making/keeping operations. I explore how national mythologies of Canada as a kinder, more tolerant, or less violent national body permeate the narratives of national history…

The purpose of the study was to describe ways in which disadvantaged children differ from their more advantaged peers in the areas of cognitive and affective developmental patterns, and to use this description to restructure curricular experiences for disadvantaged children. Five groups of approximately 30 preschool children each were tested three…

Examines the role of elite groups in Zambia educational policymaking in the postindependence era, using three major attempts at educational reform as illustrations. Concludes that well-to-do groups have dominated educational policy decisions to preserve their own interests and have obtained gradual reforms in spite of offically declared radical…