Several elite private colleges have announced additional financial aid sources for middle class students, because enrollment patterns suggested previous policies attracted proportionately more low- and high-income than middle-income students. One college feels the new policy encourages families to save for college. Critics say the institutions are…

The relationships between aspects of mother-infant interaction and both communication and cognitive skills at 1 year of age were examined in 92 African American dyads, of whom 64 were poor. The overall quality of the home environment and maternal ratings of stimulation and elaborativeness were the most consistent correlates of infant communication…

Examined the use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires with 96 low- and middle-income parents on their child from 4 to 30 months. Found that percent agreement between a professionally-administered standardized assessment and questionnaires completed by low and middle-income parents was 80% to 91% and 85% to 93%, respectively. (Author/KB)

Examined the attitudes of Hong Kong secondary school students toward English, Cantonese, and Putonghua. Compared the language attitudes of two main groups of Hong Kong students, middle class elite and working class low achievers. Findings showed that the former group was more inclined to use English while the latter group was more inclined to use…

Philip Woods and Carl Bagley's "School Choice and Competition" (Routledge 1998) evaluates the viability of allowing parents to choose the school their children attend within a decentralized, market environment. Despite methodological shortcomings, the authors argue effectively for schools' resistance to "competitive" social…

Explains that in order to write a book on the Progressive Era that can compete with the plethora of books already on this topic, the author combined two common strategies used when approaching his book: (1) examining the politics of the period; and (2) analyzing the people and their experiences with social change. (CMK)

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…

Race and other forms of difference are socially constructed concepts, continually reproduced and redefined in interaction. It is important to focus on how race and class are constructed by future teachers, because the ways in which they perceive their students may affect their interactions in the classroom, including having lower expectations for…

Contemporary White cultural bias is a complex social pattering and possessiveness rooted in unchallenged assumptions and privileged status arising from historic and structural racism, classism, sexism, and suburbanism. A church school curriculum that reflects only the experience, language, and culture of writers, editors, and illustrators raised…

An exploratory analysis of the meanings families attach to schooling, this article is based upon interviews conducted with three white, middle-class families--one from rural West Virginia, another from a small West Virginia city, and a third from rural Pennsylvania. I hoped that this preliminary effort would help me think about how families view…

This book presents a biographical account of the life of Alice Freeman Palmer (1855-1902) who is credited with expanding academic horizons for women in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It tells of the obstacles she confronted as she chose both marriage and a professional career as well as illuminates this…

This two-part investigation attempted to formulate culturally sensitive definitions of desirable and undesirable attachment behavior. Participants were 3 sociocultural groups of 16 mothers each: middle-class Anglo mothers, lower-class Anglo mothers, and lower-class Puerto Rican mothers living on the U.S. mainland. All mothers had at least 1 child…

Since the 1950s, parenting and childhood in America have changed dramatically. Childhood as a period in which to grow at one's own pace in a protected environment largely removed from adult supervision has given way to a new era in which the parent acts as supervisor and director of the child's development. Such involvement, especially by middle…

This research report summarizes data on six new immigrant groups, Colombians, Italians, Greeks, Koreans, Asian Indians, and Israelis, living in the Borough of Queens in New York City. The research format consisted of a comprehensive interview administered to 116 households. Data on occupation, education, income, household composition,…

A study explored whether children from lower class families would approach early writing with less confidence than children from other social classes. Subjects, 233 kindergarten children in all, represented four public elementary schools in very different settings: (1) an all-black low income neighborhood in the central city; (2) a white middle…