This paper argues that the conceptions of "space" (and increasingly "time") in the discussion of "the university" (in its most transcendent sense) have gone through four distinct phases in the UK. Using a Heideggerian conception of "space" where usefulness is more important than proximity, the…

Focusing on parental networks--a central dimension of social capital--this article uses ethnographic data to examine social-class differences in the relations between families and schools. We detail the characteristics of networks across different classes and then explore the ways that networks come into play when parents are confronted by…

Older cities in the United States have long been trying to "bring back" the middle class in order to increase tax base. The poor quality of schools and the presence of public housing often were cited as deterrents for attracting higher income families. When the 2000 Census data revealed improvements in many cities, some elected officials…

Challenging conventional characterization of teenage girlhood as a wasteland of depression, low self-esteem, and passive victimhood, this book presents accounts of young girls showing how their voices are shaped and constrained by socioeconomic class. Based on a year-long study involving conversations with white adolescent girls from the working…

To explore meanings attached to children in Mexican society, this article examines two changing aspects of child circulation, a widespread reproductive disruption to the families of Mexico City's working poor. In the late 1890s, a rapid rise in admissions to the public foundling home was matched by a striking increase in retrievals. At the other…

The Preschool Language Assessment Instrument (PLAI) was designed as a diagnostic tool for 3- to 6-year-old children to assess children's abilities to use language to solve thinking problems typically posed by teachers. The PLAI was developed after observing middle-class teachers in preschool classrooms encourage children to use language in…

To gather information on parent preferences regarding the type of information communicated by schools to families, a survey was distributed to 444 middle and upper-middle class parents in Michigan. The survey divided techniques used by schools to communicate with the community into five categories: information about classroom curricula, student…

Children prerated paired-associate nouns for likability and then learned them. The relationship between childrens' self concept and learning of affectively assessed verbal material was examined. Results indicate that learning along an affective dimension of meaningfulness can be influenced by personality-related variables such as self-concept.…

The inquiry determined that the Protestant ministry fits Papahek's model (1973) of the two-person career (the wife's contributions are informally required by the husband's employment) and supported her contention that the two-person career derails women from their own careers, but not her theory that education is the derailing agent. (Author/AJ)

A study was made to determine whether nurses apply scientific theories in rearing their children or whether social class values have more influence on their childrearing practices. Surveyed were 119 registered nurses whose educational levels ranged from a diploma to a doctorate in nursing; 62 percent of the nurses responded. A questionnaire was…

Over a 2-year period, stability of performance on the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children of 25 nonhandicapped preschool children was examined. Overall, results indicated a high level of stability for both global scale scores and subtest scores. Less stability was indicated for performance patterns and subtest strengths and weaknesses. (PCB)

Multiple and mammoth-sized proposals to upgrade schools and to increase the numbers of graduates have been drawn up by selected panels of persons with impeccable educational credentials. But, as a researcher, I agree with selected other researchers who state, "It is like putting the fox in charge of the chicken house--most plans are drawn up and…

Focuses on teacher effectiveness in high-wealth districts as opposed to low-wealth districts; the findings indicate that teacher characteristics, in terms of ability to teacher specific skills, may vary according to the wealth of the district, but in an unexpected direction. (Author/JM)

This study investigated the questions of whether addicts have more negative self-attitudes than their matched controls, and if they do, whether the constructs of self theory are able to explain the differences. Subjects were selected from white middle socioeconomic status (WMSES) narcotic addicts being treated under the Narcotic Addict…

Argues that, in spite of the well publicized women's rights movement, and the growing consciousness of many persons, it is stated, most women still live out their lives in "quiet desperation": they are still excluded from the higher levels of "earning and learning", and they are still dissuaded from participating in the adult world. (Author/JM)