The advent of large-scale matched data sets, linking pupils' attainment across key stages, gives new opportunities to explore the effects of school organisational factors on pupil performance. Combined with currently available sophisticated and efficient software for multilevel analysis, it offers educational researchers the chance to develop…

Promoting caring in children is a powerful venue to prevent violence in our society. This article reviews the roots of violence, explores the various contexts of violence, and then describes how caring can be used to prevent violence. In particular, the role that families and schools can play in helping children develop caring is discussed.

This article explores what it means to work towards shifting school cultures in order to affirm sexual diversity within the contexts of conducting research within two New Zealand secondary schools. The author charts the series of shifts in thinking and action that she has undergone as to how best to accomplish changes given the challenges that…

In June 2005, shortly before Rev. John I. Jenkins, CSC, became president of the University of Notre Dame, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a pastoral statement, "Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium." This document, building upon the rich experience of two…

While the economic downturn has appropriately become the top priority of policy makers, one element of the crisis has gone largely unnoticed: its impact on children and youth. Largely due to the economic and housing crises, many school districts across the country report increases in the number of homeless students in the classroom. "The Economic…

This paper is part of a wider project that examines the discourses of motherhood and motherwork that enable and constrain individual women. It examines the influence of schools on mothers in making decisions to seek diagnosis and treatment for their children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here it is found that the business…

In offering a critical review of the problem we call "ADHD" (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), this paper progresses in three stages. The first two parts feature the dominant voices emanating from the literature in medicine and psychology which, when juxtaposed, highlight an interdependency between these otherwise competing…

Children's physical inactivity is an important health concern, and, as suggested, school efforts can be important in increasing activity. The purpose of this study was to use collective efficacy as a framework to examine elementary classroom teachers' and principals' perceptions about integrating physical activity. Three hundred fourteen…

To address the teacher shortage, some states have developed special associate's degrees in teacher education. This article explores the prevalence and structure of these specialized associate's degrees and presents a case for their development to smooth the transfer pathway for community college students who wish to become teachers. (Contains 3…

This paper presents a qualitative analysis concerning child care practices by six African American directors of subsidized child care centers located in a low-income, racial ethnic minority area of Los Angeles, California. These programs are traditionally African American programs that experienced an influx of Latino immigrant enrollment. Using…

In this article, the authors explore the following propositions: (1) Human behavior, individually and through institutions, is seriously threatening the earth and humankind; (2) A sustainable, equitable, harmonious future is desirable and possible; (3) Colleges and universities, as social institutions, have a general role to play in this scenario,…

This article concerns the tragedy of the misuse of power and the power of imagined inferiority. African Americans must lose misconceptions about the majority, heighten understanding about being Black in America and how that makes their children vulnerable to this nation's worst, stop fighting losing battles like affirmative action, and find and…

This article reviews ways in which early childhood educators can be advocates for the many children whose diversities bring them face to face with suffering and injustice. Educators' professional advocacy can focus continually on specific ways in which schools or programs should reflect caring and fairness to all children, regardless of…

This highly acclaimed volume in the "Defending Public Schools" series is now available in paperback from Teachers College Press. It is a practical, necessary addition to the work of administrators, teachers, policymakers, and parents as they negotiate the difficult path of how to best teach and educate today's children and youth. This…

A paradigm conceptualizing resilience as factors moderating between political violence exposure and psychological distress administered in a 7-year research project yielded a profile of factors promoting Israeli children's coping in conflict conditions. Three factors--social support mobilization, self-efficacy, and meaning attribution--were…