Before educators can address mathematics anxiety, they must recognize its presence and identify the complex factors that sustain it. The article discusses social and motivational factors that make it more prevalent among females, examines classroom interactions related to math anxiety, notes the consequences of math anxiety, and discusses…

Questions whether the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities are admitting large numbers of black students who are not capable of competing with their white classmates and if admission double standards are doing more harm than good. The article is followed by editorial comments addressing the author's position on mismatching. (GR)

Describes perspectives of several families whose children dropped out of school. Audiotaped interviews with 3 or more members of 12 families reveal hostile views toward schooling and a 2-generation history of poor academic performance. School was a series of academic failures, conflicts, disciplinary hearings, suspensions, and expulsions. Dropping…

Explains the persistence of inequality between blacks and whites despite changes since 1960, noting why a gap persists in the school performances of the two groups. The article looks at the difference between class stratification and racial stratification and then discusses civil rights, social change, and the educational consequences of racial…

Derailed superintendencies are a colossal waste of talent and resources. Major causes include interpersonal-relationship problems, conflict with district staff, micromanagement, and failure to make strategic decisions during transitional times. Superintendents should establish rapport with principals, build trust throughout the organization, and…

Examination of the relationship between academic learning and group relations suggests that the study of each can inform the other. A partnership between the study of group relations and the study of literary theory could give new insights into teaching and learning as discursive practices, power relations in the college classroom, and sources of…

Reports on a longitudinal study about the educational progress and behavior of 49 children in long-term foster care and a comparison group of children receiving social work support while remaining with their birth families. Finds that the children in foster care showed lower academic achievement and more behavioral problems. (CFR)

Theories under which college students have challenged academic dismissals are examined, the standard courts apply when examining challenges is explored, and a case in which relief was denied a student challenging a test grade is discussed. Conflict between an institution's academic freedom and a student's due-process rights is considered. (MSE)

The High School and Beyond survey collected experiences of dropouts and high school graduates. Researchers compared dropping out to personal, social, and labor market experiences four years after projected graduation date. Dropouts differed from graduates in personal and social adjustment but not self-esteem. Male and female dropouts had different…

Argues that Chapter 1 has done little to improve student achievement and may prevent disadvantaged students from catching up. The most glaring problem is the perverse incentive structure that rewards failure rather than success. If student scores rise, and the number of educationally disadvantaged declines, schools will lose funds. (SLD)

Traces the development of critical scholarship in the sociology of education, focusing on its attempts to explain failure for low-income youth. The author also examines contemporary theoretical work in "critical" literacy and three historical instances of when critical literacy was practiced. It is argued that helping at-risk students…

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to explore the nature of elementary school children's metacognitive knowledge of strategies appropriate for before, during, and after reading; and (b) to determine whether children who had participated in Reading Recovery instruction in the first grade had similar understandings as their current third-…

In the pathway of discouragement, there are two significant indicators that things have gone awry. First, there is an escalating "disconnect" among the adults who are involved in the life of the young person. Second, the problem solving gives way to discouragement, anger, and punitive consequences. For some children the trajectory lasts over his…

Research into learners' attributions for their successes and failures has received considerable attention. However, very little research has been carried out in the area of learning foreign languages. This study is timely in view of the current interest by the government in promoting foreign languages. The aims of the study were (1) to investigate…

This article comments on leadership within mainstream literature on school effectiveness/improvement, where it is almost always considered to be a factor of change. The article argues that systemic school improvement, particularly for disadvantaged children, is inextricably linked to wider social, economic and political conditions--in South…