Scholars have consistently demonstrated that the socioeconomic composition of the pupil body is related to academic achievement. The effect of ethnic/immigrant concentration, on the other hand, is more controversial, as some have found no impact of the ethnic/immigrant composition when other aspects were taken into account. Social capital theory…

Educational standards documents worldwide include reading and writing of evidence-based argument as a major focus. In order to help students craft arguments that will be considered seriously by those with the power to make changes that affect them, educators need to cultivate within students their sociological imagination--that is, an…