Examines the changing social character of upper secondary schools (noncompulsory education, generally regarded as a stepping stone to university) in England. Previously, upper secondary students tended to be academic high achievers, however, a shrinking job market has created an influx of working class youth. (MJP)

A 3-year study in Toronto (Ontario) schools examined educational practices that engender exclusion or inclusion, especially of racially marginalized groups. Findings suggest that an inclusive learning environment introduces topics of race, critically examines cultural stereotypes, has high expectations for minority students, encourages…

This study examined relationships between hardiness and school climate in contributing to student teacher alienation. Survey results from 106 student teachers indicated that hardiness significantly affected alienation. Alienation levels of high-hardy students decreased in more supportive school climates. Low-hardy students increased in alienation…

An ethnographic study examined the experiences of 23 Canadian Sioux students during their transition from a reservation elementary school to an urban public high school. Students encountered racial bias, low teacher expectations, isolation, frustration, and a lack of understanding by school personnel of cultural conflicts. Eighteen dropped out.…

This study examined 23 case studies of outstandingly successful deaf high school students. Analysis indicated that most of the students experienced some degree of isolation from peers, family, or both but had developed positive coping strategies. The paper emphasizes that deaf adolescents should know that it is normal to feel lonely and isolated.…

Steve Fisher, an Appalachian scholar who is also political scientist, activist, and professor, discusses the professional isolation of those in academia who advocate political activism, the importance of building interdisciplinary support systems that integrate communities with academia, and why pedagogy and politics should be merged. Explores…

Among the Chaggas on Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), "too much schooling" is believed to drive students, particularly girls, to the brink of madness. Fieldwork investigated culturally embedded attitudes toward education and the social development of young men and women, focusing on maintenance of family relations, single-sex isolation in…

Achievement for Latinos through Academic Success is a unique Chicano dropout prevention program in a large Los Angeles junior high school. Program features include: (1) focus on the school's highest-risk students; (2) construction of a comprehensive cluster of research-based interventions addressing four different spheres of influence on school…

When children are sick, hurt, or in desperate need, parents/caregivers naturally make preferential options for them. Yet, as it relates to social justice, particularly when working with students from marginalized and poverty situations, the concept of making a preferential option in a school setting is not as clear. However, a school setting is a…

This study evaluated the adaptation and adjustment processes of 28 Khmer children (aged 10 to 15 years) in the Boston (Massachusetts) area in a summer school setting provided by the Metropolitan Indochinese Children and Adolescent Services (MICAS). Using the Children's Acculturation Problem Index and the Children's Alienation Scale, supplemented…

In 1990, the Native American Prevention Project of AIDS and Substance Abuse began to develop, implement, and evaluate culturally sensitive in-school prevention programs for Navajo youth and their families. This project paper combines ethnographic interviews and observations with baseline quantitative data collection. A baseline survey of 174 9th-…

This paper compares the two educational sectors in Romania K-12 schools and higher education seeking to understand why reform in the K-12 educational system has failed while higher education reform has been more rapid and effective. The analysis uses concepts from U.S. organizational theory, such as school climate, school culture, and permanently…

This paper examines the relationship between Latino students' identity formation and their interpretations of the connection between schooling and career. Autobiographies were written by 47 Mexican American and Puerto Rican students at the end of grade 8, and again by 27 of the same students during grade 11. Virtually all students were from poor…

This monograph draws upon theories of student involvement and persistence to demonstrate how cultural activities can involve and serve to validate underrepresented groups on campus. A critical element of minority student academic persistence is the extent to which students become integrated into the academic and social systems of their…

Teacher burnout, defined as feelings of uselessness and inconsequentiality, did not begin in the l960s, but it was aggravated by increasing lack of respect and appreciation from the general public. The great social unrest of the l960s and l970s focused on the related issues of economic and educational inequity, and much public pressure was brought…