This article looks at the way language subtly shapes and constrains the way we perceive reality. It examines one term-parental involvement. This apparently simple and democratic term serves as a portfolio of meanings that separate and divide. It illustrates two of these meanings, which take the form of a conjoined metaphor of "full/empty", or…

Background: Empirical studies have revealed a significant, but modest association between maternal depression and insecure mother-child attachment. Across studies, however, a substantial number of mothers with depression are able to provide a sensitive caretaking environment for their children. This paper aimed to explore whether a mother's own…

Research on race, social class, and parent involvement in education often implies that parents' educational orientations result directly from their social class or racial group backgrounds. In this article, the authors study the involvement of working-class and middle-class African American parents. They argue that these parents' educational…

Regardless of race, gender, class, physical- and cognitive-ableness, as well as sexual orientation, to be musical in North American and western European societies is to be queer--particularly for men (Fuller and Whitesell, 2002), and maybe specifically for men, since women barely register in discussions of musicians. In this article, the author…

This case exemplifies the frequent need for principals to negotiate the conflicting demands of parents and teachers. Parents are advocating increased participation in school decision making while teachers are demanding a more secure and isolated environment. Issues of class and race complicate this challenge for many urban administrators.…

Traditionally, the United States higher education system has been the envy of the world for its high quality, accessibility to millions of Americans, ability to train generations of skilled workers, and its contribution to creating the vast American middle class. Today, however, higher education is experiencing new pressures. A new generation of…

This paper provides an introduction to the Mexican-American culture, describing (1) cultural diversity and linguistic policies in the United States; (2) cultural and linguistic studies that have examined the backgrounds of Mexican-American individuals; (3) the characteristics of this population; (4) issues on discrimination and human relations;…

This study examined 7-year follow-up data from the Yonkers Project, a study of a 1985 court-ordered neighborhood desegregation program in Yonkers, NY. Low-income Black and Latino families residing in impoverished neighborhoods who were randomly selected to relocate to publicly funded townhouses in middle-class communities and demographically…

The literature on the black middle class has focused predominantly on married-couple families with children, reflecting a conception of the black middle class as principally composed of this family type. If that conception is correct, then declining rates of marriage and childrearing would imply a decline in the presence and vitality of the black…

This article examines an effort to use urban schools to promote the revitalization of a large northeastern city in the United States. In order to attract and retain professional families to a regenerated central city, downtown schools are re-branded and promoted to such families as suitable for their children. The article draws on interviews and…

The following Action Research Project Report is to improve the oral reading fluency of the 4th and 5th grade students with learning disabilities. The targeted population participating in this study consisted of a total of ten participants of which five were 4th grade students and five were 5th grade students located in a middle class community…

English Language Arts class in a predominantly white suburban high school may seem like an unlikely site for transformational pedagogy. Teachers and students speak the same national language and most of the teachers grew up and were educated in working class communities. Despite these roots, it is far too easy for teachers to forget that our…

This article discusses the limited use of education vouchers in an era of unprecedented growth in school choice. It is divided into two parts: first, a description of the policy, political, and legal barriers that may limit the expansion of large-scale voucher programs is presented. Discussion then shifts to the efforts of voucher advocates to…

Suburban high school seniors planning to attend universities, as well as parents, high school guidance counselors, and teachers at both the high school and college levels are the intended audience for this guide. It seeks to provide incoming freshmen with "everything you need to know about the first-year college experience" in a lively and…

Two groups of l4 mothers were interviewed to study how parents reason about their children's behavior. The two samples differed considerably in terms of education, age, race, and socioeconomic status. The first group, high school educated, averaged 24 years of age, and, if married, had spouses with blue-collar jobs. The second group, college…