Administrative data on fifth grade students in North Carolina shows that more highly qualified teachers tend to be matched with more advantaged students, both across schools and in many cases within them. This matching biases estimates of the relationship between teacher characteristics and achievement; we isolate this bias in part by focusing on…

Objective: To identify predictors and moderators of response to acute treatments among depressed adolescents (N = 439) randomly assigned to fluoxetine, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), both fluoxetine and CBT, or clinical management with pill placebo in the Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS). Method: Potential baseline…

This study analyzes Census data which indicate the following U.S. poverty trends for 1988: (1) the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any point in the post World War II era; (2) the poverty rate showed no improvement and remains higher than the most severe recession years of the 1970s; (3) the share of the national family income going to…

It became fashionable in the 1960's for members of the community to become involved with education, but at the same time this involvement has forced the two extreme groups in society, the rich and the poor, into an uneasy consensus about the public education system. The author points out several factors which help shape the community's attitude…

This document describes, in four progress reports, the development and initial projects of a 6-year study, the Montessori Research Project, which is seeking to determine the benefits to preschool children of various educational programs, specifically, Montessori programs versus non-Montessori programs. The study is being conducted by the…

With only a small number of their students coming from families with the lowest incomes (10% from the bottom two family income quintiles), the nation's most selective private colleges and universities need to know why. Two ready ideological answers are (1) that low-income high-ability students are being excluded in order to favor the children of…

The charitable tax deduction has created a system in which the rich can choose to support institutions that perpetuate their own class, with little scrutiny by the general public or elected officials. Museums, libraries, orchestras, etc., receive more gifts than do programs that benefit the needy. (MLW)

Trends in occupational mobility for U.S. males, 1972-90, were analyzed using three occupational scales providing different indicators of occupational status and social stratification. Results indicate stable or increasing rigidity in U.S. occupational stratification, with a decline in education's importance, both as key to achieving high rank and…

A computerized test of preparedness for effortful processing (alerting attention), response to orienting cues (orienting attention), and response to the interference of competing demands (executive attention) was administered to a diverse sample of 249 children (47% female, 4.96 to 7.27 years) to assess developmental properties and…

This article addresses the failure of sustainability of reform efforts in public school systems by reconceptualizing the perplexing notion of sustainability through a case study to discern the skill sets needed of principals to sustain reforms in urban settings. This study draws on perceptual data gathered from principals in 36 schools in one…

The problematic of this research concerns the question of the co-construction of the representations of intelligence between mother and daughter, according to their age and contrasted socio-cultural environments. Our goal is to show that mothers and their daughters (for whom intelligence is a part of their everyday experiences, through their…

The Council of the Great City Schools has prepared this eighth edition of "Beating the Odds" to give the nation another look at how inner-city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set by the states. This analysis examines student achievement in math and reading through spring 2007. It also measures achievement gaps between…

This study examines how the language used at home, Putonghua or Cantonese, has influenced the Chinese reading attainment of 4335 primary school students in Hong Kong. Also examined was the influence of the birthplace and home background socioeconomic status (SES) of the reader. Although the indigenous Hong Kong population uses Cantonese, a dialect…

As more Americans enter college than ever before, their pathways through the broadly differentiated higher education system are changing. Movement in, out, and among institutions now characterizes students' attendance patterns--half of all undergraduates who begin at a four-year institution go on to attend at least one other college, and over…

This collection brings together many of the world's leading sociologists of education to explore and address key issues and concerns within the discipline. The thirty-seven newly commissioned chapters draw upon theory and research to provide new accounts of contemporary educational processes, global trends, and changing and enduring forms of…