Maintains that intellectual ability has become a more important determinant of occupational success in recent decades, resulting in increased social class differences. Finds that, contrary to the usual view, class differences have become smaller and current social problems cannot be ascribed to low-ability people in the lower classes. (CFR)

The goal of good education is to have each student decide for himself or herself what will secure or endanger his or her freedom. Ways in which education has socialized people to fit into a racist society are discussed, and suggestions are given for reducing racism in the classroom. (SLD)

Characterizes the social, political, and economic climate underlying educational dilemmas and visions in Czechoslovakia and other Eastern European countries after the fall of communism. Discusses the debate between state control of education and liberal educational approaches facing the area and stresses the importance of teachers in the shaping…

Describes the background, main elements, and contradictions of the educational administration reforms in Hungary in the late 1980's decentralizing the education system. Considers similar issues in post-communist Eastern Europe and suggests that other countries' experiences be utilized to create the theoretical basis for decentralization and…

Presents a message to young people from Nelson Mandela, president of South Africa. Calls for a bridge between the youth of Africa and the United States. Asserts that racial divisions in the United States are major social issues that must be solved. (CFR)

Explores the greater emphasis on the role of education in federal social and economic policy and how it came about. It is suggested that changes in the relationship between class, race, and the state in the 1930s and 1940s set in motion a dynamic that made education the chief instrument of social reform two decades later. (GR)

A graduate student in environmental education reflects on her experiences traveling throughout the United States on a converted school bus with 20 other people in an effort to gain insight into social issues and problems. This experience helped her realize how listening to others, respecting their opinions, and discovering common goals promotes…

Presents four articles addressing various aspects of violence in the context of children's everyday life: video game violence, gun play, violent children's television programming, and war play. Proposes possible developmentally appropriate solutions. Urges teachers, parents, and the community in general to actively work to provide a safer, saner…

Examined the subsequent life and development of teenagers under probation who abused alcohol and drugs. Suggests that regardless of the social environment in which they grow up, children, both boys and girls, are in a risk zone if they use alcohol and drugs, and there is an enormous gap in their social adjustment compared with children that do…

Identifies and explains some of the tensions felt, from a Hispanic perspective, between Hispanics and Blacks. The authors present an overview of the Hispanic experience in the U.S.; contrast this experience with that of Blacks; and discuss civil rights, political representation, and immigration issues. An analysis is made of these tensions…

Attempts to identify how perceptions by black men of problem severity may be influenced by social, economic, and familial factors, working from the assumption that problem severity determines when stress becomes distress. Perceptions of 583 black adult fathers show that stress coping is not as problematic as expected. (SLD)

Examines poverty rates among families with children in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Compares the United States' rates to each of these countries to highlight the role of sickness insurance, child allowances, child support, income-tested social assistance, unemployment…

Social work is inadequately focused on an individual deficit view of social problems. Consideration of global social problems such as environmental degradation and poverty requires fundamental shifts in thinking about economics and our cultural history. Possibilities for social work intervention, based on transformational thinking about the…

Discusses Missouri v. Jenkins and the U.S. Supreme Court decision that the state of Missouri had no obligation to endlessly fund remedies to correct specific past school discriminations. An appendix discusses educational remedies for school segregation and what social science research says about their development and effectiveness. (GR)

Examined the effectiveness of the Wisconsin Learnfare experiment that requires teens to attend school regularly as a condition of receiving family financial aid. Findings from state social services data reveal that, despite a $1.5 million "savings" attributed to the program between September 1988 and December 1989, tremendous family…