This study is a quantitative descriptive research design which compared 1995 and 2005 data regarding family influence on rural Pennsylvania high school seniors' postsecondary decisions. A chi-square analysis at p less than 0.05 determined that there was (a) an increase in students planning college attendance, (b) a decrease in students not…

This article addresses an enduring concern in the sociology of education: how social class differences are reproduced through schooling. In particular it focuses on the functioning of pedagogy in this regard. The article presents a model that elucidates the inner logic of pedagogy in order to reveal the structuring of inequality with respect to…

Ethnographic research in 17 low-income schools in the northeast of England is brought to bear on the relationship between the policies of community regeneration and practices of community responsive school leadership. Over 100 interviews and site visits with head teachers, politicians, teachers, community service providers, government officials,…

In a review of historical efforts to improve the condition of the poor by education, it is noted that these attempts failed to lessen the problems of poverty. In the past the capitalist factory system demanded a cheap labor supply and therefore education was viewed only as a necessary vocational preparation. The contemporary issues of poverty and…

Social class, classism, and privilege and their relationship to counseling have been given insufficient attention. This article defines and explores White middle-class privilege; it proffers support for its integration in a multicultural competency, as well as its intersection with race and other dimensions of multiculturalism and privilege.…

Examines the reform in England and Wales that changed the secondary school system from a selective to a comprehensive type during the period 1965-74. Discusses middle class resistance to this change. Analyzes enrollment patterns to show how the middle class retained an advantage even as the schools changed. (MJP)

The message about general literacy standards in Canada (as reported in the Southam Literacy Survey) is that approximately five million Canadians are illiterate. The validity of this message must be challenged because a group of middle-class Canadians with middle-class values established the criteria for being "literate" and felt that all…

According to Census Bureau data, the gap in after-tax income between the richest 20 percent of American households and the rest of the nation hit its widest point in 1984. The top fifth of U.S. households received 42.3 percent of all after-tax income that year, a gain largely at the expense of middle income households. Since 1980 the share of…

Now that the school effectiveness field is maturing, more refined and contextually sensitive observations about schools are possible. This paper focuses on socioeconomic status (SES) as one social context variable demonstrating substantial predictive power in numerous school improvement studies. Instead of viewing middle class behavior as superior…

Three experienced social workers discuss the question "Do we or don't we impose middle-class norms on lower-class clients?" The discussion covered the general areas of (1) imposing values, (2) scapegoating, (3) functional norms, and (4) fatalism and poverty. (Author/BW)

Condensed from "The Center Magazine, Volume 2 (January 1969), 75.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS ARE GIVEN OF PROGRAMS FOR CULTURALLY DEPRIVED IN THE COMMUNITIES OF BEDFORD, GREENBURG, KINGSTON, AND OPPENHEIM-EPHRATAH. IN THE FIRST THREE, SPECIAL PROGRAMS ARE BENEFITING ELEMENTARY GRADE PUPILS IN MIDDLE-CLASS COMMUNITIES. IN THE FOURTH, A RURAL COMMUNITY, ABOVE AVERAGE STUDENTS WITH LOW READING LEVELS ARE SELECTED FOR AN…

A PHILOSOPHY OF READING IS PRESENTED WHICH CONSIDERS THE COMPONENTS OF THE READING ACT, THE PURPOSES OF READING, AND THE EDUCATIONAL TECHNIQUES THAT PROMISE GREATER READER GROWTH. A PHILOSOPHY OF READING IS CONCERNED WITH THE NATURE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT. AT THE SAME TIME, A PHILOSOPHY OF READING MUST…