Previous research on educational aspirations has focused almost exclusively on micro-level predictors of educational aspirations. Notably absent from these studies are measures reflecting the neighborhood context in which adolescents live. Drawing on Wilson's theory of neighborhood effects, the present study examines the extent to which…

The federal No Child Left Behind Act and previous performance-based accountability policies are based on a theoretical assumption that sanctions will motivate school staff to perform at higher levels and focus attention on student outcomes. Using data from Chicago, this article draws on expectancy and incentive theories to examine whether…

In this study, the authors explore the implementation of a statewide class-size reduction program in nine high-poverty schools. Through qualitative methods, they examined how schools used class-size reduction to change staffing patterns and instructional programs. Requiring changes in space allocation, class-size reduction was accomplished through…

Authentic discussions are dialogically oriented classroom interactions where participants present and consider multiple perspectives and often use others' input in constructing their contributions. Despite their instructional effectiveness, authentic discussions are reportedly rare in classrooms. This qualitative case study examines the features…

Merit promotion policies that require students to post passing scores on standardized tests or be retained in grade have become widespread. In this study, the author used a cultural sociological perspective to examine how teachers and students at two urban high schools enacted a district-wide merit promotion policy. Findings indicate that rather…

Interviews with 40 recently tenured university professors indicated that scholarly work is emotional in content; it draws on scholars' emotional resources. Yet, discourse about scholarship's personal and emotional meanings is uncommon, given historic separations (reified in university policy) between emotional and cognitive work and between…

This longitudinal study examined the PRAXIS I experiences of African American and Latino undergraduates seeking admission into teacher education at a Big Ten university. Participants were 44 students selected from a larger sample enrolled in a recruitment and support program aimed at members of underrepresented minority groups. The theoretical…

The concept of Levels of Use of the Innovation (LoU) permits an operational, cost-feasible description and documentation of whether or not an educational innovation or treatment is being implemented. Eight different LoU's can be reliably measured: nonuse, orientation, preparation, mechanical uses, routine, refinement, integration, and renewal.…

This study investigates the claim that pupil race affects the reading grouping decisions of elementary school teachers, causing Black children to be overrepresented in lower ability groups. These analyses failed to uncover evidence of racial bias, though Black pupils were more likely to be placed in the lowest groups. (Author/LMO)

Teachers' goal orientations were assessed by means of tape-recorded, three-hour interviews. Content analysis of interview transcription replicated earlier findings indicating that elementary teachers place an inordinately high priority on affective concerns. A cluster analysis revealed three distinct goal orientations on the part of teachers.…

The effects of microcomputer use on preschoolers' knowledge of pre-reading concepts and attitudes toward microcomputers were investigated. Seventy-seven preschoolers were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions: (1) adult-assisted microcomputer instruction; (2) unassisted microcomputer use; and (3) no computer use. Analysis of pretest…

This study sought to determine: (1) if an advance organizer could establish a function concept as a subsumer for new concepts; and (2) if an established subsumer would facilitate learning, transfer, and retention of concepts on lives and scope. Students in a remedial college mathematics class were subjects of the study. (Author/LMO)

Forty tenth graders from a high achievement track and forty from lower achievement tracks of a suburban high school were interviewed concerning their use of self-regulated learning strategies during class, homework, and study. Fourteen categories of self-regulation strategies were identified from student answers that dealt with six learning…

Determinants of children's self-perceptions of ability were assessed in 158 second and sixth graders by examining intercorrelations among self-ratings of ability, effort, and conduct and by exploring criteria used for these judgments. Results suggest that children's judgments of ability, effort, and conduct are interrelated but distinguishable.…

Interviews with 105 teachers and 14 administrators, supplemented by observation, provide data for a focused ethnography of the school as a workplace, specifically, of organizational characteristics conducive to continued "learning on the job." Findings suggest critical social organization variables that lend themselves to quantitative…