The purpose of this ethnographic study is to examine how a commitment to socially just pedagogies influences the core practices and policies of a school. This article presents a comprehensive description and analysis of two public middle schools committed to teaching for social justice: Urban Promise Academy and San Francisco Community School.…

Feminist analyses of the "chilly climate" have documented the ways in which women have been and continue to be marginalized within institutions of higher education. Yet there has been little attention to the relationship between the "chilly climate" and the lived experiences of particular populations in specific educational…

Challenges the Social Darwinism behind special programming for gifted and talented students, that is the notion that some are innately smarter and can learn better than others. The author argues that critical thinking can be developed in all children and discusses the importance of teachers, parents, and the learning environment in a child's…

Discusses the limiting effects of cultural labeling and class prejudices from an African American folkloric perspective. The author offers examples of African American children's spontaneous narratives that derive from earlier cultural roots and that may be misunderstood in European-heritage classrooms. Concluding comments examine the implications…

Examines efforts to improve the educational environment for an ethnically and economically diverse student body which help to increase student learning. Using a middle school in San Francisco (California) as an example, the classroom, the structure of the educational program, and student support services are described as conditions for increasing…