To address the important issue of dropouts from their schools, the Council of Great City Schools undertook a major research effort to make sense of the disparate ways in which cities keep their dropout data, and to advise various policy makers on the development of common metrics for measuring the problem. A survey of Council member schools…

This paper examines the complex relationship between black adolescents' ethnic identity, school performance, and the effect of the larger social structure on the interaction of these phenomena by reference to the concept of racelessness. This concept captures the endemic tensions and conflicts experienced by black Americans as they seek to define…

Black adolescents have learned a well-defined fear of "acting white": a fear of excelling in academic arenas which traditionally have been defined as the prerogative of white Americans. The focus of this analysis is the resulting conflict experienced by academically successful and unsuccessful black students in one predominantly black high school…

Discusses the use of regimentation and depersonalization as socializing mechanisms at an inner city junior high school. Focuses on the routine encounters of newcomers and the way such encounters force students to redefine themselves according to institutional needs and practices. (PS)