Researchers have studied academic orientation--students' valuing of and commitment to education--as in part a function of a cultural fit between students' cultural capital, competencies, identity, and the institutional culture of the education system. Recent research on students' aspirations and commitment highlights the moral undertones of such…

This study uses qualitative data to investigate the process of social integration for minority students at a majority white high school and identifies significant gender differences in this process. At this school, integration is the result of processes that occur at two different levels of interaction. On the interpersonal level, African American…

This study assesses the effects of three aspects of school organization--student enrollment, student-teacher ratio, and the number of different students taught--on the property and personal victimization experiences of students. It hypothesizes that smaller schools, schools with lower ratios of students to adults, and schools in which the number…

Conflict is analyzed as a function of the organizational conditions of school size, teaching specialization, and the centralization of authority. (Author)

Comments on articles appearing in the 2001 theme issue of Sociology of Education. Considers the nature and impact of the widespread cultural commitment to educational equality. Discusses other aspects of education not emphasized in this issue, such as the implications of racial inequality, credentialism, and educational organization (CAJ)

Describes research testing the hypothesis that complex technologies (or teaching methods) generate more complex organizational structures. Uses two sets of longitudinal data from San Francisco elementary schools. (CK)

Interactions between teachers in a team teaching situation are evaluated. Findings indicate that there is considerable variation in the degree of collaboration achieved and in the extent of collegial influence. Additional comparisons between teacher collaboration and collaboration among other semi-professionals are called for. (Author/DB)

Presents a framework for understanding the volume and content of socialization messages within primary school classrooms (n=64). Explains that the framework includes five levels of classroom and school organization. Utilizes three methods for data collection: (1) classroom observation; (2) interviews with teachers and principals; and (3) reading…

Finds that teachers' professional efficacy is related to the environment in which they practice. Explains higher levels of efficacy in Catholic schools by organizational differences. Cites principal leadership and communal organization as essential to teacher satisfaction. Suggests fostering cooperative environments and reasonable teacher autonomy…

Reacts to articles by Charles Bidwell, Paul Kingston, and Carolyn Riehl in the 2001 theme issue of Sociology of Education. Argues that Bidwell and Kingston's articles show the strengths that the educational sociology field has exhibited over the years. Evaluates Riehl's article as a movement toward examination of the current intellectually…

Advances a model of individual teacher power using data collected in three high schools. A teacher's power resides in his/her access to various persons, information, and material resources. The resulting dependency of administrators on these resources can allow teachers to influence behavior. (Author/CS)

This article, using Bolivian data to test a model based on American theoretical formulations, shows that interpersonal influences mediate the effects of structural variables on educational aspirations. (Author/DE)

Seniors enrolled in private schools, whether Catholic or not, are significantly more likely to enter college and to enroll in four-year institutions than are public school students. Reasons for these differences are organizational policies, the orientations of the school staff, and the resources devoted to counseling and advising college-bound…

Discusses middle school student tracking. Describes a longitudinal analysis of tracking among 1,669 students. Argues that the number, stability, and size of tracks are determined independently of the student population distribution. Suggests that tracking is often based upon students' track history and prior achievement. Identifies tracking…

Reviews principal theoretical developments in the study of schools as organizations, particularly neo-institutional theory and analysis of faculty workplace. Discusses a theoretical approach integrating these developments including institutional constraints on schools, administrative responses to them, and networks of informal faculty ties.…