Surveyed early adolescents regarding the influence of race- and gender-matched role models. Students with race- and gender- matched role models at the beginning of the study performed better academically, had more achievement-oriented goals, enjoyed achievement-related activities more, thought more about their futures, and looked up to adults…

Discusses examples of sharp inequalities in school financing. Argues that the goal of educational equality does not confront the basic cause of educational inequality; fear of school integration perpetuates the existence of a multiplicity of school districts, which substantially increases the burden to fund education and ultimately costs society.…

Describes the Public Education Fund Network, which offers technical assistance to organizations promoting educational reform in low-income, minority school districts. The paper examines the genesis and evolution of the movement, focusing on the Pittsburgh effort. The movement emphasizes building a broad-based, informed, and active citizen…

Examines the social organization of the university, faculty organization, class and education, and race and ethnicity in the context of an expanded canon. (SM)

Examined Asian Americans' resistance to becoming teachers. Interviews with Asian American student teachers, and interviews by those students with Asian American citizens, highlighted: intense pressure from parents to strive for certain positions; sense of personal inadequacy related to Chinese cultural standards about teaching; fear of working…

A new kind of conservatism has evolved and has taken center stage in many nations, one that is best seen as "conservative modernization." Although parts of these conservative positions may have originated within the New Right, they are now not limited to what has traditionally been called the Right. They have been taken up by a much larger segment…

This article reports on the extensive qualitative and quantitative findings of a multi-method participatory study designed to assess urban and suburban youths' experiences of racial class justice or injustice in their schools and throughout the nation. Constructed as a letter to Zora Neale Hurston, who was immediately critical of the Brown…

Describes development of Milwaukee's Parental Choice Program from an alliance of neoliberal reformers and supporters of inner-city community schools enrolling Black and Latino students. Necessary ingredients included the legacy of independent community schools, frustration of many Black school reformers with Milwaukee Public Schools, and political…

Forty years after "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" mandated equal education for black students, racial discrimination thrives in public schools. Educators must lead the fight for quality education for black students in racially isolated urban schools and for monitoring the educational offerings provided for minority…

Examines the dual meaning of promise (hope and vow) in relation to "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas," discussing how the two conceptions are implemented in a desegregated school and explaining how multicultural education can help meet the dual expectations of "Brown" as promise/vow and promise/hope. (Author/SM)

Argues that the movement to provide parents with financial incentives to send students to private schools will increase the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic homogeneity of American schools. Six common assumptions about the positive effects of privatizing education are examined and deemed false. Probable costs of tuition vouchers for private…

President Clinton's proposed youth apprenticeship for non-college-bound students may not equalize educational opportunities or improve economic prospects for poor and minority students but may reproduce inequities. One democratic alternative is to offer an education that equips students with specific vocational skills and abilities. (SM)

Introduces 21 papers on racial inequality, examining 2 documents that significantly influenced American aspirations early in the century--"An American Dilemma" (Gunnar Myrdal) and "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas." The article discusses the impact of racial inequality on public education and the role of public…

Argues that the single most enduring effect of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas," has been to reverse the public policy of racial segregation approved by the Supreme Court in "Plessy v. Ferguson." The article reviews instances of resistance and violence, government use of troops, and present situations of school…

Examines the roles of race, ethnicity, and academic skills in predicting whether high school students will persist along the path into teaching, noting that the challenge of creating a diverse teaching force is increasing minority youths' high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation rates. High school sophomores' career…