The percentage of high school graduates in the rural South improved during the 1990s but lagged behind urban figures; the percentage of rural college graduates grew slightly. Rural-urban differences in educational attainment were even greater among minorities. The rural-urban income gap also widened and is not expected to improve, with few new…

During the 1990s, the South reduced welfare caseloads more than other regions, most likely due to a strong metropolitan economy. However, poverty, low levels of human capital investment, and a sluggish job market persist in many rural areas of the South, and participation in welfare programs would likely increase in an economic recession. Public…

A review of five sets of educational goals reveals an emphasis on academic and social goals over economic goals. This contrasts with current concerns for the economic utility of education and for increased accountability. Primary agents for achieving both academic and economic goals are strong central control of objectives but school-based…

Examines gender differences in college attendance decisions, employing National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data. Uses a human-capital model stressing family characteristics and expected future earnings differential between college and high school graduates. The higher the college wage premium, the more likely men are to attend college. Women's…

In Jamaica, structural adjustment policies have severely limited employment opportunities in the formal sector, and approximately 40% of the labor force engages in "informal" self-employment. Interviews with 250 self-employed microentrepreneurs revealed that effects on income of experience and various types of education differed between…

Outlines a theory of how social capital contributes to volunteering, hypothesizing that social capital has a stronger effect on volunteering among people with more human capital and socioeconomic status. Specifies a test (of the effects) of social capital on volunteering and discusses the findings (of the test) in detail. (CMK)

Explores economic effects of increased educational expenditures on a state's economy, based on a proposal to shift $50 million from noneducational services to public education in the Arkansas state budget. This would generate a net gain of $13.1 million in total personal income and a $1 million net revenue gain. (Contains 17 footnotes.) (MLH)

Examines the influence of school attributes, such as pupil/teacher ratio and emphasis on academic achievement, on student participation in high school extracurricular activities. Reveals that the size, school climate, and social milieu of the school affect student involvement in extracurricular activities. (CMK)

Homeschooling is enjoying new-found acceptance in North America. Drawing on a variety of secondary sources and our own data from Ontario, Canada, we find that homeschooling is growing steadily, and is becoming an increasingly legitimated form of education. To understand these changes, we review prevailing sociological explanations that focus on…

This paper compares men's career opportunities and intra-generational class mobility across periods with markedly different development strategies in Mexico. Despite its significance for social stratification and inequality in Mexico, research on mobility has been relatively scant in recent decades. Using data from the National Retrospective…

This article offers a framework for assessing how education policy initiatives may affect a school's capacity to improve its performance. Drawing on the theoretical literature regarding school capacity and case studies of high-stakes accountability policies, the authors develop and illustrate a framework that includes both a resource dimension and…

Uses observations and interviews with Chicago (Illinois) public school elementary teachers (n=84) to examine how forms of capital are a basis for instructional leadership. Argues that teachers recognize leaders based on human, cultural, social and economic capital. Explains that understanding capital in construction of leadership helps support…

The purpose of this paper is to define the elements of intellectual capital of firms in Turkey and to empirically investigate the relationship between intellectual capital and market value of firms in Istanbul Stock Exchange. To create a suitable intellectual capital measurement model for this study, a wide literature research was made. In almost…

The empirical relationship between educational attainment and credentials with socioeconomic attainment is well established, but why this relationship arises remains in doubt. The author of this article discusses seven types of middle-range theories meant to explain the relationship: human capital, screening (including filtering), signaling,…

Teachers may be the most important element of an effective school, but does that mean that K-12 improvement must wait on the ability of schools or systems to recruit, nurture, and retain outstanding teachers? Such a strategy implies that widespread excellence hinges on the ability of publicly funded school systems to attract more than 3.3 million…