Racial/Ethnic Patterns of Kindergarten School Enrollment in the United States

Enrollment into unequal schools at the start of formal education is an important mechanism for the reproduction of racial/ethnic educational inequalities. We examine whether there are racial/ethnic differences in school enrollment options at kindergarten, the start of schooling. We use nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Birth Cohort (ECLS‐B) to model whether parents seek information about their child's school before enrolling, whether parents move to a location so that a child can attend a certain school, or whether parents enroll their child in a school other than the assigned public school. Results indicate that enrollment patterns differ greatly across race/ethnicity. Whereas Black families are the most likely to seek information on a school's performance, White families are the most likely to use the elite option of choosing their residential location to access a particular school. These differences persist when controlling for socioeconomic status and sociogeographic location. Kindergarten enrollment patterns preserve the advantages of White families, perpetuating racial/ethnic disparities through multiple institutions and contributing to intergenerational processes of social stratification. Research should continue to examine specific educational consequences of housing inequities and residential segregation.     

Influential factors in the choice of public transportation or cars as the mode of transportation in habitual commutes / Factores que influyen en la elección del transporte público o el automóvil como modo de transporte en los desplazamientos habituales

The goal of this study is to analyse the differences in attitudes towards habitual modes of transportation among users of public and private transportation. The explanatory capacity of attitudes when determining the mode choice, along with the structural and sociodemographic factors, are also verified. The study was performed in three Spanish cities with 742 participants. The results revealed that cars are better rated than public modes of transportation in the attributes associated with immediate advantages (i.e., speed and availability) and convenience. Subways are highly rated in both immediate and deferred advantages (environment, safety, cost and health). Buses are the mode rated the lowest of the three. Using logistic regression, it was verified that the variance explained by a model that includes attitudes (R² = .639) is higher than the variance explained by a model based solely on variables related to infrastructures (R² = .489). The discussion of these results includes proposals aimed at decreasing car use.     

Checkbooks in the Heartland: Change over Time in Voluntary Association Membership

Numerous scholars documented declines in America's social capital through the mid‐1990s but we do not know whether the trend has continued. Further, despite warnings by Robert Putnam and Theda Skocpol that the quality of Americans' voluntary association memberships has also deteriorated—moving from active, “face‐to‐face” memberships to passive, “checkbook” memberships—data have not been available to test this claim. In this article, we use both the Iowa Community Survey and the General Social Survey to explore the changing nature of voluntary association membership between 1994 and 2004. We demonstrate that not only are declines in voluntary association memberships continuing in the new century but there has been a shift in the intensity of voluntary association participation over time. We observe a decline in active membership over time and an increase in checkbook membership over time. These findings provide support for Putnam's claim that checkbook membership is increasing at the expense of more active types of memberships.     

基于“过程-互动-行动”的城市贫困问题分析

随着中国市场化、城市化进程的加快,城市贫困问题越发严重。基于社会学家胡格伟尔特(A.Hoogvelt)的"过程—互动—行动"分析框架,分析了现阶段我国城市贫困问题的新特点及成因,指出贫困问题的加重,一是源于对社会群体福利最大化这一社会目标的偏离,民众,特别是弱势民众没有充分享受到中国宏观经济增长的长处,"宏观上欣欣向荣、微观上民不聊生";二是民主制度的缺失致使弱势群体话语权缺失,没有一个可循的制度安排供城市贫民来表达权益;三是政策实施过程中的政府失灵。对此,文章提出破解城市贫困的制度选择。     

马克思主义学习型政党建设研究综述

党的十七届四中全会以来,学术界开启了关于建设马克思主义学习型政党的研究热潮。学术界关于建设马克思主义学习型政党的研究,主要集中在对马克思主义学习型政党的科学内涵、时代意义、基本特征、基本经验、实现路径等方面。对这些研究情况进行梳理,有助于为建设马克思主义学习型政党提供借鉴。     

我国公共政策执行手段的选择、确定问题及改进

在政策执行过程中,有效的政策执行手段对政策目标的顺利实现意义重大。通常使用的政策执行手段有五种,政策执行手段具有某些作用特性。选择、确定合适的政策手段,必须遵循一定的标准和原则。我国公共政策执行手段选择、确定方面存在着一些问题,需要加以改进。     

医学生择业过程中的心理状况与职业生涯规划

随着大学毕业生人数的激增以及用人单位对于专业化程度要求的提高,就业形势变得日益严峻。同时,由于地区间经济发展的不平衡,人才往城市倾斜现象较为严重,由此出现城市与乡镇医院人才供求比例严重失衡。伴随社会问题出现的是医学生对于职业生涯规划的定位不准确而产生的各种心理问题,这些心理上的困境正严重地威胁着医学生职业前途。本文通过对医学生择业困境中的心理状态进行溯源与探讨,并结合我国目前医学生群体的就业状况,论述医学生择业过程中存在的心理问题,提出有针对性的解决方案与符合医学生群体特征的职业生涯规划,以期能为医学生群体带来一定的帮助。     

过渡时期我国西部城区养老现状及模式的理性选择——以四川省A市为例

人口老龄化给传统的养老方式带来了挑战,在西部城区社会养老制度还不完善及经济水平低下的过渡时期,必须探索适合其现状的养老模式。在养老的过程中凸显老年人的主体地位,发挥家庭的情感慰藉作用,强调社区的资源整合优势,同时增强政府的政策扶持力度,构建一个以老年人为圆心,家庭、政府、社区为外环的同心圆养老模式。     

论通识教育的必要性及实施途径

通识教育不单单是一种课程设置模式,它是一种教育思想、一种教育理念、一种教育境界,其目的是培养人的自由、和谐、全面发展。大学提出通识教育目标,就是要纠正高校普遍存在的过窄的专业教育、过弱的文化陶冶、过重的功利导向、过强的共性制约的弊病,是十分必要的。通识教育的实施要结合我国大学的具体情况,实现通识教育与专业教育的结合,通过实行学分制、主辅修制、弹性学制、提高教师素质、改进教学方法等途径来进行。     

基于成本-效益分析的企业技术创新策略选择

以企业效益最大化为分析前提,假设企业仅面临着开展或不开展技术创新两种策略选择,并假设两种策略的收入与成本函数均为线性函数.在此基础上运用成本-效益分析法,讨论在不同情况下企业的技术创新策略选择及其判别条件,并对分析结论的经济涵义给予解释.