Middle‐Class Parents and Urban Public Schools: Current Research and Future Directions

Middle‐class flight from urban public schools to suburban districts or private schools is a key source of educational inequality. Recently, however, a number of studies have focused on middle‐class and upper‐middle‐class families who have made a different choice, opting to remain in the city and send their children to neighborhood public schools. While the movement of advantaged families into urban public schools has received positive attention in the media, this growing body of research tells a more complicated story. Middle‐class families – with their economic, cultural, and social capital – can bring important resources to schools, resulting in widespread benefits. However, their engagement in urban public schools can also lead to marginalization and exclusion. We review the emergent literature on this topic, highlighting four themes: (i) parent preferences, identities, and values; (ii) the role of marketing campaigns and informal networks in attracting the middle class; (iii) the nature and consequences of middle‐class parent engagement in urban schooling; and (iv) the relationship between neighborhood change and school change. We conclude by outlining a research agenda aimed at deepening our understanding of the mechanisms by which middle‐class parent engagement in urban schooling may serve to mitigate, reproduce, or exacerbate educational inequalities.     

“Better safe than sorry”—Reasons for consulting care due to decreased fetal movements

Background

Experience of reduced fetal movements is a common reason for consulting health care in late pregnancy. There is an association between reduced fetal movements and stillbirth.

Student Attitudes,Knowledge, and Skill Related to Research Training

Thirty-two first year graduate social work students were tested at the beginning and end of the academic year to determine the differences between those with undergraduate research courses and those with no past research instruction in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, as well as changes in both groups. Results showed no significant differences in the amount of change between the two groups and past research instruction did not predict competency in research A positive change was noted in attitudes related to research knowledge, skills, and interest in the total group.     

Life change,health status and life satisfaction: A reconsideration

Recent research has suggested that life changes may be unrelated to health status indices and to overall satisfaction with life. Yet research has also reported that life changes appear to be related to measures of psychological distress. To attend further to clarification of the role of life change as a predictor of health status and life satisfaction, this paper examines the relationship between negative life change self-reports and indices of health status and life satisfaction. The data come from a survey of 1423 Northwestern Wisconsinites interviewed in 1974 by the Wisconsin Survey Research Laboratory. The findings indicate that self-reports of negative life changes were related to overall life satisfaction, controlling for health status, feelings of alienation/attachment, and personal disruption. Implications of the findings are discussed in conclusion.     

Mature unwed mothers in Israel: Socio-moral and psychological dilemmas

Today, more than ever, women can control their own fertility and dissociate it from long-term intimacy. Among the types of nonmarital fertility, one of the least studied and often most controversial is the phenomenon of childbearing out of wedlock among mature women who are threatened by their own biological clock. It is estimated that there are about 3,000 mature unwed mothers in Israel. No psychological study of this population has so far been undertaken. This article attempts to delineate the demographic characteristics, the reasons for pregnancy, and the moral dilemma of 50 unwed mothers who deliberately decide to give birth as single mothers when they are over the age of 30.Ruth Linn is a senior lecturer in Education, School of Education, Haifa University, Israel 31999. Her research interests include conscientious objection, moral judgment of men and women, socio-moral conflicts in the family, and early childhood education. She received her Ed.D. from the School of Education at Boston University.     

Family Law Proceedings,Domestic Violence and the Impact upon School: A Neglected Area of Research

The aim of this article is to open up a discussion about an unexplored area of children’s lives at school. While there has been considerable discussion of issues about child protection and the cooperation between school and social services in that context, studies on the intersection between school and family law proceedings seem virtually non‐existent. This is also the case when it comes to family law proceedings and different forms of childhood adversity. Drawing upon previous and ongoing research on family law and domestic violence in Sweden, together with a number of other existing studies on children and domestic violence, this article outlines the potential impact of family law proceedings upon school as well as issues requiring further research exploration.