Showing papers on "Disadvantaged published in 1997"

Caring school communities

Abstract: There recently has been a renewed appreciation of the importance of social context to effective schools. This article describes an ongoing program of research on schools as caring communities. The research spans about a decade and a half and involves a diverse set of elementary schools from across the United States. The findings indicate that sense of school community can be enhanced for both students and teachers, that it is associated with a wide range of positive outcomes for both, and that the potential benefits of enhancing school community may be greatest in schools with large numbers of economically disadvantaged students. At the same time, it is noted that enhancing community has the potential for producing negative as well as positive outcomes, and that the content of the community values is of critical importance. Overall, the concept of school as community appears to provide a powerful framework for looking at educational practice and guiding educational reform efforts.

Women's Education in Developing Countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies

Abstract: Despite the great expansion of educational opportunities worldwide during the past thirty years, women in most developing countries still receive less schooling than men. Yet there is compelling evidence that the education of girls and women promotes both individual and national well-being. An example is the strong links between a woman's education and her employment and income. Another is that better-educated women bear fewer children, who have better chances of surviving infancy, of being healthy, and of attending school. When women are deprived of an education, individuals, families, and children, as well as the societies in which they live, suffer. When women are adequately educated, everyone benefits. Why, then, do women in much of the developing world continue to lag behind men in measures of educational attainment, including literacy, length of schooling, and educational achievement? This volume begins to address this puzzle by examining how educational decisions are made. This is done by exploring the costs and benefits, both public and private, that determine how much families invest in educating their daughters and their sons. The volume illustrates the importance of economic and cultural differences among developing countires in explaining variations in the manner in which these costs and benefits influence schooling choices. The book brings together information on women's education from a variety of data bases, examines the relationship between women's education and development, reviews research results for each developing region, identifies gaps in current knowledge, and discusses problems of methodology. The contributors assess the strategies that have been used to improve schooling for girls and women and point the way to an agenda for research, policy, and programs. The study concludes with a challenge to researchers, policymakers, and development specialists to ensure that during the next century women in the developing world do not remain educationally disadvantaged.

Family Influences on School Achievement in Low-Income, African American Children.

Abstract: The authors examined the achievement-related beliefs and behaviors of parents of economically disadvantaged African American youth, and the relations among parental factors and children's academic self-concept and achievement Forty-one children and their primary caregivers were interviewed Parents reported on their academic-related beliefs and behaviors Children completed measures of academic self-concept and 2 standardized achievement tests: 1 during the summer and 1 at the end of the following school year Significant and positive relations were found between parental belief and behavior measures within the domains of reading and math; however, parental beliefs were more strongly linked with child outcomes than were parents' achievement-oriented behaviors The relation between parental beliefs and child outcomes was not mediated by children's academic self-concept Results are discussed in light of models of family influences on achievement

Economically disadvantaged preschoolers: Ready to learn but further to go.

Abstract: Cognitive competencies and motivation were assessed in 233 preschool and kindergarten children in the fall and again in the spring. Cognitive assessments were given again in the spring of the following year (kindergarten or 1st grade) to a subsample of 88 children. The results revealed much poorer performance among the economically disadvantaged children compared with advantaged children on all 8 of the cognitive tests. For most cognitive measures, gains were roughly equal and the socioeconomic status (SES) differences at the end of 1 or 2 years in school were similar to the differences at the beginning of the year. Only a few SES differences were found on the motivation measures assessing children's self-confidence, attitude toward school, expectations for success, dependency, and preference for challenge; they did not systematically favor either disadvantaged or advantaged children. Classroom observations revealed some differences in disadvantaged and advantaged children's classroom behavior.

Teacher Retention and Attrition in Public Schools: Evidence From SASS91

Abstract: Teacher retention and attrition were examined by conducting discriminant function analyses on data gathered from the 1990–91 Schools and Staffing Survey and the 1991–92 Teacher Follow-up Survey. The sample size of this study was 3,612 (weighted N = 2,404,592). Among the three groups of teachers who stayed in the same school (stayers), moved to another school voluntarily (movers), or left teaching of their own accord (leavers) between the 1990–91 and 1991–92 school years, stayers can be statistically distinguished from movers and leavers on personal characteristics, school characteristics, and their perceptions of school- and profession-related issues. Policy suggestions based on the findings include building into teaching a career ladder, empowering teachers, providing incentives to teachers working in schools with more disadvantaged students, and taking a multiple-perceptive approach to the issue of teacher retention and attrition.

Evaluating Government Training Programs for the Economically Disadvantaged

Abstract: This article examines past evaluations of government training programs for the economically disadvantaged and offers an agenda for future research. It is found that government training programs are producing modest increases in earnings for adult men and women, but are probably not producing positive effects for youth. Future research must better document links between program-provided training and acquisition of valuable skills and must explore potential returns from increased scale. The recent adoption of random assignment has improved the accuracy of field evaluations but would benefit from an economic theory of evaluation to guide research into increasing training effectiveness.

The new paternalism : supervisory approaches to poverty

Abstract: If government tells dependent people how to live today, will we have a more self-reliant society tomorrow? That's the critical question as government increasingly seeks to supervise the lives of poor citizens who are dependent on it, often in return for supporting them. This trend is most visible in welfare policy, where "welfare reform" largely means attempts to require adults receiving assistance to work or stay in school in return for aid. However, it can also be seen in policy toward the homeless, where shelters increasingly set rules for their residents; in education, where states have instituted tougher standards for children; and in drug programs that test addicts for compliance. The drift in antipoverty policy is toward paternalismthe close supervision of the dependent.Paternalism has been a major trend in social policy for the past decade, and it has support from the public. But it has received little attention from researchers and policy analystsuntil now. "The New Paternalism" opens up a serious discussion of supervisory methods in antipoverty policy. The book assembles noted policy experts to examine whether programs that set standards for their clients and supervise them closely are better able to help them than traditional programs that leave clients free to live as they please.Separate chapters discuss programs to promote work in welfare, prevent teen pregnancy, improve fathers' payment of child support, shelter homeless men in New York City, deter drug addiction, and improve the education of the disadvantaged. Cross-cutting chapters address the management of paternalism, the psychological needs of poor adults, and the tension between paternalism and American politics.The authors consider both sides of the debate over this controversial issue. Several chapters address the sensitive question of whether government or private organizations are best able to implement supervisory programs. The conclusions are optimistic but cautious. Most of the authors believe that paternalism can make an important contribution to overcoming poverty. But paternalism is not a panacea, and it makes severe demands on the capacities of government. Supervisory programs are difficult to justify politically and to implement well."

Conceptual Issues and the Australian Experience With Income Contingent Charges for Higher Education

Abstract: It is opportune to esplore the conceptual basis of Higher Education Contribution Scheme, examine its revenue and practical implications, and ask if its institutionhas diminished the access of the disadvantaged to Australia's higher education system.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

To Ghetto or Not to Ghetto: Ethnicity and Residential Segregation

Abstract: This paper analyzes the link between ethnicity and the choice of residing in ethnically segregated neighborhoods. Data drawn from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth show that there exist strong human capital externalities both within and across ethnic groups. As a result, the segregation choices made by particular households depend both on the household's economic opportunities and on aggregate characteristics of the ethnic groups. The evidence suggests that highly skilled persons who belong to disadvantaged groups have lower probabilities of ethnic residential segregation relative to the choices made by the most skilled persons in the most skilled groups.

The Effect of Social Cohesion on Levels of Recorded Crime in Disadvantaged Areas

Abstract: This paper investigates the hypothesis that the level of crime in disadvantaged areas will be influenced by their levels of social cohesion. This issue is examined using two methods for delineating areas of disadvantage (geodemographic classifications and the British government's official deprivation measure, the Index of Local Conditions) and two independent components of social cohesion, one defines the level of 'social control' in an area and the other identifies 'ethnic heterogeneity'. The results suggest that levels of crime are significantly lower than expected in disadvantaged areas with high levels of social cohesion and vice versa. A complementary analysis of Homewatch schemes revealed that such schemes lead to reduced levels of burglary in affluent areas, but appear to have the opposite effect to that desired in more disadvantaged areas.

The Benefits and Costs of JTPA Title II-A Programs. Key Findings from the National Job Training Partnership Act Study.

Abstract: This paper examines the benefits and costs of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Title II-A programs for economically disadvantaged adults and out-of-school youths. It is based on a 21,000-person randomized experiment conducted within ongoing Title II-A programs at 16 local JTPA Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) from around the country. In the paper, we present the background and design of our study, describe the methodology used to estimate program impacts, present estimates of program impacts on earnings and educational attainment, and assess the overall success of the programs studied through a benefit-cost analysis.

The Impact of Being Offered and Receiving Classroom Training on the Employment Histories of Disadvantaged Women: Evidence from Experimental Data

Abstract: We address two questions using experimental data on disadvantaged women. First, what is the impact of being offered JTPA classroom training on the duration of unemployment and employment? Second, what is the effect of actually participating in this training on the length of such spells? Belonging to the treatment group shortens unemployment spells but has no effect on employment spells. Actually participating in training has a larger positive effect on the exit rate from unemployment than the effect of simply being a member of the treatment group. Ignoring the endogeneity of actual training in estimation substantially underestimates its effect.

Prospects: Final Report on Student Outcomes

Abstract: Prospects: Final Report on Student Outcomes, by Michael J. Puma, Nancy Karweit, Cristofer Price, Anne Ricciuti, William Thompson, & Michael Vaden-Kiernan. Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates, 1997. 96 pp. (Available free from the Planning and Evaluation Service, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20202-8240). Reviewed by Phyllis McClure, Independent Consultant, Washington, D.C.. In the 1988 Hawkins-Stafford Amendments that reauthorized Chapter 1 (now known as Title I), Congress commissioned a major longitudinal study of the effects of participation in the federal compensatory education program on achievement and other related educational outcomes. Prospects: Student Outcomes is the culminating report of that study. It summarizes the information gleaned from tracking a large, national sample of the same students in three grade cohorts from 1991 to 1994. Students were drawn from high-poverty schools (75% or more poor students) and low-poverty schools (25% or fewer poor students). Data were collected from student records, student profiles completed by teachers, student questionnaires, parent questionnaires, and reading/language arts and mathematics scores from the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills 4th edition (CTBS-4). Another volume, Prospects: The Congressionally Mandated Study of Educational Growth and Opportunity-Technical Report, provides a detailed description of the study design and implementation. The legislation also called for an interim report published in 1993, which contains extensive data on students in high-poverty schools, Chapter 1 students, districts, schools and classrooms, and language minority and limited-English-proficient students. Prospects: Student Outcomes presents its findings in straightforward, nontechnical prose divided into four chapters. The first of these is an introduction outlining the dimensions of the Prospects study, the history of Chapter 1, and characteristics of Chapter 1 participants. The second chapter, "Did Chapter 1 Help Close the Gap?" examines methodological issues, the relationship of test scores to school poverty level, and student outcomes for program participants. Chapter 3 focuses on the characteristics of high-performing high-poverty schools, those that foster academic achievement despite having high concentrations of economically disadvantaged students. The concluding chapter offers an exploratory analysis of factors associated with student achievement and growth over time. Chapter 1 services consisted of supplementary instruction offered for about 30 minutes a day, five days a week. This low intensity of extra assistance was expected to compensate for the large achievement gap. Program participants were by definition and requirement the lowest achieving students. Although the purpose of the program was to improve educational outcomes for these students, Prospects concludes that, as operated prior to its 1994 reform, "Chapter 1 assistance did not reduce the initial gap in academic achievement between participating and nonparticipating students. Where children start out compared to their classmates largely explains their relative academic standing in later grades" (p. 41). Using CTBS-4 national norms and the criterion-referenced test data provided by the test publisher, the study found that the majority of students could not master the reading and mathematics skills expected of them at their respective grade levels. Students in highpoverty schools were far less likely to master grade-level skills than were students in low-poverty schools. The performance gap was generally larger in higher order skills than in more basic competencies. Even when controlling for a variety of student, family, school, and classroom variables, the study found that: (a) students receiving Chapter 1 assistance scored below nonparticipating students, (b) students who had more intense assistance tested below those who received less help, and (c) Chapter 1 did not, over time, close the performance gap between economically disadvantaged students and their more advantaged peers. …

Policy intervention and power shifts: an evaluation of South Africa's education restructuring policies

Abstract: This paper argues that the South African educational restructuring policy proposals are unlikely to become interventions that help bringing about greater development, equity, participation and redress. The reasons for this are manifold. It is contended that the policy proposals are flawed in their conceptualization of the problems and misjudge the educational context and dynamics on the ground. These interventions favour the interests of the more organized and privileged sections of society and only indirectly address the needs of the excluded and disadvantaged. The policy proposals are also based on problematic assumptions about policy and the policy process, and the relationship between policy and practice. Finally, these proposals do not have an appropriate understanding of the change process and are unable to develop strategies to influence the reform process and empower the disadvantaged to struggle for a fairer, more equitable and effective education and training system.

Impact of School Culture on Effectiveness of Secondary Schools With Disadvantaged Students

Abstract: Cultural differences between effective secondary schools and average secondary schools were investigated in terms of student participation in school affairs, teamwork, adaptation to school customers' demands, orderliness, continuous school improvement, and emphasis on academic achievement All the schools were populated primarily by disadvantaged students. The sample included 20 secondary schools in development towns in Israel—10 effective secondary schools (5 religious state schools and 5 nonreligious state schools) and 10 average secondary schools (5 religious state schools and 5 nonreligious state schools). The full-time teachers of the 20 schools involved were asked to complete a Perceived School Culture Inventory, and 66% returned questionnaires (N = 724). The results revealed that schools vary in their cultural dimensions, and this variation correlates with differences in student achievement.

Exceptionally high intelligence and schooling

Abstract: Exceptionally intelligent children differ qualitatively from their peers and often are socially isolated and underchallenged in the classroom. Research on educational options for these children shows existing programs to be effective. Little money is spent in the United States on education for gifted children, and distribution of special programs varies widely, with nonurban areas and disadvantaged children being the least likely to receive special services and with the most common option being the weakest one-the pullout program. There is a growing movement to disband existing programs. Instead of calling for more of the existing programs, it is argued that first, standards should be elevated for all children. Those children who still remain underchallenged should then receive advanced classes in their domain of ability. Thus, fewer children would be identified as being in need of special services, and those identified would be the more profoundly gifted children who would receive the strongest kind of intervention.

Women in the Boardroom: Evidence from Large UK Companies

Abstract: A considerable amount of attention has recently been given to the lack of equality for women in the economic arena. Women are systematically disadvantaged in many ways in terms of pay for the same job, promotion prospects and access to the most important top jobs in the United Kingdom. In this paper we present new evidence on women participation rates in UK boardrooms. In particular, our objectives are to (i) examine the proportion of executive and non-executive directors who are women (ii) to document the degree to which women are deployed to key boardroom committees.

Perceptions of Disadvantage Versus Conventionality: Political Values and Attitudes Toward the Elderly Versus Blacks

Abstract: This article examines the role of political ideology in social prejudice. In contrast to a simple bipolar conceptualization of liberalism and conservatism, the authors present a framework stipulating that (a) liberalism is associated with the desire to assist disadvantaged groups but (b) conservatism is associated with respect for conventional, old-fashioned values. Unlike Blacks (who are potentially viewed by White Americans as both unconventional and disadvantaged), the elderly are highly disadvantaged but relatively conventional. On the basis of these differences, the authors predicted that liberalism would be positively correlated with attitudes toward both groups, whereas conservatism would be negatively correlated with attitudes toward Blacks but positively correlated with attitudes toward the elderly. This framework received strong support and, moreover, successfully predicted reactions to other types of groups that varied in terms of their conventionality/disadvantaged status. Implications for res...

Bridging the gap between service need and service utilization : A school-based mental health program

Abstract: In an effort to bridge the gap between service need and service utilization, an urban based, university affiliated children's psychiatric outpatient clinic has implemented a program which provides mental health services in inner city schools. When compared with the central clinic populations (N = 304), the school sample (N = 44) was markedly socioeconomically disadvantaged, minority, and as psychiatrically impaired as the central clinic population. School based mental health services have the potential for bridging the gap between need and utilization by reaching disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access to these services. Implications for such services are discussed.

Are Asian American Employees a Model Minority or Just a Minority

Abstract: This literature review note attempts to review and import from Asian American studies into organizational behavior key aspects of the Model Minority Thesis literature as it relates to workforce diversity. The supportive and critical perspectives on the Model Minority Thesis are explored. On the supportive side, it is argued that Asian Americans are a Model Minority: too successful to be considered a disadvantaged minority. Supporters want other minority groups to emulate Asian Americans and to eliminate affirmative action. Critics disaggregate the statistics used by proponents and find a bimodal distribution; some Asian Americans are economically well off but run into a glass ceiling, whereas others are disadvantaged.

Youth, gender and part‐time employment: A preliminary appraisal of student employment

Abstract: Increasing numbers of full‐time students at school, college and university are combining study with work in marginal, flexible, low‐ paid, part‐time service jobs. The employment relationship is highly informal and the contract may simply be the product of coincidence, because the idea that employers follow a particular strategy with regard to the employment of labour, simplifies the complexities and vagaries of the labour market. Although this phenomenon is bringing more young males into the part‐time labour force, young females remain disadvantaged in regard to the substantive terms of the effort/reward exchange. These factors necessitate a rethink and revision of the main theories of labour force analysis.

Television Viewing, Educational Quality of the Home Environment, and School Readiness

Abstract: The relationships among school readiness, children's television viewing, parental employment, and the educational quality of the home environment were examined. Thirty preschool children from low-income families and their primary caregivers were interviewed. Parents responded to questions about children's television viewing habits, the educational quality of the home environment, and employment status. Children were assessed on IQ and school readiness. Correlational analyses indicated that television viewing time was negatively related to parental instruction and number of children's books in the home. Viewing time was also negatively related to children's school readiness skills. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for an understanding of home environmental influences on the academic skill development of disadvantaged preschoolers.

Contemporary medical students' quest for self-fulfillment through community service.

Abstract: The author argues against the criticism that contemporary medical students, like most educated youth in our society, are self-centered moral relativists without a sense of social responsibility. He first frames his argument in terms of what Charles Taylor calls the three "malaises of modernity," namely, the rise of individualism, an emphasis on instrumental reasoning based on bureaucratic efficiency, and the loss of political action. He goes on to show how these malaises are manifested in the academic health center and their effect on the professional socialization of future physicians. Then, using John Evan's perspective of the need to shift from "supply-side" to "demand-side" thinking in the way today's medical students are trained and Hafferty and Frank's thesis that the most critical determinants of a physician's identity operate not within the formal curriculum but in a "hidden curriculum," he presents his own case of how Rush medical students, by participating in student-generated, voluntary projects--via the Rush Community Service Initiatives Program--are harnessing their individualism through commitment to serving the poor and disadvantaged. To show that the situation at Rush is not unique, the author also points to the impact that the Health of the Public and service-learning programs have been having both in academic health centers and in the communities being served. Finally, it is his contention that these community service experiences, given unconditionally to people in need, broaden the students' education by offering a population and community perspective of health and illness and, perhaps more important, bind them closer to society in both a moral and a political sense.

BLACK ACTIVIST MOTHERING A Historical Intersection of Race, Gender, and Class

Abstract: The prevalence of poor health among young disadvantaged Black mothers and their children has prompted a revival of maternal activism among Black middle-class urban women. A study of the California-based “Birthing Project,” founded in 1988, reveals that such activism is best understood as a modern-day version of Black activist mothering practiced by African American clubwomen from the time of slavery to the early 1940s. This article demonstrates the legacy of “normative empathy” as a significant motivator for middle-class maternal activism and as a basis for a middle-class critique of Black mothering among the disadvantaged.

Poverty Pockets and Life Chances On the Role of Place in Shaping Social Inequality

Abstract: Living in certain neighborhoods may exacerbate the poverty problem by affecting the life chances of people negatively. The important question is by which mechanisms the disadvantaged positions of the inhabitants of an area are reinforced. A reduced access to the job market, social isolation, stigmatization, and limited access to social citizenship rights can be seen as the most important mechanisms. What it means to be poor and live in a “poverty pocket” is explained by Dahrendorf's conceptualization of the idea of life chances, which can be unfolded in a provision, an entitlements, and a ligatures component. Although still much research is needed, it is concluded that living in poverty pockets affect life chances. This has not only to do with the quality of goods and services offered but maybe even more so with the difficult access poor people in poverty pockets have to provisions.

Questions of Racial Diversity and Mentorship: An Empirical Exploration

Abstract: Despite social work's commitment to promoting equity within the profession and diversity that better represents the pluralistic population that receives social work services (Berger, 1990; Gibelman & Schervish, 1993), the body of knowledge in the social work literature that touches on race and mentorship has largely been limited to anecdotal or conceptual accounts (for example, Berger, 1990; Manoleas & Carrillo, 1991). To begin to address this gap in the knowledge base, this article describes a study that empirically explored the question of racial differences in mentor relationships among white professionals and professionals of color in human services settings. Involvement in mentor relationships has become increasingly recognized as an influential factor in the development of both senior and junior professionals in a number of fields and work settings (Kanter, 1977; Levinson, Darrow, Klein, Levinson, & McKee, 1978; Richey, Gambrill, & Blythe, 1988). Mentorship is thought to facilitate professional development by promoting the capacity to cope with difficulties and develop new competencies at the personal, interpersonal, and institutional levels. Having a mentor has been identified as a positive factor in career choice (York, Henley, & Gamble, 1988) and in retention, promotion, and advancement (Blackwell, 1989; Ezell & Odewahn, 1980; Kram, 1985; Manoleas & Carrillo, 1991; Zunz, 1991). Studies of career outcomes have found the presence or absence of mentor relationships to be related to differences in career satisfaction and success (Burke, 1984; Collins, 1994; Riley & Wrench, 1985) and income level (Collins, 1994; Roche, 1979). However, with few exceptions (for example, Carroll, Feren, & Olian, 1987; Thomas, 1993), little research exists that directly addresses the question of race in mentor relationships. This lack of knowledge is unfortunate because the United States is undergoing a demographic transition; people of color constitute the fastest growing segment of the population. By the year 2056 more than half of U.S. residents will trace their descent back to Africa, Latin America, and Asia - almost anywhere but white Europe (Henry, 1990). Although they come from differing cultural backgrounds, the characteristic common to people of color has been their minority status based on a phenotype and racial heritage that have differed from members of the white dominant group. In 1990 the three largest groups of people of color in the United States were African Americans (12.4 percent), Hispanics/Latinos (8.1 percent), and Asian and Pacific Islanders (3.0 percent) (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991). Historically, people of color have been disadvantaged because their differences from the white majority were denoted as deficiency or inferiority, which served as a rationale for racial prejudice, discrimination, and oppression within the larger society (for example, Comas-Diaz & Greene, 1994; Rothenberg, 1995). However, increasing numbers of people of color have caused a changing "American kaleidoscope" (Fuchs, 1990), with cultural pluralism emerging as a more distinct feature of society. Such demographic trends and the ascendancy of cultural pluralism need to be reflected in the planning and delivery of mental health and social services (for example, Comas-Diaz & Green, 1994; Hopps, Pinderhughes, & Shankar, 1995; Pinderhughes, 1989). Thus, questions of race and mentorship among social workers are increasingly relevant in helping ensure that professionals of color are being developed to lend their voices, experience, and perspectives to the task of serving an increasingly diverse client population. A number of recurring questions concerning race and mentor relationships have appeared in the scholarly literature (for example, Carroll et al., 1987; Thomas, 1993) but have yet to be systematically addressed by social workers. The study described in this article represents a preliminary exploration of the following questions: Are mentor relationships more prevalent among white professionals than among professionals of color? …

Standing Outside on the Inside: Black Adolescents and the Construction of Academic Identity

Abstract: Standing Outside on the Inside: Black Adolescents and the Construction of Academic Identity, by Olga M. Welch and Carolyn R. Hodges. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. 144 pages. $14.95, paper. Standing Outside on the Inside sheds light on the experiences of a group of disadvantaged African American adolescents who participated in a university-sponsored enrichment program called Project EXCEL (Encouraging Excellence in Children Extends Learning). Authors Welch and Hodges first launched Project EXCEL as a pilot project to provide enrichment in reading, writing, and foreign languages to college-bound, African American juniors from a local inner-city high school. After two years, the program was expanded to include sophomores as well as European American students from a second inner-city high school. This book details the authors' action research documenting how students' experiences in Project EXCEL helped them develop an academic identity or, to use a term coined by the authors, a "scholar ethos." Whether participation in the program and the development of this ethos improved students' academic achievement, as measured by their grade point averages and standardized test scores, was the focus of this study. Welch and Hodges, both African American women who teach at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, used their own educational backgrounds and personal experiences to develop the hypotheses and research questions examined in the study. Welch (a professor of Rehabilitation, Deafness, and Human Services) and Hodges (a professor of German and Slavic languages, and chair of the University's comparative literature programs) come from very different social backgrounds. Despite this, the two note that they both developed academic identities grounded in traditional African American values pertaining to education, family, and community: We came to understand that education was to be seen as a possession which, driven by a personal sense of pride in achievement, could never be taken away. Furthermore, this education could be passed on to others directly through teaching and advising, and indirectly through serving as role models. Because this commitment to excellence and to the life of the mind was recognized as a permanent possession, it was internalized as a way of being free and as a key to freeing others. (p. 6) The introduction to Standing Outside on the Inside outlines the study's conceptual framework and research methodology. Chapter one provides an extensive review of related literature and an in-depth exploration of the key themes explored in this work. In it, Welch and Hodges focus on the failed promise of reforms designed to promote equal educational opportunity for African American students. They suggest that inherent in these reforms is a presumption of African American students' deficiency that marginalizes these students and casts them as outsiders in the educational process. They further suggest that the development of a positive academic identity or scholar ethos is vital if African American students are to achieve academic success despite the culture of oppression prevalent in urban educational settings. Chapters two, three, and four are the most informative, for they offer specific details about Project EXCEL and case examples of students' and instructors' experiences in the program. The vignettes Welch and Hodges present throughout these chapters illuminating these experiences are the strength of the book, and should provide most readers with a deep understanding of the concepts presented. For instance, in chapter two, the authors argue one of Project EXCEL's primary tenets: that a positive academic identity is a component of global self-concept and is central to high performance and achievement motivation. To make this point, they contrast the experiences of two students: one an African American male whom they believed had a great deal of potential but who was aloof and unwilling to contribute beyond the minimal requirements, and the other an African American female who lacked confidence in her abilities and who was described by her high school teachers as a diligent, but not gifted, student. …