Life's Chances: a Novel PDF Download

Author: Lyle Munro
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1783089962
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
'Life Chances, Education and Social Movements' explains the sociology of life chances; the opportunities and experiences of different generations in Australia, the United States and the UK; and how the differential distribution of life-enhancing opportunities affects our well-being. Ralf Dahrendorf’s life-chances theory is used to support the theoretical and empirical arguments in Lyle Munro’s book. For Dahrendorf, education is arguably the most important option individuals can utilise for improving their well-being and for overcoming social and economic disadvantages. While there are countless sociological accounts of inequality, Munro’s study takes a different and novel approach based on Dahrendorf’s model, according to which education and social movements and their networks function to enhance the life chances of individuals and social groups respectively.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Author: Greg J. Duncan
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610447514
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 573

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Book Description
As the incomes of affluent and poor families have diverged over the past three decades, so too has the educational performance of their children. But how exactly do the forces of rising inequality affect the educational attainment and life chances of low-income children? In Whither Opportunity? a distinguished team of economists, sociologists, and experts in social and education policy examines the corrosive effects of unequal family resources, disadvantaged neighborhoods, insecure labor markets, and worsening school conditions on K-12 education. This groundbreaking book illuminates the ways rising inequality is undermining one of the most important goals of public education—the ability of schools to provide children with an equal chance at academic and economic success. The most ambitious study of educational inequality to date, Whither Opportunity? analyzes how social and economic conditions surrounding schools affect school performance and children’s educational achievement. The book shows that from earliest childhood, parental investments in children’s learning affect reading, math, and other attainments later in life. Contributor Meredith Phillip finds that between birth and age six, wealthier children will have spent as many as 1,300 more hours than poor children on child enrichment activities such as music lessons, travel, and summer camp. Greg Duncan, George Farkas, and Katherine Magnuson demonstrate that a child from a poor family is two to four times as likely as a child from an affluent family to have classmates with low skills and behavior problems – attributes which have a negative effect on the learning of their fellow students. As a result of such disparities, contributor Sean Reardon finds that the gap between rich and poor children’s math and reading achievement scores is now much larger than it was fifty years ago. And such income-based gaps persist across the school years, as Martha Bailey and Sue Dynarski document in their chapter on the growing income-based gap in college completion. Whither Opportunity? also reveals the profound impact of environmental factors on children’s educational progress and schools’ functioning. Elizabeth Ananat, Anna Gassman-Pines, and Christina Gibson-Davis show that local job losses such as those caused by plant closings can lower the test scores of students with low socioeconomic status, even students whose parents have not lost their jobs. They find that community-wide stress is most likely the culprit. Analyzing the math achievement of elementary school children, Stephen Raudenbush, Marshall Jean, and Emily Art find that students learn less if they attend schools with high student turnover during the school year – a common occurrence in poor schools. And David Kirk and Robert Sampson show that teacher commitment, parental involvement, and student achievement in schools in high-crime neighborhoods all tend to be low. For generations of Americans, public education provided the springboard to upward mobility. This pioneering volume casts a stark light on the ways rising inequality may now be compromising schools’ functioning, and with it the promise of equal opportunity in America.

Author: Lyle Munro
Publisher: Anthem Press
ISBN: 1783089954
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
'Life Chances, Education and Social Movements' explains the sociology of life chances; the opportunities and experiences of different generations in Australia, the United States and the UK; and how the differential distribution of life-enhancing opportunities affects our well-being. Ralf Dahrendorf’s life-chances theory is used to support the theoretical and empirical arguments in Lyle Munro’s book. For Dahrendorf, education is arguably the most important option individuals can utilise for improving their well-being and for overcoming social and economic disadvantages. While there are countless sociological accounts of inequality, Munro’s study takes a different and novel approach based on Dahrendorf’s model, according to which education and social movements and their networks function to enhance the life chances of individuals and social groups respectively.

Author: Henry John Coke (Hon.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Author: Susan E. Mayer
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674587335
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
Children from poor families generally do a lot worse than children from affluent families. They are more likely to develop behavior problems, to score lower on standardized tests, and to become adults in need of public assistance. Susan Mayer asks whether income directly affects children's life chances, as many experts believe, or if the factors that cause parents to have low incomes also impede their children's life chances. She explores the question of causation with remarkable ingenuity. First, she compares the value of income from different sources to determine, for instance, if a dollar from welfare is as valuable as a dollar from wages. She then investigates whether parents' income after an event, such as teenage childbearing, can predict that event. If it can, this suggests that income is a proxy for unmeasured characteristics that affect both income and the event. Next she compares children living in states that pay high welfare benefits with children living in states with low benefits. Finally, she examines whether national income trends have the expected impact on children. Regardless of the research technique, the author finds that the effect of income on children's outcomes is smaller than many experts have thought. Mayer then shows that the things families purchase as their income increases, such as cars and restaurant meals, seldom help children succeed. On the other hand, many of the things that do benefit children, such as books and educational outings, cost so little that their consumption depends on taste rather than income. Money alone, Mayer concludes, does not buy either the material or the psychological well-being that children require to succeed.

Author: Kenneth L. Morrison
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761970569
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
`This is an excellent introduction to classical social theory. For most students it is the only book on the subject that they will need. The expositions are clear and comprehensive, outlining with almost alarming clarity ideas with which many of us have to struggle′ - Alan Bryman, The Management Centre, University of Leicester This is a thoroughly revised, expanded version of the best selling student text in classical social theory. The book provides an authoritative, accessible undergraduate guide to the three pivotal figures in the classical tradition. Readable and stimulating, the book explains the key ideas of these thinkers and situates them in their historical and philosophical contexts. The student gains an immediate understanding of what is distinctive and relevant about these giants of sociology. The book includes a glossary with over 150 entries. For a decade, the book has been required reading on undergraduate degree programmes. This new edition, refines the material, extends the analysis and enhances our appreciation. It is a nugget in its field.

Author: Stephen Moore
Publisher: Nelson Thornes
ISBN: 9780748754649
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
Stop talking double Dutch and start talking the official language of the Netherlands with this guide, which should help you to build your vocabulary and perfect your grammar. Whether you are conversing with a tulip seller or asking directions to the Van Gogh museum, this title aims to help you feel confident understanding and speaking the language.

Author: Charles E. Marske
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780819183118
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Risk is always present; only the probabilities of risk vary. Communities of Fate offers an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the social origins and organization of risk. By emphasizing the social aspects of risk and illustrating the range of circumstances in which risk is not only socially defined but socially created, the author helps demonstrate the extent to which reducing risk is not a technical problem, but, within Habermas' framework, a practical one. In short, how do we encourage all people, including those predisposed to technical solutions, to appreciate the extent to which risk is socially constructed and, thus, to join the socio-political struggle to reduce it where that is possible? Contents: Introduction; Theoretical Frameworks-The Classical Statements; Theoretical Frameworks-The Contemporary Statements; Empirical Case Studies of Risk; Policy Implications.

Author: Alastair Greig
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521524421
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
This text seeks to analyse and explain inequality, challenging traditional conceptions and providing a new critical perspective. The authors provide a comprehensive historical account of inequality, and show how that account no longer adequately explains the new and different forms of inequality experienced in recent decades. As society has changed, they argue, new forms of inequality have emerged, conditioning the subject's very experience of identity, embodiment and politics. The book is at once a critical overview of contemporary inequality and a thorough-going textbook suitable for undergraduates.