The higher the social class of other students the higher any given student's achievement.
From James S. Coleman
Grades are almost completely relative, in effect ranking students relative to others in their class. Thus extra achievement by one student not only raises his position, but in effect lowers the position of others.
Cultural dominance of middle-class norms prevail in middle-class schools with a teacher teaching toward those standards and with students striving to maintain those standards.
A child's learning is a function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher.
Particular individuals who might never consider dropping out if they were in a different high school might decide to drop out if they attended a school where many boys and girls did so.
The educational resources provided by a child's fellow students are more important for his achievement than are the resources provided by the school board.
For to change the norms, the very foci of attention, of a cultural system is a difficult task - far more complex than that of changing an individual's attitudes and interests.
If we refuse to accept as inevitable the irresponsibility and educational unconcern of the adolescent culture, then this poses a serious challenge.
In a high school, the norms act to hold down the achievements of those who are above average, so that the school's demands will be at a level easily maintained by the majority.
Children from a given family background, when put in schools of different social compositions, will achieve at quite different levels.
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