Social stratification and life chances: An interactive learning strategy for criminal justice classes

Social class is an important issue that must be taken into consideration when examining crime and criminal behavior in the United States. Social class is often viewed as a critical factor that influences the motivation to commit criminal activities. This article describes an interactive exercise that helps students better understand how social class may influence deviant and/or criminal behavior as a response to wanting to maintain status quo (particularly those in middle to upper class levels), economic hardships (that may occur at various class levels), the lack of social power, income inequality, or the lack of resources.     

How much of a difference do principals make? An analysis of between-schools variation in academic achievement in Hong Kong public secondary schools

This article aims to explain the role principals play in the variation in academic achievement between secondary schools in Hong Kong. The article draws on survey data from 179 key staff and 2,037 students from 42 schools. The study uses 2 analytical approaches. First, it employs classification and regression tree analysis (CART). This was used to sort out the most significant leadership practices associated with student achievement. Second, based on first-stage analysis, the study further explores the effects of leadership practices on academic achievement using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). Results indicate that transparent and efficient communication structures as managed by principals explained approximately 12% of between-schools variation in academic achievement. Leadership practices related to quality assurance and accountability and resource management also contributed to explaining between-schools variation in academic achievement, yet they had negative effects on student achievement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.