No abstract

The variables of race/ethnicity, sex and grade were examined as potential mediating factors of early adolescent identity development. The EOM‐EIS was administered to 367 middle‐school students in an urban southwestern setting. Results provided evidence that the EOM‐EIS is an appropriate instrument for use with this age sample. Additionally, females and older students were found to be more developmentally sophisticated than other groups. Finally, ethnic minorities were found to be significantly more foreclosed than their non‐minority counterparts. As the school was a mandatory desgregation site, implications of school desegregation were discussed.

No abstract

Since the passage of Title IX in 7972, gender equity has been addressed through means that reflect inclusion and integration by gender. Recent Supreme Court decisions such as the one deeming the Virginia Military Institute's admission policies to be unlawfully discriminatory against women suggest a reinforced and perhaps narrowed interpretation of appropriate means for attaining gender equity in public schools. This case and others also suggest that publicly funded single-sex programs may be in jeopardy.

In today's American society, both men and women are occupying roles which at one time were considered the exclusive domain of either just men or just women. Recognizing this trend, one begins to ask, do middle school/junior high students hold attitudes about sex roles which reflect the trend of less traditional perceptions of what men and women should or should not do, or do they hold traditional views of these roles? A questionnaire asked 2149 students about male and female roles. The results found that the male respondents' perceptions were more traditional than female perceptions. When boys and girls were grouped, a general trend showed that each older age and grade category was more conservative than the next younger group. Finally, the students enrolled in more traditional schools with grade configurations of K-8 and 7-9 held conservative views while the early adolescents in middle schools with grade configurations of 5-8 and 6-8 held the least traditional views.