Reliance on quantitative work has led to understudy of the "underlife" of the classroom. We observed six 11 th and 12 th grade history and government classrooms, twice a week, for a semester in order to explore whether and how teachers express their personal opinions, permit students to express their opinions, discuss political participation, and exhibit political cynicism. We found that teachers often expressed their opinions, except for their vote for president. Student opinions, however, were frequently suppressed in formal classroom interaction. Discussion of participation was limited, with teachers oblivious to unconventional activity. Frustration, cynicism, and even name-calling were frequently observed in both teachers' and students' political rhetoric. Our observations raise the question of whether increased civics teaching-without major changes in the kind of teaching employed-will inspire greater interest, involvement, and trust in rising generations or whether it will contribute to the very cynicism and indifference it is intended to overcome.

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Few studies have investigated the interactions of gender and social class as they relate to the decision made by adolescent students concerning college attendance, particularly in light of socio-cultural assumptions about men's and women's changing roles. We use evidence from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:02) to investigate this complicated relationship, using parent data to establish family socio-economic status. Using participants' tenth grade answers to questions about their personal values, and their plans and reasons for attending college, we tested whether social class as well as 10th grade values toward family and work functioned differently for male and female students in their path to and enrollment in post-secondary education. Our findings reveal important gender differences in the relative importance of adolescent values in linking to post-secondary educational goals.