This article identifies organizational structures and practices in schools that influence the frequency of interracial interactions, the likelihood of cross-race friendships, and students' attitudes and behaviors toward members of different racial and ethnic groups. These formal and informal organizational practices include curriculum tracking, assignment to classes, attendance at school level functions, and extracurricular activities. The article discusses how the quality of interracial interactions and the resulting relationships among students is influenced by the contexts of these different organizational practices, including students' status expectations, cooperative versus competitive modes of academic and extracurricular interactions, and educators' views on racial/ethnic issues and their preferences for instructional methods. By taking these effects into account, schools can make significant advances in promoting positive race relations.At the end of the 20th century, racial tension and discrimination continue to be among the characteristics of American society that evoke considerable concern. Suggestions are offered, on a regular basis, for ways to reduce racial conflict and to better integrate racial minorities into American life. Many of these suggestions place the major burden of social integration on the schools. For some, the schools are a last hope for societal integration; for others, they are a facile solution to the complex problem of reducing racism and increasing sociability among Whites and minority group members in America.

This article explores the relationship between nations' level of economic development and the influence of adolescents' social backgrounds on their academic achievement. Using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the authors found that the positive effect of higher parents' education on middleschool students' mathematics test scores is remarkably consistent among the 34 nations examined. In contrast, the relative advantage of living in a traditional family for mathematics achievement varies systematically between nations, being significantly greater in those with stronger economies. Although the influence of socioeconomic status on educational stratification does not appear to change, the deepening academic disadvantage of living with only one natural parent in more developed nations may result from marginalization of families in these societies.During the past 25 years, many sociologists and policy makers became concerned with the relatively poor academic performance of American school children, which has been partially attributed to an increasing number of nontraditional famDepartment of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, State University of New York, Education 344, Albany, NY 12222 (schiller@csc.albany.edu).

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Two national reports published in 1986 marked the beginning of teacher education reform in the United States of America. Both of these reports proposed a twofold approach to teacher education reform: rst, to enrich the professional education of teachers by eliminating undergraduate teacher certi cation programs and requiring graduate level training; and second, to change the structure of the teaching profession by replacing the existing undifferentiated system in which all teachers have the same rank with a two-tiered system in which lead teachers or career professionals would assume higher level responsibilities and receive higher salaries than regular teachers.A ten-year follow-up report identi ed some progress toward these goals of teacher education reform but criticised schools of education for not making greater efforts to connect their educational programs to elementary and secondary schools. The report argued speci cally for professional development schools to link university schools of education to school systems. Most of the recent efforts to reform teacher education have adopted this approach. A particular focus has been the preparation of new and experienced teachers to educate an increasingly diverse student population.

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