Development, Learning, and Community uses data drawn from a study of pluralistic Jewish high schools to illustrate the complex and often challenging interplay between the cognitive and socio-affective elements of education.

Throughout, Kress grapples with questions such as: How can the balance between community cohesion and group differences be achieved in diverse settings? What are the educational implications of an approach to identity development rooted in contemporary developmental theories that posit the interaction among cognition, affect, and behavior? How can the “formal” and “informal” offerings of a school coalesce to address these broadly conceived identity outcomes, and what are the challenges in doing so?