Choosing Homes, Choosing Schools

by Annette Lareau, Kimberly Goyette

Overview

A series of policy shifts over the past decade promises to change how Americans decide where to send their children to school. In theory, the boom in standardized test scores and charter schools will allow parents to evaluate their assigned neighborhood school, or move in search of a better option. But what kind of data do parents actually use while choosing schools? Are there differences among suburban and urban families? How do parents’ choices influence school and residential segregation in America? Choosing Homes, Choosing Schools presents a breakthrough analysis of the new era of school choice, and what it portends for American neighborhoods. The distinguished contributors to Choosing Homes, Choosing Schools investigate the complex relationship between education, neighborhood social networks, and larger patterns of inequality. Paul Jargowsky reviews recent trends in segregation by race and class. His analysis shows that segregation between blacks and whites has declined since 1970, but remains extremely high. Moreover, white families with children are less likely than childless whites to live in neighborhoods with more minority residents. In her chapter, Annette Lareau draws on interviews with parents in three suburban neighborhoods to analyze school-choice decisions. Surprisingly, she finds that middle- and upper-class parents do not rely on active research, such as school tours or test scores. Instead, most simply trust advice from friends and other people in their network. Their decision-making process was largely informal and passive. Eliot Weinginer complements this research when he draws from his data on urban parents. He finds that these families worry endlessly about the selection of a school, and that parents of all backgrounds actively consider alternatives, including charter schools. Middle- and upper-class parents relied more on federally mandated report cards, district websites, and online forums, while working-class parents use network contacts to gain information on school quality. Little previous research has explored what role school concerns play in the preferences of white and minority parents for particular neighborhoods. Featuring innovative work from more than a dozen scholars, Choosing Homes, Choosing Schools adroitly addresses this gap and provides a firmer understanding of how Americans choose where to live and send their children to school.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780871544964
Publisher:	Russell Sage Foundation
Publication date:	03/31/2014
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

ANNETTE LAREAU is the Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences at University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures vii

About the Authors ix

Preface xi

Chapter 1 Setting the Context Kimberly Goyette 1

Part I Residential Segregation Today 25

Chapter 2 Pathways to Residential Segregation Maria Krysan Kyle Crowder Michael D. M. Bader 27

Chapter 3 Declining Significance of Race? Salvatore Saporito Caroline Hanley 64

Chapter 4 Segregation, Neighborhoods, and Schools Paul A. Jargowsky 97

Chapter 5 Residential Mobility and School Choice Among Poor Families Anna Rhodes Stefanie DeLuca 137

Part II Choosing Schools in a Residential Context 167

Chapter 6 Schools, Housing, and the Reproduction of Inequality Annette Lareau 169

Chapter 7 Middle-Class Parents, Risk, and Urban Public Schools Shelley McDonough Kimelberg 207

Chapter 8 High-Stakes Choosing Mary Pattillo Lori Delale-O'Connor Felicia Butts 237

Chapter 9 School Choice in an Urban Setting Elliot B. Weininger 268

Chapter 10 Linking Housing Policy and School Reform Amy Ellen Schwartz Leanna Stiefel 295

Index 315

Editorial Reviews

Where children live and attend school can exert powerful influences on their educational and social development. Understanding the forces at work in shaping patterns of residential and school segregation, therefore, is essential to understanding educational and social inequality in America. This thoughtful, theoretically rich, and empirically-grounded volume combines careful statistical analyses with rich, evocative parental interviews to provide a wealth of new evidence and insight into these complex forces. It is a ‘must-read’ for urban sociologists and education policy makers interested in understanding modern American inequality, segregation, and educational opportunity.”

—Sean Reardon, professor of sociology and director, Stanford Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Program in Quantitative Education Policy Analysis

From the Publisher