The promise of mobility in a context of constraint: the International Baccalaureate in a low-income public school in Ecuador

This research explores cultivation of civic generosity in elementary youth as a cultural, ecological, generational practice developing global-local connections and enhanced by arts-based pedagogies, including reading, creating, and sharing children's books. In this study, 2nd grade students across two public school contexts (rural middle-income and rural low-income) reflect on learning generosity from a grandparent/parent to create a children's book presented in a public library. This study draws upon perspectives of participating elementary school teachers, administrators, and librarians to understand how the curricula and their partnerships enhanced student understanding, appreciation, and expression of generosity as a glocal civic practice.

Download Full-text

“A Great School Benefits Us All”: Advantaged Parents and the Gentrification of an Urban Public School

Urban Education ◽

10.1177/0042085916636656 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 54 (8) ◽

pp. 1121-1148 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Alexandra Freidus

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Public School ◽

Public Education ◽

Low Income ◽

Educational Equity ◽

District Leaders ◽

White Families ◽

Low Income Families ◽

Urban Public School

Middle-class, professional, and White families in gentrifying cities are increasingly choosing neighborhood public schools. As critical consumers of public education, these families frequently bring not only new resources to schools but also new demands. This article examines the process of “school gentrification” by analyzing the discourse of a neighborhood parents’ listserv. I find that as they worked to make their local public school “great,” advantaged parents performed the role of careful investors, defined themselves as the source of the school’s potential value, and marginalized low-income families and families of color. These findings raise important questions about educational equity for both educational researchers and urban school and district leaders.

Download Full-text

Cultivating Civic Generosity in Elementary Youth Across Glocal Cultures, Ecologies, and Generations

Civic Engagement and Politics ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-7669-3.ch040 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 809-823

Author(s):

Laura B. Liu

Keyword(s):

Elementary School ◽

Public School ◽

Elementary School Teachers ◽

Low Income ◽

Public Library ◽

Student Understanding ◽

Middle Income ◽

Children's Book ◽

Civic Practice ◽

Cultural Ecological

This research explores cultivation of civic generosity in elementary youth as a cultural, ecological, generational practice developing global-local connections and enhanced by arts-based pedagogies, including reading, creating, and sharing children's books. In this study, 2nd grade students across two public school contexts (rural middle-income and rural low-income) reflect on learning generosity from a grandparent/parent to create a children's book presented in a public library. This study draws upon perspectives of participating elementary school teachers, administrators, and librarians to understand how the curricula and their partnerships enhanced student understanding, appreciation, and expression of generosity as a glocal civic practice.

Download Full-text

The Effects of School Spending on Educational and Economic Outcomes: Evidence from School Finance Reforms *

The Quarterly Journal of Economics ◽

10.1093/qje/qjv036 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 131 (1) ◽

pp. 157-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 146

Author(s):

C. Kirabo Jackson ◽

Rucker C. Johnson ◽

Claudia Persico

Keyword(s):

Public School ◽

Low Income ◽

School Finance ◽

The United States ◽

Adult Outcomes ◽

Finance Reform ◽

School Finance Reform ◽

Point Reduction ◽

K 12 ◽

School Spending

Abstract Since the Coleman Report, many have questioned whether public school spending affects student outcomes. The school finance reforms that began in the early 1970s and accelerated in the 1980s caused dramatic changes to the structure of K–12 education spending in the United States. To study the effect of these school finance reform–induced changes in public school spending on long-run adult outcomes, we link school spending and school finance reform data to detailed, nationally representative data on children born between 1955 and 1985 and followed through 2011. We use the timing of the passage of court-mandated reforms and their associated type of funding formula change as exogenous shifters of school spending, and we compare the adult outcomes of cohorts that were differentially exposed to school finance reforms, depending on place and year of birth. Event study and instrumental variable models reveal that a 10% increase in per pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public school leads to 0.31 more completed years of education, about 7% higher wages, and a 3.2 percentage point reduction in the annual incidence of adult poverty; effects are much more pronounced for children from low-income families. Exogenous spending increases were associated with notable improvements in measured school inputs, including reductions in student-to-teacher ratios, increases in teacher salaries, and longer school years.

Download Full-text