scholarly journals Race, Geography, and School Choice Policy: A Critical Analysis of Detroit Students’ Suburban School Choices

AERA Open ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 233285842110672
Author(s):  
Jeremy Singer ◽  
Sarah Winchell Lenhoff
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
School Choice Policy ◽  
Geospatial Analyses ◽  
Choice Policy ◽  
Do So

The purpose of this study is to advance our thinking about race and racism in geospatial analyses of school choice policy. To do so, we present a critical race spatial analysis of Detroit students’ suburban school choices. To frame our study, we describe the racial and spatial dynamics of school choice, drawing in particular on the concepts of opportunity hoarding and predatory landscapes. We find that Detroit students’ suburban school choices were circumscribed by racial geography and concentrated in just a handful of schools and districts. We also find notable differences between students in different racial groups. For all Detroit exiters, their schools were significantly more segregated and lower quality than those of their suburban peers. We propose future directions for research on families’ school choices as well as school and district behavior at the intersection of race, geography, and school choice policy.

The effects of a free school choice policy on parents’ school choice behaviour

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 230-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Altrichter ◽  
Johann Bacher ◽  
Martina Beham ◽  
Gertrud Nagy ◽  
Daniela Wetzelhütter
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Choice Behaviour ◽  
Free School ◽  
School Choice Policy ◽  
Choice Policy

Surviving at the Street Level: How Counselors’ Implementation of School Choice Policy Shapes Students’ High School Destinations

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj ◽  
Jennifer L. Jennings ◽  
Sean P. Corcoran ◽  
Elizabeth Christine Baker-Smith ◽  
Chantal Hailey
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
New York ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Resource Constraints ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Street Level ◽  
School Choice Policy ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Choice Policy

Given the dominance of residentially based school assignment, prior researchers have conceptualized K–12 enrollment decisions as beyond the purview of school actors. This paper questions the continued relevance of this assumption by studying the behavior of guidance counselors charged with implementing New York City’s universal high school choice policy. Drawing on structured interviews with 88 middle school counselors and administrative data on choice outcomes at these middle schools, we find that counselors generally believe lower-income students are on their own in making high school choices and need additional adult support. However, they largely refrain from giving action-guiding advice to students about which schools to attend. We elaborate street-level bureaucracy theory by showing how the majority of counselors reduce cognitive dissonance between their understanding of students’ needs and their inability to meet these needs adequately given existing resources. They do so by drawing selectively on competing policy logics of school choice, narrowly delineating their conception of their role, and relegating decisions to parents. Importantly, we also find departures from the predictions of this theory as approximately one in four counselors sought to meet the needs of individual students by enlarging their role despite the resource constraints they faced. Finally, we quantify the impact of variation in counselors’ approaches, finding that the absence of action-guiding advice is associated with students being admitted to lower-quality schools, on average.

The Shape of Educational Equity

2022 ◽  
pp. 172-187
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Gilblom
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Educational Equity ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Geospatial Techniques ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Complex Interactions ◽  
School Choice Policy ◽  
Choice Policy

This chapter provides an overview of the benefits of utilizing geographic information systems (GIS) to explore the intersections of school choice policy, educational equity, space, and race. The author discusses the theory of racial space, a framework for understanding the complex interactions between spatial processes and race. Additionally, the author offers an overview of GIS functionality and discusses research that incorporates GIS as a tool to examine the role of charter schools in shaping educational opportunities and outcomes across neighborhoods, cities, and states. Finally, this chapter will introduce emerging research areas and interdisciplinary research approaches, including advanced geospatial techniques, used to examine the intersections of geography and educational equity.

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