Doctoral Dissertation Research: Public School Selection Processes, Educational Inequality, and the Meaning of Rejection.

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1303603 PI: Annette Lareau Co-PI: Shani Adia Evans University of Pennsylvania Each year, thousands of students apply to selective urban public high schools. Applicants can be selected or rejected by selective schools. The outcome of the selection process determines students' location within a stratified system of urban public schools. Students who are not admitted to a selective school attend typically under-resourced neighborhood high schools. This study investigates the significance of rejection for students who view school as a means to achieve upward mobility. The research questions motivating the study are: (1) How do students interpret the significance of the selection/rejection process for their own future? and (2) How, if at all, does the outcome of the selection process influence students' subsequent academic outlook. The study uses qualitative methods, including observation and interviewing. The rejection experience has been largely absent from research on educational inequality. However, preliminary research suggests that rejected students interpret the negative outcome of the selection/rejection process as a marker of their diminished educational opportunity. Moreover, tentative evidence indicates that students who fail to access their preferred school become pessimistic about their educational future. Broader Impacts Increasingly, American public school students have the option to apply to schools other than their assigned neighborhood school. However, it is not simply that families choose schools. Schools also choose students. Thus, with increased options comes the possibility of rejection. This study offers the rejection experience as an important variable of interest in sociological studies of education. The significance of rejection for young students also has policy implications. This research could help focus attention on how and when selection should occur in U.S. public schools. By drawing attention to the effects of selection and school choice for those who do not attend their preferred schools, this study invites policy makers to take a closer look at the design and implementation of selection and school choice policies.