Abstract
The Coleman Report concluded that if students of color attended schools with more white students, they were likely to garner significantly better achievement results. Several contextual factors should be considered, however, before we make strong conclusions about the strength of the effect of racial and ethnic minority students attending school with white students. This paper makes a case for considering the necessity of both the “material” and “sociocultural” domains of schooling if we are to move toward a more holistic understanding of “school effects” on students’ academic well-being. Based on a case-study analysis of four high-performing, diverse schools in different regions, using ethnographic observations and random student surveys, this paper offers evidence that students who hail from similar socioeconomic and family backgrounds but who attend schools with different sociocultural contexts have disparate academic experiences. The findings draw our attention to new directions to consider as we seek to understand how educational outcomes vary depending on the school's organizational culture.
- Copyright © 2016 by Russell Sage Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Reproduction by the United States Government in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose. WThis research was supported by grants from the William T. Grant Foundation (7895), the Spencer Foundation/NAE Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the William F. Milton Fund at Harvard University. I am also grateful for the research assistance of several former graduate and undergraduate students: Grace Atukpawu, Jakeya Caruthers, Jessica Foster, Megan Holland, Rejoice Nsibande, Lazeena Rahman, Lauren Rivera, Carla Shalaby, Graziella da Silva, Kathleen Sullivan, Rebecca Sullivan, Audrey Alforque Thomas, Dana Van Deman, Charnise Virgil, Josh Wakeham, Benita Washington, and Laura Wentworth. Direct correspondence to: Prudence L. Carter at plcarter{at}berkeley.edu, Graduate School of Education, 1501 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720.
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