John L. Rury
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501748394
- eISBN:
- 9781501748417
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501748394.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, African Studies
This book explains how American suburban school districts gained a competitive edge over their urban counterparts. It focuses on the period between 1950 and 1980, and presents a detailed study of ...
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This book explains how American suburban school districts gained a competitive edge over their urban counterparts. It focuses on the period between 1950 and 1980, and presents a detailed study of metropolitan Kansas City, a region representative of trends elsewhere. While big-city districts once were widely seen as superior and attracted families seeking the best educational opportunities for their children, suburban school systems grew rapidly in the post-World War II era as middle-class and more affluent families moved to those communities. At the same time, economically dislocated African Americans migrated from the South to center-city neighborhoods, testing the capacity of urban institutions. As demographic trends drove this urban–suburban divide, a suburban ethos of localism contributed to the socioeconomic exclusion that became a hallmark of outlying school systems. As the book demonstrates, struggles to achieve greater educational equity and desegregation in urban centers contributed to so-called white flight and what Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan considered to be a crisis of urban education in 1965. Despite the often valiant efforts made to serve inner city children and bolster urban school districts, this exodus, the book argues, created a new metropolitan educational hierarchy—a mirror image of the urban-centric model that had prevailed before World War II. The stubborn perception that suburban schools are superior, based on test scores and budgets, has persisted into the twenty-first century and instantiates today's metropolitan landscape of social, economic, and educational inequality.Less
This book explains how American suburban school districts gained a competitive edge over their urban counterparts. It focuses on the period between 1950 and 1980, and presents a detailed study of metropolitan Kansas City, a region representative of trends elsewhere. While big-city districts once were widely seen as superior and attracted families seeking the best educational opportunities for their children, suburban school systems grew rapidly in the post-World War II era as middle-class and more affluent families moved to those communities. At the same time, economically dislocated African Americans migrated from the South to center-city neighborhoods, testing the capacity of urban institutions. As demographic trends drove this urban–suburban divide, a suburban ethos of localism contributed to the socioeconomic exclusion that became a hallmark of outlying school systems. As the book demonstrates, struggles to achieve greater educational equity and desegregation in urban centers contributed to so-called white flight and what Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan considered to be a crisis of urban education in 1965. Despite the often valiant efforts made to serve inner city children and bolster urban school districts, this exodus, the book argues, created a new metropolitan educational hierarchy—a mirror image of the urban-centric model that had prevailed before World War II. The stubborn perception that suburban schools are superior, based on test scores and budgets, has persisted into the twenty-first century and instantiates today's metropolitan landscape of social, economic, and educational inequality.
Chester E. Finn and Andrew E. Scanlan
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691178721
- eISBN:
- 9780691185828
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691178721.003.0007
- Subject:
- Education, Higher and Further Education
This chapter explores the Advanced Placement (AP) program in suburban school districts. Even as urban centers like Fort Worth and New York typify today's livelier venues for AP expansion, the program ...
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This chapter explores the Advanced Placement (AP) program in suburban school districts. Even as urban centers like Fort Worth and New York typify today's livelier venues for AP expansion, the program has deep roots in the prosperous suburbs that abut them. Along with elite private schools, upscale suburban high schools were among the program's earliest adopters, and they remain natural habitats for a nationally benchmarked, high-status venture that gives strong students a head start on the college education that they are almost certainly going to get and perhaps an extra advantage in gaining admission to the universities they aspire to. Yet they are also ripe for attention as they struggle with equity and growth issues of their own. The chapter then reviews two well-known yet very different suburban districts: Dublin City Schools in Ohio and Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. Both are celebrated as education successes in their states and both boast long and impressive AP track records. Both, however, face distinctive challenges as they seek to serve today's constituents. Their stories illustrate how AP is functioning in places that know it well yet continue to evolve with it.Less
This chapter explores the Advanced Placement (AP) program in suburban school districts. Even as urban centers like Fort Worth and New York typify today's livelier venues for AP expansion, the program has deep roots in the prosperous suburbs that abut them. Along with elite private schools, upscale suburban high schools were among the program's earliest adopters, and they remain natural habitats for a nationally benchmarked, high-status venture that gives strong students a head start on the college education that they are almost certainly going to get and perhaps an extra advantage in gaining admission to the universities they aspire to. Yet they are also ripe for attention as they struggle with equity and growth issues of their own. The chapter then reviews two well-known yet very different suburban districts: Dublin City Schools in Ohio and Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. Both are celebrated as education successes in their states and both boast long and impressive AP track records. Both, however, face distinctive challenges as they seek to serve today's constituents. Their stories illustrate how AP is functioning in places that know it well yet continue to evolve with it.
Dan C. Lortie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226493480
- eISBN:
- 9780226493503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226493503.003.0001
- Subject:
- Education, Early Childhood and Elementary Education
This introductory chapter discusses the contents of this volume which is about elementary school principals in suburban school districts in the U.S. The data used in this study are the result of ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the contents of this volume which is about elementary school principals in suburban school districts in the U.S. The data used in this study are the result of face-to-face interviews with principals in the Chicago, Illinois area conducted in 1980 and a telephone follow-up in 1988. The specific topics explored in this volume include the authority system in which elementary principals occupy both subordinate and superordinate statuses, the positive and negative sentiments of principals about their work, and changes in the profession that may affect the future work of elementary school principals.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the contents of this volume which is about elementary school principals in suburban school districts in the U.S. The data used in this study are the result of face-to-face interviews with principals in the Chicago, Illinois area conducted in 1980 and a telephone follow-up in 1988. The specific topics explored in this volume include the authority system in which elementary principals occupy both subordinate and superordinate statuses, the positive and negative sentiments of principals about their work, and changes in the profession that may affect the future work of elementary school principals.
Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231151634
- eISBN:
- 9780231525305
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231151634.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter discusses how single-sex education is being deemed as a solution to the high attrition rates in U.S. public schools. Black and Hispanic students perform worse than whites; and students ...
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This chapter discusses how single-sex education is being deemed as a solution to the high attrition rates in U.S. public schools. Black and Hispanic students perform worse than whites; and students from under-resourced urban school districts perform worse than children from affluent suburban school districts. A number of self-styled educational gurus propose the separation of girls and boys and teaching them according to “their brains” to improve student performance, despite the gender gap being much smaller than racial and social class differences. The study Is Single Gender Schooling Viable in the Public Sector? Lessons From California's Pilot Project recognized that the single-sex setting eliminated social distractions and allowed for better concentration on academics. However, these benefits were undermined since gender stereotypes were often reinforced and stereotypical behaviors were worsened.Less
This chapter discusses how single-sex education is being deemed as a solution to the high attrition rates in U.S. public schools. Black and Hispanic students perform worse than whites; and students from under-resourced urban school districts perform worse than children from affluent suburban school districts. A number of self-styled educational gurus propose the separation of girls and boys and teaching them according to “their brains” to improve student performance, despite the gender gap being much smaller than racial and social class differences. The study Is Single Gender Schooling Viable in the Public Sector? Lessons From California's Pilot Project recognized that the single-sex setting eliminated social distractions and allowed for better concentration on academics. However, these benefits were undermined since gender stereotypes were often reinforced and stereotypical behaviors were worsened.
