Full Description
School choice - now a pillar of education reform in the United States - is widely touted as a strategy for addressing educational inequity. Yet efforts to implement school choice can exacerbate, rather than counteract, inequities. Unaccompanied Minors takes a close look at the experience of immigrant students and their families who are navigating New York City's mandatory high school choice program.
Drawing on rich ethnographic data - including students' own perspectives on the decision-making process - Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj examines the assumptions and expectations underlying the school system's policies for implementing school choice and contrasts these with the cultural and practical obstacles that prevent many immigrant students from navigating the system effectively. The author distinguishes between "strategic" and "passive" choosers and analyzes the constellation of integrated supports, guidance, and normative messages that contribute to a strategic orientation. Most importantly, Unaccompanied Minors outlines strategic steps schools and districts can take to guide families from all backgrounds through the choice process.
Contents
CONTENTS
Introduction
Immigration, Inequality, and School Choice Policy 1
PART 1: DISTRICT POLICY AND SCHOOL PRACTICE
1 An Overview of High School Choice in New York City 17
2 An Imagined World
Flawed Assumptions About Schools, Students, and Families 29
3 Unenforced Expectations
Tensions Between Accountability and Choice 49
PART 2: STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
4 Accompanied and Unaccompanied Minors
How Students Navigate the School Choice Journey 73
5 Strategic Versus Passive Approaches
School Choice as a Developmental Opportunity 107
6 Parents' Roles, Students' Responsibilities
Cultural Values and the Premises of School Choice 121
Conclusion
Policies, Programs, and Activities That SupportStrategic Choice 145
Appendix
Methodology 171
Notes 181
Acknowledgments 197
About the Author 199
Index 201
