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

SES-1303603 PI：安妮特·拉罗共同PI：沙尼·阿迪亚·埃文斯宾夕法尼亚大学每年，成千上万的学生申请城市公立高中。申请人可以被选择性的学校选择或拒绝。选择过程的结果决定了学生在城市公立学校分层系统中的位置。没有被重点学校录取的学生通常会进入资源不足的社区高中。本研究旨在探讨拒绝对于那些将学校视为实现向上流动的手段的学生的重要性。本研究的研究问题是：（1）学生如何理解选择/拒绝过程对他们未来的意义？以及（2）选择过程的结果如何（如果有的话）影响学生随后的学术观点。本研究采用质性研究方法，包括观察和访谈。在教育不平等的研究中，拒绝的经历基本上是缺席的。然而，初步研究表明，被拒绝的学生将选择/拒绝过程的负面结果解释为他们受教育机会减少的标志。此外，初步证据表明，未能进入首选学校的学生对他们的教育前景感到悲观。更广泛的影响越来越多的美国公立学校的学生可以选择申请他们指定的附近学校以外的学校。然而，这不仅仅是家庭选择学校。学校也选择学生。因此，随着选择的增加，出现拒绝的可能性。本研究提供了一个重要的变量，在教育的社会学研究的兴趣拒绝的经验。拒绝对年轻学生的重要性也有政策影响。这项研究可以帮助人们关注美国公立学校应该如何以及何时进行选择。通过提请注意选择和学校选择对那些没有进入他们喜欢的学校的人的影响，这项研究邀请政策制定者仔细研究选择和学校选择政策的设计和执行。

SES-1303603PI: Annette Lareau Co-PI: Shani Adia EvansUniversity of PennsylvaniaEach 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 ImpactsIncreasingly, 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.