Abstract/Notes: Recently, new comparative studies of the levels and causes of ethnic and socio-economic segregation across various European cities reveal that the physical separation of people belonging to different social groups is on the rise (Tammaru et al. , 2016) . While studies of the effect of the spatial environment, notably the neighbourhood, reveal that where one lives only modestly affects life chances such as work, income and health directly (Musterd et al. , 2003; Andersson et al. , 2007; Van Ham et al. , 2012) , other studies suggest that indirectly, via spatial sorting (Sampson, 2012) and access to specific amenities, the residential neighbourhood has effects (negative but also positive) on life chances. One of the key mechanisms through which place of residence may affect life chances is through schools. While the body of literature on school effects is vast and a plethora of effects have been...

Language: English

Published: London, England: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-350-03351-1 978-1-350-03354-2 978-1-350-03352-8

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Even with time and the "inside track," the lottery can be a challenge to navigate.

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: a "The underlying motives of school choice emerged as major courses of action to offer parents opportunities for education in the free market enterprise and to limit the racial desegregation of public schools. This policy became known as "freedom of choice." Historically, parental choice of schools was the option of parents who could afford the tuition of private or parochial schools. The first options for public school choice appeared during the 1960's. Today, magnet schools are the most popular form of school choice. Montessori schools have become a well-liked preference of magnet school options. Fifteen years ago, there were approximately 50 public Montessori schools in the United States. Today, there are between 250 and 300 public Montessori schools. While research has been accumulating on why parents choose a particular type of school (parochial, private, magnet, charter, or local public school) far less is known about why parents choose a particular curriculum. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how parents navigate school choice decisions and why they choose Montessori schools over other available options. This dissertation further examines if parents' educational choices correspond to their reasons for selecting Montessori schooling and the impact family income and ethnicity have on their preference for Montessori. The methodology of this study utilized a mixed methods research medium. The mixed methods approach blended two different research strategies, qualitative and quantitative. Recognizing the overlap between qualitative and quantitative research methods, the data from self-report surveys were supplemented with semi-structured interviews. Three hundred surveys were distributed to the parents of the Montessori school and interviews were held with ten parents of the same school. Of the original 300 surveys, 132 were returned and comprised my final sample. The quantitative findings indicate that parents who choose the Montessori school use... OCLC Record: 866942318

Language: English

Published: Greensboro, North Carolina, 2007

Abstract/Notes: One of the fundamental social problems in America is how to create racially diverse schools. While policy makers are slow to fix underlying housing segregation or return to busing, creating racial diversity through school choice is widely popular across the political spectrum. How can school choice create more racial and socioeconomic diversity, instead of increasing segregation?

Language: English

Published: New Haven, Connecticut, 2016

Abstract/Notes: In Diverse Parents, Desirable Schools, Mira Debs offers a detailed study of public Montessori schools, which make up the largest group of progressive schools in the public sector.

Language: English

Published: Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Education Press, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-68253-307-9 978-1-68253-308-6

Abstract/Notes: In a Boston Globe Sunday Magazine feature, the school was described as a "a scrubbed oasis," in a neighborhood of vacant lots and empty buildings, overseen by Gadpaille, "an angel priestess in red oxfords and a blue smock." Though she started her teaching career at private, predominantly White Montessori schools, including Rambusch's Whitby School, and as the founding director of Lexington Montessori School, Gadpaille's Montessori Family Center was designed for Roxbury's working-class Black families, offering full-day year-round childcare with half of the children attending tuition free through Head Start funding. Gadpaille envisioned a community of 150 Black-owned homes centered around a Montessori school serving ages birth to 18, and she recruited famed architect R. Buckminster Fuller, noted for his space-age geodesic domes, who skipped part of his Harvard reunion to volunteer the design.

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

DOI: 10.1086/666360

ISSN: 0195-6744, 1549-6511

Abstract/Notes: Preschool education is an important and much studied topic in developed countries, and of growing importance in the third world. Studies exploring preschool experience have noted positive effects when comparing children with access to preschool versus children without access, and effects of particular curriculum approaches over the length of primary schooling. This study adopts a focused sample, cross‐sectional design to explore the types of preschool experience available (denoted by types of preschool activities which equate broadly to curriculum approaches) and whether variation in preschool experience affects core curriculum (English, science, mathematics) performance and classroom behaviours throughout the years of primary schooling in Trinidad and when children complete their primary education in the form of a national ‘common entrance examination’ for entry into a stratified secondary school system. Results show that a large majority of the sampled children attended preschool and that most of the preschool experience was traditional and teacher centred. Neither child centred or teacher centred preschool activities affected academic performance in the core subjects during the primary school years or at the end of their primary school career. Type of preschool activity did affect teacher perception of behaviour in class. Child centred experience facilitated a social/peer orientation in children. High levels of teacher centred experience detracted from later relationships with teacher. Results were confounded by social class, with middle class children having most access to (the limited amount available) child centred preschool experience and performing at the highest academic and behavioural levels in the classroom although in limited numbers. The discussion questions the appropriacy of the various preschool activities for pupils within a cultural orientation of traditional upbringing and primary schooling practices.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/0300443941030103

ISSN: 0300-4430, 1476-8275

Abstract/Notes: It is quite clear that there is considerable disagreement as to the ways children learn and the ways teachers should teach. There is very little conclusive data comparing the major efforts in this field particularly with respect to any one factor being the sole contributor to the superiority of any one effort. The recent literature on learning and teaching almost invariably returns to some form of curriculum reform. However, there is widespread agreement that teachers teach more effectively and children learn more efficiently if they are in environments conducive to their preferred styles. Magnet Schools are vehicles that require different arrangements for teaching and learning. This study explores the attitudes of teachers, parents, and students in such an environment. Additionally, it examines the academic performance of students when parents or the students themselves select their learning environment and teaching method. The data will permit comparisons among the various groups of Magnet and non-Magnet parents, teachers, and students. The primary method for data collection is academic testing and structural surveys of the populations relative to Magnet and non-Magnet participants. The data will also indicate how individuals view programs and curriculum when they are involved in them. Because the population surveyed and tested involved a cross-section of academic abilities, the data will be especially useful to local school district officials interested in providing for individual differences in teaching and learning. The control model of Magnet School programs provides an ongoing testing ground for fine-tuning educational theories which may be essential for productive learning in the broader system as well.

Language: English

Published: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 1984