Daniela Barriga and Mikaela Dufur, PhD, Department of Sociology

Introduction

To determine whether race/ethnicity and social class have similar effects on conceptualizations of school quality, we conducted qualitative interviews of families from distinct, selfidentified racial/ethnic and lowSES backgrounds (Hispanic/Latino, Caucasian, and Polynesian backgrounds, the latter a group often overlooked by the literature (Fullmer, Elmore and Orfield 1996) a bout their views and attitudes regarding choices related to their children’s education. Considering that lowSES families behave differently and operate in a different set of barriers than highSES families (Stevens, Torre & Johnson 2011), limiting our sample this way accounts for class background issues, which then allows us to analyze the remaining differences by race/ethnicity. Our study is unique because we’re seeking to understand these discrepancies in parent’s values and subsequent decisions with a distinct group of parents—those living in lowSES neighborhoods.

Methodology

This study is being conducted in a midsized, urban school district in the intermountain West. This setting has open enrollment, so parents think more directly about school quality as a consequence of having many choices. The following three features, (1) support for school choice, (2) relatively small geographical area, and (3) stable population growth, eliminate barriers to school choice that have been identified as limitations to past studies. This school district has a high population of Hispanic/Latinos, Pacific Islanders and Caucasians, which makes it ideal for studying the intersection of race/ethnicity and social class when parents discuss their children’s education.

To generate data, we are sampling 30 Pacific Islander families, 30 Latino families and 30 White families; the school district provided the names and contact information for enrolled students. The semistructured qualitative interviews allowed parents to voice opinions and experiences they have had with education in their own lives and within this specific district. Interviewers asked a series of 10 indepth questions about their own experiences with school, their experiences with their child’s school, and what they thought determined whether or not a school was “good”. Interviewers also asked the parent(s) a series of questions about where they obtained information about the school their child attended, as well as how they evaluated the reliability of the source. Finally, interviewers presented parents with a series of 17 notecards with potential indicators of school quality or, “good schools” that parents say are important based on prior research. The parents read the cards and placed them in a “more important” pile and a “less important” pile. They were then asked to choose the three most critical note cards out of the “most important” pile, listing criteria that indicated a good school and to expound upon why they believed those three factors were most important. These questions were specifically created to explore the research question concerning the disconnect between what parents say is important and how that lines up with how they actually make choices.

Results/Discussion

We found that parents’ decisions are largely based on quality of teachers, safety and discipline. Almost all the parents described a “quality teacher” as a teacher who was patient and took time to know their child. Very few parents discussed criteria such as teacher training or credentialing when discussing teacher quality. Most parents also viewed safety as something that marked the quality of a school. Interviewees felt that dropping off a child at school gave them a “peace of mind” because they knew their children were safe. They also mentioned protection against bullying as part of safety. In other words, they viewed school safety from a more macro perspective concerning the school as a whole and in a relational sense between students. Third, parents articulated that a good school was one with strong discipline, including keeping children well behaved both at school and at home. It is important to note that a majority of parents said all schools were “good schools.”

There are differences, however, across ethnic groups. When presented with note cards that detailed possible factors that indicate a good school, PacificIslander parents identified more frequently a school’s quality of teachers and the exercise of discipline as signals of a good school than Hispanic parents did.

Hispanic/Latino participants viewed a cultural emphasis in the schools as an incentive that prevents the children from forgetting their heritage. Another distinction is that a large part of the Latino parents in our sample had only received an elementarylevel education. This affects the way they view school selection. This can be traced back to their own experience: most of these parents did not go to school in the US. The elementary education their child is currently receiving is viewed as much “better” than they experienced, and they therefore feel comfortable describing schools that are failing by state or federal definitions as good schools.

Polynesian participants, by contrast, consider emphasis on their culture a detractor for choosing a school, as they associate cultural gatherings with environments that discourage discipline in school. Polynesian respondents were also more adamant about having good discipline at the school their child attended, often tying this aspect to avoiding current gang violence that they view believe gives their culture a negative reputation.

Race-based/ethnic differences in judgments about school quality is interesting because the social interaction dynamics totally differ between the three ethnic groups. Research suggesting that parent’s opinions of and interactions with schools are more a function of social class differences than racial/ethnic differences (Lareau 2003) may be missing important distinction in the ways parents of different ethnicities may assess and, therefore, choose schools.

Conclusion

Our study focused on the racial/ethnic culture and heritage influences that inform school choice. Overall, a hierarchical trend of understanding arose from our conclusions: Hispanic parents understood that education leads to progression in life, but they did not fully grasp how. Polynesian parents conceptualized a good school as one with good academics, but were not sending their children to academically reputable schools. White parents most commonly understood the how the school system works, and often were okay with sending their children to low performing schools. With the minority groups having a lack of interaction and knowledge, education policy is not always in their favor. School choice movements are often a legislative attempt to redress social inequalities resulting from housing segregation and current public school funding policies. The distinctions found between the three groups within this study inform the general understanding of how parents interact with schools and how that shapes their opinions of good schools. Educational policy should consider these culturallybased distinction to be more effective in redressing inequalities. School choice implementation stands to benefit from the more thorough understanding our study provides of how parents’ conceptualization of school quality is affected by race/ethnicity and social class.

References

• Fullmer, Bruce, Richard F. Elmore, and Gary Orfield. 1996. Who Chooses? Who Loses? Culture, Institutions and the Unequal Effects of School Choice. New York: Teachers College Press.
• Stevens, W. David, Marisa de la Torre, and David Johnson. 2011. Barriers to Access Pp. 125-145 in School Choice and School Improvement, edited by M. Berends, M. Cannata, and E.B. Goldring. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.