Schooling and the Reproduction of
Inequality: Part II
General Point: Whereas the
“meritocratic thesis” proposes sorting
decisions in school are based on
achievement, race, class, gender,
physical condition still matter
The Uneven Distribution of
Educational Resources:
External to Schools
• State and federal policies
– The [unintended] effects of neighborhood schools,
tax structure (Anyon; Bowles & Gintis)
• Community Issues
– “White Flight” response to desegregation policies
– Legacy admissions: 1 in 4 vs. 1 in 8 at Stanford
Differential Distribution of Resources
in Schools: Teachers
• Staffing Policies
based on seniority
• Alternatives?
– Incentives?
Differential Distribution of Qualified Teachers
Differential Distribution of
Teaching Materials in Schools
Differential Distribution of Resources
in Schools: Courses
• AP Courses in
SDCS
• As of 1998
• Research Question:
Any Change since
1998???
• Hi Income High Schools
(La Jolla, Scripps, Pt
Loma): Average: 24.5
Lo Income H.S.: (Hoover,
Crawford, Lincoln)
Average: 6
Tracking and Contest Mobility Compared
Slide 1
Reproducing Inequality: Tracking
Producing Equality: Contest Mobility System
Differential Access to
Resources by Students
Tracking
Counseling
-Erickson:
“gatekeeping”
-Cookson &
Percell: “preparation
for power”
-McDonough:
private
counselors
Reproducing Inequality: Tracking
Track Placement by SES:
National Data
70
65.1
60
48.8
50
Percent 40
Enrolled 30
28.3
20
10
0
Low
Medium
High
Socio-Economic Status
Track Placement by
Race/Ethnicity: National
45
40
35
30
Percent 25
Enrolled 20
15
10
5
0
Asian-Am.
Latino
African
Amer.
Race/Ethnicity
Source: USDOE; Ed Trust, 1998
White
Access to College Prep Courses:
San Diego
45
40 41
35
32
30
28
26
25
23
%
21
20
15
15
12
10
5
0
White Asian- African Latino
Amer. Am.
Race/Ethnicity
Source: CBEDS: Oct 1997
Algebra Students
%in District
Differential Access to Resources by
Students: Classrooms
• Ability Grouping
•Differential treatment
(self fulfilling
prophecy)
•GATE
High Ability
Group
Middle Ability
Group
Low Ability
Group
Differential Access to Resources by
Students: Classrooms
• Relations of Authority in Work are
Recapitulated in School (Bowles &
Gintis “correspondence principle”)
– School recapitulates the factory
– Individualism & competition from turns at
talk to PhD/LD/MD
– Regimentation of time and space
Our schools, are in a sense, factories, in which raw products (children)
are to be shaped and fashioned into products to meet the demands of life.
The specifications for manufacturing came from the demands
of 20th century civilization, and it is the business of the school
to build its pupils according to the specifications laid down
(Cubberly, 1916: 338).
Differential Socialization in the
Classroom: Wilcox
• Discipline and
Control Messages:
– Middle SES
students:
• internal control
messages
• Future orientation
• [show gender tape-kids in rug]
• “Our 15 minutes are
up. Have you used
them wisely?
• “Will this
misbehavior help
you become a better
reader?”
• “that’s really being
an independent
reader”
Differential Socialization in the
Classroom: Wilcox
• Low SES students:
– External control
messages
– Focus on orderly
work habits:
• timeliness,
• conformity,
• docility
• “You can’t get a rat
out until I say so”
• “No playing ball in
the hall because I
said so”
• “No running in the
room”
• “No fighting”
Summary
Schooling contributes to the reproduction of
inequality, perpetuates stratification
• Schools sort--on merit (achievement), but
ascription (race/ethnicity, class, gender) still
matters
• Achievement Ideology--used by less powerful
to blame themselves for their own failures
• School as vehicle for mobility--for elites more
than lower income families and their students