Social capital investment in social justice: How parents shape socioeconomic diversity within early childhood programs

Abstract

To better understand how parent choice and program participation fosters socioeconomic diversity within community early learning programs, this in-depth case study examined two high-quality, socioeconomically diverse community early education program sites operating in Baltimore City. Key findings of this study include, (1) Despite their shared belief in its value and benefit, parents across the income continuum did not explicitly seek out enrollment in socioeconomically diverse early care and learning programs; (2) Within the two selected program sites, program recruitment and engagement approaches were neither explicit nor refined enough to appeal universally to parents across varying economic backgrounds; and (3) Parents may struggle against their own class-based social identities and internalized value systems in enacting the choice of program that drive the development of socioeconomically diverse settings.