High School Choice Research Articles

Mathematics Specialization at High School and Undergraduate Degree Choice: Evidence From England

Mathematics Specialization at High School and Undergraduate Degree Choice: Evidence From England

A Study on Changes in the Reasons for Students’ High-school Choice

A Study on Changes in the Reasons for Students’ High-school Choice

Anywhere but Here: Neighborhood Violence and Local School Preferences in Baltimore City

In this study, we examine whether students in violent neighborhoods actively avoid their local school as a form of social and physical protection. Specifically, we use 10 years of administrative data (2010–2020) from the high school choice open enrollment program in the Baltimore City Public School System to evaluate the interaction between neighborhood violence and geographic proximity when predicting choice behavior. We find that, adjusting for observed school characteristics and constant unobserved student characteristics, students from more violent neighborhoods are substantially less likely to choose their closest school than are students in safer neighborhoods; even when the closest school is listed, it is ranked lower for students from more violent neighborhoods than for students in safer ones. These findings have implications for how we think about the relationship between neighborhoods and educational opportunity in an era of choice.

Reconstructing choice: parental choice of internationally-oriented “public” high schools in China

ABSTRACT This article examines a new trend of high school choice in China – parental choice of emerging international high-school curriculum programs (IHSCPs) recently established by Chinese elite public high schools. We add to the existing critical literature on school choice by providing a detailed empirical analysis of why, how, and under what conditions Chinese parents with high socio-economic status choose a particular IHSCP. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s conceptual triad of practice – capital, habitus, and field, the article points out that Chinese upper-middle- and upper-class parents engage in complicated conversion strategies surrounding their individual and collective struggles for elite education in both national and international fields of power. The study foregrounds the role of neoliberalism in articulating local and global education markets that allows privileged Chinese to transcend structural constraints in China and seek out opportunities in the international education field for their children.

Parental Occupation, Social Class, and School Choice in Southern Philippines: Their Implications to Educational Public-Private Partnership vis-à-vis the K-12 SHS Voucher Program

This study explores the education inequality brought about by senior high school (SHS) choice of families in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, considering a nonmonetary approach to social class based on parental occupation. Furthermore, it underscores implications for educational public-private partnership (EPPP) regarding the K-12 SHS Voucher Program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). We used the explanatory sequential mixed methods research design, wherein quantitative research is complemented by qualitative research. A survey of family education, parental (breadwinner) occupation, and SHS school choice was conducted among Grade 12 public, private, and charter schools students. Data analysis considered social status, power of school choice, and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) government. Results showed more SHS participation from the middle class. Although the charter SHS entails social cohesion, overall findings suggest student segregation in the municipality, considering the public and private SHSs student compositions. As such, there is education inefficiency and inequity, revealing EPPP inefficiency. Based on document analysis, a complementary method, these education inequality issues are attributed to the partial implementation of ARMM regional autonomy posing constraints to government service delivery and compounding poverty. Therefore, government support and regional mechanisms to strengthen capability and accountability are recommended to enhance the state capacity and service delivery in BARMM, Philippines.

Upwardly mobile biographies. An analysis of turning points in the careers of working-class faculty.

Building upon Bourdieusian sociology of education and Randall Collins' theory of, interaction ritual chains, this paper contributes to the literature on the biographical life course by analyzing the biographies of upwardly mobile academics, i.e. those who, escaped the "collective fate of their class." Based on the collection of 25 unstructured, narrative interviews (life story narratives) and additional individual in-depth interviews, (repeated interviews, interviews with families, and friends), a total of 75 qualitative, interviews, I trace the main biographical metamorphoses of upwardly mobile, academics. The meticulous analysis of the narrations brings about an answer to the, question "What was the role of a social class in their biographical metamorphoses?", The analysis of the turning points in the under-researched context of the postcommunist, semi-peripheral, and yet neoliberal academic system enables the paper to, discuss social circumstances which play a crucial role in this kind of upward mobility, e.g. early discovered talent, presence of books at home, choice of high school, early contact with the legitimized culture, opportunity structure of the higher education system under transition and transnational experience.

Meritocracy and Advantaged Parents’ Perceptions of the Fairness of School Choice Policies

The widespread expansion of school choice policies has bolstered the consumer-education paradigm where parents compete for what they perceive to be a limited number of high quality schools. In this comparative case study, we examine advantaged White parents’ perceptions of meritocracy in the context of a competitive elementary and high school choice system in New York City. We find that parents’ critique the choice policies and the unfair burdens they place on low-income and immigrant families while engaging in opportunity hoarding to ensure their children’s privileged access to the most competitive schools, all while dismissing claims that school choice is meritocratic. Ultimately, advantaged parents’ suggest returning to neighborhood zoning which would preserve their access to exclusive, high performing schools and avoid the stress and inequities of school choice policies. This study offers further examples of the powerful influence of contradictory White discourse in the context of education policy and reform.

An Analysis of Factors Influencing Secondary School Students' Career Planning

With the popularization of higher education, more and more students choose to enter high school and prepare for the ideal university. The career planning of middle school students not only affects the curriculum choice of high school but also provides a direction for the professional choice of university and even affects the future employment of students. The current researchers have some research on the career planning of middle school students, but have not found a better way to help students find their own good and suitable development direction. Therefore, this article intends to improve this situation from the source by finding the factors that affect career planning. Finally, the article provides a summary of middle school students' global career planning, outlines the factors that have a greater impact on their careers, explains how to mitigate the negative effects, and offers some advice for middle school students' career planning.

Gender Differences in High School Choices: Do Math and Language Skills Play a Role?

Gender Differences in High School Choices: Do Math and Language Skills Play a Role?

Higher Education Opportunity and the Choice of Vocational vs. Academic High School

Higher Education Opportunity and the Choice of Vocational vs. Academic High School

Impact of Family Background and Individual Characteristics on Vocational High School Choice in South Korea: A Gender Analysis

At the end of compulsory school, adolescents in many industrialised countries must makean important and far-reaching decision that strongly influences their future working life. Few of the many studies of school choice in South Korea have empirically analysed the choice of type of upper secondary school and almost none have paid attention family background and individual characteristics. This paper does so for both boys and girls completing compulsory lower secondary education, using 11 years’ data from the Korea Education and Employment Panel (KEEP) of the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training from a period before recent Korean vocational educational policy changes. We use a Probit model to deal with binary variables. Key variables considered include teacher assessments of students, father’s income, father’s education, spending on private tutoring at the lower secondary level, and the number of siblings, these last two never previously analyzed. In addition, to gender analysis this paper confirmsprevious results that parental social status is a major determinant of high school choice between general and vocational education. The key gender result is that fathers’ educational attainment negatively and significantly affects females more than males, and that fathers’ high income more negatively and significantly affects males than females in nonattendance at vocational high school. This paper also confirms previous findings that females were more motivated than males to enroll in vocational high school. Vocational education better meets females’ needs than males’, especially those not well supported by their parents. These findings imply that future research on both Korea and other countries needs to pay much more attention to family and individual characteristics and to differences between genders.

High School Choices by Immigrant Students in Italy: Evidence from Administrative Data

Abstract We investigate the educational choices of first- and second-generation immigrant students at the transition between lower-secondary school and high school by exploiting a large longitudinal dataset of about 50,000 students in Italy. We find that immigrant students are less likely to choose challenging academic track high schools compared with their Italian counterparts, after controlling for household characteristics, school fixed effects, and students’ performance. We show that systematic differences in teachers’ feedback received by the two groups of students are an important driver of the observed differences in educational choices by immigrant and native students. In addition, after controlling for observable characteristics, we find that immigrant students are more likely to be formally advised by their teachers to choose vocational or technical high schools rather than academic tracks, especially in the case of female students, reflecting a discrimination bias that has not previously been emphasized in the literature. This suggests the role for a new dimension of policy intervention aimed at reducing the possibility of teachers’ induced discrimination based on implicit stereotypes.

Implicit Stereotypes in Teachers’ Track Recommendations

We study the relationship between teachers' stereotypes and students' high school choice in a setting where students can enroll in more or less demanding high school tracks. We show that teachers with negative stereotypes toward immigrants, as measured by an Implicit Association Test (IAT), are more likely to recommend lower-tier tracks to immigrant students, relative to natives with similar ability and socioeconomic background. Implicit stereotypes may thus prevent immigrant students from nurturing and developing their academic talents.

Factors Affecting Secondary School Students’ Choice of High School in Tra Vinh Province, Viet Nam

This study aimed to investigate some main factors affecting secondary students’ choice of high school in Tra Vinh province. A group of 777 participants including 440 urban and 337 rural secondary students in Tra Vinh city and some districts of Tra Vinh province was selected to answer the questionnaire. The results from the questionnaire revealed that three groups of factors (educational environment, school distinction and personal conditions) had nearly equal overall mean scores and influenced students more than the three remaining factors (social network, extra activities and location-transportation) in choosing their high school. In addition, no significant difference was found between urban and rural secondary students in choosing their high school. Based on the findings above, some possible recommendations were suggested to the executive boards of high school, secondary school teachers and secondary school students in order to assist them in choosing their appropriate high school.

A New Approach to an Achievement Motivation System for the Choice of an Engineering High School and Field of Study

Achievement motivation is an important prerequisite for students’ engagement, overcoming study difficulties and, ultimately, successful completion of their studies. The aim of this study is to find out the current level of performance motivation of the population of students of engineering high schools, to compare its level with the standard for high school population and to find out whether there is a relationship between its level and choice. Two questionnaires were used in the research. The first was the School Achievement Motivation Questionnaire for Pupils (Hrabal, Pavelková, 2011). The theory of achievement motivation is then based on the concept of independence of the need for successful performance and the need to avoid failure. The resulting orientation of a person in a performance situation then depends on the predominance of one or the other tendency. The second questionnaire was focused on finding personal data, questions of school choice, satisfaction with school choice. The research was carried out at the beginning of 2020 and the sample consisted of over 900 students. Main results of the study: First, in the component of performance motivation NACH (need to achieve) the performance motivation of the group is statistically different from the group norm. In the NAF (the need to avoid failure) component, the results are statistically identical. Second, schools do not differ in the results for the NACH component, but differ in the NAF component. Third, in both components, the value of performance motivation for beginners and for final years in both components is significantly different from other years. Fourth, the student's statement on the choice of study at an engineering school as a primary choice is not related to the values of NACH and NAF. Fifth, the level of student's achievement motivation in both components is related to the student's idea of studying.

Does Dual Enrollment Influence High School Graduation, College Enrollment, Choice, and Persistence?

Does Dual Enrollment Influence High School Graduation, College Enrollment, Choice, and Persistence?

Interconnection of family circumstances and the selection of secondary education

Choosing a high school or future profession is important and is most often the first big decision in every student’s life. The occupation is well chosen if it is in accordance with students’ abilities, affinities, labor market requirements, and the family circumstances in which the student lives. This decision affects the overall future life of the student, defines them and directs them to a certain path. This paper presents the results of the research on the interconnection between socioeconomic conditions of the family, the values that are encouraged in the family and students’ opinions on the factors influencing the choice of occupation and choice of high school. The research was conducted on a sample of 163 students from the first to the third grade of a three-year vocational school. The research results show that 63.73% of parents enrolled in three-year vocational school have completed secondary school, and 21.57% of them have completed primary school. A total of 66.67% of parents are employed, and 60.74% of students live with both parents. The results of the research show that students in most cases wanted to enroll in a three-year vocational school.

The choice of a federal integrated high school in the Brazilian countryside: the relevance of Bourdieu’s contributions

RESUMO Este artigo, situado no campo dos estudos sociológicos sobre a escolha do estabelecimento de ensino, discute a atualidade das teorizações de Pierre Bourdieu para a compreensão da escolha da escola de ensino médio, em uma pequena cidade na área do semiárido brasileiro, no Estado de Minas Gerais. Mais especificamente, interroga a atualidade e a utilidade do conceito de capital cultural nesse contexto. Baseia-se em resultados de uma pesquisa sobre o processo de escolha, por jovens e suas famílias, do Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais (IFNMG) e, especificamente, do curso de Técnico em Informática para Internet, integrado ao ensino médio, oferecido no Campus Janaúba do IFNMG. Os procedimentos metodológicos desenvolvidos foram: aplicação de questionários aos alunos e a seus responsáveis; realização de grupos focais com estudantes e de entrevistas com alguns deles e seus responsáveis. Os resultados apontam a necessidade de considerar, no contexto pesquisado, o conceito de capital cultural em uma acepção ampla, não necessariamente ligada à alta cultura, mas mantendo a ideia de recursos culturais que representam vantagens no campo acadêmico. Nesse sentido, a pesquisa reafirma a atualidade e a utilidade do conceito de capital cultural e, especialmente, da noção de capital informacional, na compreensão do processo de escolha do estabelecimento de ensino.

Escolha de uma escola federal de ensino médio integrado do interior brasileiro: a atualidade das contribuições de Bourdieu

ABSTRACT This article, in the field of sociological studies on school choice, discusses the relevance of Pierre Bourdieu’s theories to understand high school choice, in a small town in the Brazilian semi-arid region, in the state of Minas Gerais. More specifically, it argues the relevance and usefulness of the concept of cultural capital in this context. It is based on the results of a study about the choosing process, by young people and their families, of Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais (IFNMG), more specifically, the Technical Course on Internet Technology, integrated into high school, which is offered at the Janaúba Campus of IFNMG. The methodological procedures were: questionnaires to students and their guardians; focus groups with students, and interviews with some of them and their guardians. The results point to the need to consider, in the researched context, the concept of cultural capital in a broader sense, not necessarily linked to high culture, but keeping the idea of cultural resources that represent advantages in the academic field. In this regard, the research reaffirms the usefulness and relevance of the concept of cultural capital and, especially, of the notion of informational capital, when understanding school choice processes.

Goals and Gaps: Educational Careers of Immigrant Children

We study the educational choices of children of immigrants in a tracked school system. We first show that immigrants in Italy enroll disproportionately into vocational high schools, as opposed to technical and academically‐oriented ones, compared to natives of similar ability. The gap is greater for male students and it mirrors an analogous differential in grade retention. We then estimate the impact of a large‐scale, randomized intervention providing tutoring and career counseling to high‐ability immigrant students. Male treated students increase their probability of enrolling into the high track to the same level of natives, also closing the gap in grade retention. There are no significant effects on immigrant girls, who exhibit similar choices and performance as native ones in absence of the intervention. Increases in academic motivation and changes in teachers' recommendation regarding high school choice explain a sizable portion of the effect. Finally, we find positive spillovers on immigrant classmates of treated students, while there is no effect on native classmates.