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Racialized Perceptions of Anticipated School Belonging
1The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
Educational Policy (Los Altos, Calif.)
|June 17, 2024
Summary
Families prioritize school fit and safety. However, racial composition influences perceptions of belonging, with parents preferring schools reflecting their own racial group, potentially driving segregation in school choice programs.
Area of Science:
- Sociology of Education
- Urban Education Studies
- Racial Justice in Schools
Background:
- School choice programs aim to provide diverse options, but their impact on racial integration is debated.
- Family priorities in school selection typically include safety and academic fit.
- The role of racial composition in families' anticipated sense of belonging within schools remains under-examined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether school racial composition influences families' perceptions of anticipated school belonging.
- To explore the relationship between racial judgments of school quality and segregation in school choice contexts.
- To understand how families' racial identity shapes their school selection criteria.
Main Methods:
- A survey experiment was conducted with parents and students actively participating in New York City's school choice system.
- Respondents were presented with hypothetical schools of similar quality but varying racial compositions.
- Perceptions of anticipated belonging and welcome were measured in relation to the racial makeup of the schools.
Main Results:
- Families expressed racialized judgments regarding anticipated belonging in schools.
- Respondents anticipated feeling most welcome in schools with a higher proportion of their own racial group.
- Conversely, families anticipated feeling least welcome in schools with a lower proportion of their racial ingroup.
Conclusions:
- Racial composition significantly impacts families' perceptions of belonging in schools, even when other factors are controlled.
- Race-based assessments of school quality and belonging may be a critical driver of school segregation within choice programs.
- Findings highlight the need to address racial dynamics in school choice policies to promote equitable integration.
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