The Impacts of Neighborhood School Choice: Evidence from Los Angeles' Zones of Choice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Campos ◽  
Caitlin Kearns
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Neighborhood School

The neighborhood school stigma: School choice, stratification, and shame

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Ann McWilliams
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Neighborhood Schools ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Neighborhood School ◽  
Sociological Studies

Social scientists have begun to document the stratifying effects of over a decade of unprecedented charter growth in urban districts. An exodus of students from traditional neighborhood schools to charter schools has attended this growth, creating troubling numbers of vacant seats in neighborhood schools as well as concentrating larger percentages of high-need student populations like special education students and English Language Learners in these schools ( Buras, 2014 ; Gabor, 2014 ; Knefel, 2014 ). In cities like Philadelphia, the maintenance of two parallel educational systems – one charter, the other district – has also strained budgets and contributed to fiscal crises that have further divested traditional district schools of critical resources (Popp, 2014). How are youth, teachers, and staff in neighborhood schools responding to these conditions and the moral associations that the “neighborhood school” has come to invoke within an expanding educational marketplace? What does it mean to attend and/or work in a traditional neighborhood school in the midst of the dramatic restructuring of urban public education? Using frameworks developed in anthropological and sociological studies of social stigma, I explore in this paper how the power of market stratification has come to influence the intensification of institutional stigmas around the traditional neighborhood school ( Anyon, 1980 ; Goffman, 1963 ; Link and Phelan, 2001 ). Drawing on ethnographic data from a neighborhood school in Philadelphia, I center youth perspectives on their aspirations and life chances given their status as students in a non-selective neighborhood school in my analysis. I ultimately interrogate how notions of race, educational quality, and [lack of] school choice, impact this neighborhood school community’s sense of worth and future as individuals as well as an institution.

The Political Dynamics of District Reform: The Form and Fate of the Los Angeles Public School Choice Initiative

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-54
Author(s):  
Julie A. Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Public School Choice

Background Scholars widely acknowledge that politics help explain why policies are adopted and how they play out in states, districts, and schools. To date, political analyses of education reform tend to isolate a particular policy and examine the politics of its adoption or implementation, but pay less attention to the effects of the politics of surrounding reforms and broader issues. Purpose In this article, I use the instrumental case of the Los Angeles Public School Choice Initiative (PSCI) to demonstrate the ways in which the political dynamics of other policy issues in the same local environment greatly affect the form and fate of a reform. The article examines what led to the adoption of PSCI and what explains its implementation and adaptation over time. Research Design The study employed an embedded case study design and gathered 3 years of data from leader interviews, observations, interviews, and focus groups in nine case study schools, media articles, and documents. I drew on an ecological-political framework to analyze these data and to understand the evolution of PSCI. Findings I find that PSCI provided a vehicle to advance the goals of six education reform “subgames”—decentralization, charter expansion, accountability, union reform, academic rigor, and community empowerment—as well as goals of two broader local “games” of electoral politics and bridging, and that each was consequential to at least one or more phase of PSCI. At times in its evolution, players seeking success in one area of reform aligned with, used, or were used by players seeking success in other areas of reform. It is the interactions of these players in relation to the environment and to others working to advance complementary and conflicting reform issues and goals that explains how a reform touted to improve accountability and learning for low-performing schools and to empower the community became a broader referendum on school governance and reform writ large. Conclusions Consistent with recent scholarship, this research demonstrates that an increasingly broad set of actors are engaging in decisions around public schooling and changing the nature of educational governance. The study also illustrates the value of examining local policy with an ecological-political lens and poses several hypotheses that could be explored in future studies. Finally, it suggests that prior to adoption, policymakers consider the extent to which a new policy advances or competes with the goals of surrounding reforms and investigate ways to bolster bridging games.

School deserts: Visualizing the death of the neighborhood school

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 787-805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monique Alexander ◽  
Vanessa A Massaro
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
The United States ◽  
Market Forces ◽  
High Quality ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Local Schools ◽  
Neighborhood School ◽  
Good Schools

The purported purpose of school choice policies is to increase students’ access to “good schools.” There is little discussion, however, of where those good schools are located, nor of the ways in which the distribution of good schools mirrors broader patterns of uneven development in the United States. Given that schools are neighborhood assets and that the distance which students travel to get to school affects their success, the locations of schools matter tremendously and are inextricable from questions of social and spatial justice. We introduce and argue for the explicit use of the term “school desert” as a way for scholars to understand and describe the spatial injustice of school closures and for activists to argue the importance of effective local schools. Spatial visualization and rendering of social problems is an invaluable strategy for effecting policy change. As cities move increasingly to a “de-spatialized” geography of schooling where catchment zones are less determinate of where a student attends school, it is important to consider where the desirable schools are and where they are not. A more nuanced visualization of school locations than neighborhood demographics offers a new lens through which to examine the (un)intended effects of school closures on students, communities, and development. Using Pennsylvania as a case study, we use a geographic information system (GIS) to evaluate the broader reverberations of school choice policies and determine who, demographically, has access to high-quality schools. In light of this research, we also propose an innovative analytic and methodology that describes the educational inequity which is caused by spatial relationships between students’ homes and high-quality schooling. Through the concept of a school desert we explore the (un)intended spatial implications of school closures. School deserts occur as a result of school choice policies that justify school closures. Closures and the location of good schools are geographically uneven, tempered by the federal and local policies that ensure income and racial segregation in US housing. Our analysis of Pennsylvania reveals the uneven distribution of access to good schools in the same way that mapping food deserts displays how market forces have failed to evenly distribute quality food. We find that areas with high-quality schools are significantly wealthier and whiter than school deserts, a conclusion which mirrors those concerning other low-quality neighborhood assets. School deserts as a methodology demonstrate that if students do not have geographic access to good schools, then school choice policies do not, in fact, offer choice.

scholarly journals Choosing Schools in Changing Places: Examining School Enrollment in Gentrifying Neighborhoods

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Candipan
Keyword(s):  
School Choice ◽  
School Enrollment ◽  
Neighborhood Schools ◽  
Enrollment Decisions ◽  
Neighborhood Factors ◽  
Local Schools ◽  
Neighborhood School ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Individual School ◽  
School Assignment

School choice expansion in recent decades has weakened the strong link between neighborhoods and schools created under a strict residence-based school assignment system, decoupling residential and school enrollment decisions for some families. Recent work suggests that the neighborhood-school link is weakening the most in neighborhoods experiencing gentrification. Using a novel combination of individual, school, and neighborhood data that link children to both assigned and enrolled schools, this study examines family, school, and neighborhood factors that shape whether parents enroll in the assigned local school. I find that parents are more likely to opt out of neighborhood schools in gentrifying neighborhoods compared with non-gentrifying neighborhoods when nearby choice options are available. Recent movers to gentrifying neighborhoods bypass local schools more compared with parents who have lived in the neighborhood longer. Results have implications for thinking about neighborhood-school linkages in an era of school choice and urban change.

Parental Depression and Contextual Selection: The Case of School Choice

2021 ◽  
pp. 002214652110010
Author(s):  
Jared N. Schachner
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Choice ◽  
School Quality ◽  
Parental Depression ◽  
Black Families ◽  
Child Rearing ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Depressed Parents

Parental depression constricts children’s development, but the mechanisms implicated—beyond daily parenting tactics—remain unknown. Today, parents must evaluate and select environmental contexts for child-rearing within increasingly complex residential and educational markets. Depression may hamper parents’ abilities to navigate this terrain, constraining information collection and impairing child-oriented decision-making. In turn, depressed parents’ children may lack access to developmentally enriching neighborhood, school, and child care settings. K–12 school sorting offers a strategic case to assess these expectations, given proliferating nontraditional options and school quality data. Analyses using the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (N = 2,754) linked to administrative data suggest that depressed parents’ children attend magnet, charter, or private schools at lower rates than similarly situated children of nondepressed parents; depression-based disparities appear largest among Latino and Black families. The study motivates future research examining whether the depression-contextual selection link mediates intergenerational processes and exacerbates segregation.

The Impact of Turnaround Reform on Student Outcomes: Evidence and Insights from the Los Angeles Unified School District

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine O. Strunk ◽  
Julie A. Marsh ◽  
Ayesha K. Hashim ◽  
Susan Bush-Mecenas ◽  
Tracey Weinstein
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
English Language ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Public School Choice ◽  
Time Series Approach ◽  
The Impact

We examine the Los Angeles Unified School District's Public School Choice Initiative (PSCI), which sought to turnaround the district's lowest-performing schools. We ask whether school turnaround impacted student outcomes, and what explains variations in outcomes across reform cohorts. We use a Comparative Interrupted Time Series approach using administrative student-level data, following students in the first (1.0), second (2.0), and third (3.0) cohorts of PSCI schools. We find that students in 1.0 turnaround schools saw no significant improvements in outcomes, whereas students enrolled in 2.0 schools saw significant gains in English Language Arts in both years of the reform. Students in 3.0 schools experienced significant decreases in achievement. Qualitative and survey data suggest that increased support and assistance and the use of reconstitution and restart as the sole turnaround methods contributed to gains in 2.0, whereas policy changes in 3.0 caused difficulties and confusion in implementation, leading to poor student performance.

Sinusoidal Cells in Bone Marrow Take Up BSA-Au Conjugates in the Presence of an Artificial Blood Substitute

1985 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 700-701
Author(s):  
J.S. Geoffroy ◽  
R.P. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Bone Marrow ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Iliac Artery ◽  
Blood Substitute ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Coated Pits ◽  
Sinusoidal Cells ◽  
Artificial Blood ◽  
Left Common Iliac Artery

The pattern of BSA-Au uptake in vivo by endothelial cells of the venous sinuses (sinusoidal cells) of rat bone marrow has been described previously. BSA-Au conjugates are taken up exclusively in coated pits and vesicles, enter and pass through an “endosomal” compartment comprised of smooth-membraned tubules and vacuoles and cup-like bodies, and subsequently reside in multivesicular and dense bodies. The process is very rapid, with BSA-Au reaching secondary lysosmes one minute after presentation. (Figure 1)In further investigations of this process an isolated limb perfusion method using an artificial blood substitute, Oxypherol-ET (O-ET; Alpha Therapeutics, Los Angeles, CA) was developed. Under nembutal anesthesia, male Sprague-Dawley rats were laparotomized. The left common iliac artery and vein were ligated and the right iliac artery was cannulated via the aorta with a small vein catheter. Pump tubing, preprimed with oxygenated 0-ET at 37°C, was connected to the cannula.

Interprofessional Collaboration to Promote Culturally Engaged and Strengths-Based Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1410-1421
Author(s):  
Erica Ellis ◽  
Mary Kubalanza ◽  
Gabriela Simon-Cereijido ◽  
Ashley Munger ◽  
Allison Sidle Fuligni
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Interprofessional Education ◽  
Clinical Training ◽  
Interprofessional Collaboration ◽  
Communication Disorders ◽  
Outreach Program ◽  
State University ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Health Nursing

Purpose To effectively prepare students to engage in interprofessional practice, a number of Communication Disorders (COMD) programs are designing new courses and creating additional opportunities to develop the interprofessional competencies that will support future student success in health and education-related fields. The ECHO (Educational Community Health Outreach) program is one example of how the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services at California State University, Los Angeles, has begun to create these opportunities. The ultimate goal of the ECHO project is to increase both access to and continuity of oral health care across communities in the greater Los Angeles area. Method We describe this innovative interdisciplinary training program within the context of current interprofessional education models. First, we describe the program and its development. Second, we describe how COMD students benefit from the training program. Third, we examine how students from other disciplines experience benefits related to interprofessional education and COMD. Fourth, we provide reflections and insights from COMD faculty who participated in the project. Conclusions The ECHO program has great potential for continuing to build innovative clinical training opportunities for students with the inclusion of Child and Family Studies, Public Health, Nursing, and Nutrition departments. These partnerships push beyond the norm of disciplines often used in collaborative efforts in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Additionally, the training students received with ECHO incorporates not only interprofessional education but also relevant and important aspects of diversity and inclusion, as well as strengths-based practices.

Vorhersagbarkeit posttraumatischer Belastung bei Kindern und Jugendlichen nach traumatischen Ereignissen in der Schule

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Frühe ◽  
Hans-Joachim Röthlein ◽  
Rita Rosner
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Reaction Index ◽  
Traumatische Ereignisse

Traumatische Ereignisse im schulischen Kontext treten vergleichsweise häufig auf. So ist die Bestimmung von Kindern und Jugendlichen, die aktuell und auch zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt einer psychologischen Betreuung bedürfen, im Rahmen der Fürsorgepflicht notwendig. 48 Jugendliche zwischen 12 und 17 Jahren wurden in der Schule zu zwei Messzeitpunkten zur akuten und posttraumatischen Symptomatik sowie zu verschiedenen Risikofaktoren befragt. Verwendet wurde die neu entwickelte Checkliste zur Akuten Belastung (CAB) und die deutsche Version des University of Los Angeles at California Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA CPTSD-RI). Eine Woche nach dem Ereignis betrug der Anteil klinisch bedeutsamer Belastung 21 % und nach 10 – 15 Wochen 10 %. Ein mittlerer Zusammenhang zwischen akuter und posttraumatischer Belastung konnte nachgewiesen werden. Als bedeutsame Risikofaktoren für die Entwicklung einer posttraumatischen Belastung stellten sich der Konfrontationsgrad, peritraumatisch erlebte Angst sowie akute Beeinträchtigung heraus. Im Kontext der Betreuung betroffener Jugendlicher nach traumatischen Ereignissen sollte den Risikofaktoren mehr Beachtung geschenkt werden.

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