– There are substantial socioeconomic differences in the subjects that young people study from age 14 to 16.
– Young people from advantaged households take more selective subjects, have higher odds of doing three or more facilitating subjects, higher odds of studying a full set of EBacc-eligible subjects (including English, Maths, History or Geography, two sciences and a modern or ancient language), but lower odds of taking Applied GCSEs (e.g. Applied Hospitality, Applied Health or Applied Manufacturing) than less advantaged young people.
– There were important differences by school characteristics, which may be a result of differential opportunities, subjects offered and within school policies.
– Even holding other factors constant, pupils in non-selective schools within selective local authorities study a less academically selective set of subjects.
– When considering university entry, and admission to high-status universities in particular, there are large raw differences associated with studying more academic combinations of subjects.
However, once differences in young people’s backgrounds and prior attainment associated with these differences in subjects studied are taken into account, these differences are, at most,
small.
– The results for studying the full set of EBacc subjects and for studying any applied subjects do show residual associations with university attendance.
– If young people from different socioeconomic backgrounds were studying a more similar curriculum between ages 14 and 16 it would be unlikely to make much of difference to the inequality in university entry highlighted by previous studies.
– Household income, home ownership and higher parental education increase the odds of taking three STEM subjects
– Socio-economic differentials in access to STEM are largely driven by prior attainment.
– Participation in STEM subjects does not vary by school characteristics, with the exception of the proportion of Free School Meals (FSM) in the school which is negatively associated with doing three or more STEM subjects.
Current Selections
ClearSocio-economic Status and Subject Choice at 14: Do They Interact to Affect University Access
Money or Diversity? An Implementation Analysis of the Voluntary Transfer Program in St. Louis, 1999-2009
How did fiscal resources and human interests affect suburban implementation of the voluntary transfer program between 1999 and 2009?
The “Post-Racial†Politics of Race: Changing Student Assignment Policy in Three School Districts
Does having residents from multiple jurisdictions make it more difficult for districts to maintain support for student assignment policies, particularly given population differences between city and suburban residents? Does a district’s ability to maintain political support for integration differ by whether the goals and means were race-conscious or race-neutral?
Do School Districts Matter?
1) What is the influence of school districts on student achievement relative to the influence of schools, teachers, and individual differences among students? 2) Are there differences among school districts in their contribution to student achievement that are large enough to be relevant for policy? 3) Can districts be categorized based on patterns of influence on student academic achievement in ways that would inform efforts to improve district performance 4) What are the distinctive features of exceptional districts?
Live and Learn? Contradictions in Residential Patterns and School Demographics
To what degree do Atlanta-area racial and ethnic segregation patterns in public secondary schools reflect those in residential catchment areas?
School Policies and the Test Score Gap
Explores the potential effectiveness of school policies and strategies that have been proposed or justified–at least in part–on the basis of their potential for reducing black-white test score gaps.
Twenty-First Century Social Science on School Racial Diversity and Educational Outcomes
If amicus briefs are to bring relevant social science evidence to the attention of the Court in educational rights litigation, which research studies should be summarized and interpreted in the briefs?
Choice, Equity, and the Schools-Within-Schools Reform
- To what extent did subunit themes emphasize students’ disparate occupational and educational futures over their common social and academic needs?
- What rationales did students offer for their subunit selections, and how did their choices reflect their interests, motivations, social backgrounds, and academic abilities?
How Society Failed School Desegregation Policy: Looking Past the Schools to Understand Them
Aims to understand why desegregation policy has failed to achieve the goals set out by Brown v. Board and how research on school desegregation has contributed to these shortcomings.
Economic School Integration
Explores the end of court-ordered desgregation, describes the alternative of socioeconomic integration, and sketches prospects for economic school integration in the future.