1988 - Curriculum Tracking as Mediating the Social Distribution of High School Achievement

Attribution: Lee, Valerie E., & Bryk, Anthony
Researchers: Anthony BrykValerie E. Lee
University Affiliation: University of Michigan, University of Chicago
Email: velee@umich.edu
Research Question:
Differences in how tracking decisions are made. Pattern of students' course enrollments within academic tracks.
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Sociology of Education
Journal Entry: Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 78-94
Year: 1988
Findings:
  • Catholic school students were twice as likely to have been assigned to academic track than to choose it.
  • Congruity between educational aspirations and academic activities was much closer in the Catholic schools than in public schools.
  • For the academic subjects, it is evident that Catholic School students enroll in substantially more courses than their public school counterparts.
  • Advantage for more students in non-academic tracks in Catholic Schools is much greater.
  • More differentiated academic structure of public High Schools
  • Public High School is a social system that tends to amplify the initial differences that students bring to the school. The reverse seem to be true in Catholic schools.
  • Students in the nonacademic tracks in Catholic schools showed a larger advantage in academic course enrollment than their counterparts in the nonacademic tracks in public schools.
Keywords: Academic AchievementCatholic SchoolsCurriculumMathPrivate SchoolsTrackingRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: SurveyAnalysis Methods: Path Analysis Sampling Frame:National
Sampling Types: RandomAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • Sample drawn from the first follow-up data on the sophomore cohort of High School and Beyond.
  • All 83 Catholic High Schools and 94 random public schools
  • Final sample consisted of 1883 Public school students, 2050 Catholic school students.
  • Focus on math achievement area.
  • DV: Math results in the HS&B
  • IV: Background characteristics, proportion of minority students, track assignments, etc.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts