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2001 - Race, Class, and Tournament Track Mobility

Attribution: Lucas, Samuel R., & Good, Aaron D.
Researchers: Aaron D. GoodSamuel R. Lucas
University Affiliation: University of California, Berkeley
Email: lucas@demog.berkeley.edu
Research Question:
Examine pattern of track mobility. Do all groups follow the same pattern or are there different mobility regimes?
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Sociology of Education
Journal Entry: Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 139-156
Year: 2001
Findings:
  • This study analyzes whether patterns of track mobility differ by racial-ethnic and social class groups and whether tournament mobility is occurring.
  • The results for English classes is that all groups analyzed experienced the same mobility regime and similar prospects for mobility.
  • In math, Blacks/Latinos experienced different regimes from Whites.
  • SES alone does not create a different regime.
  • Blacks/Latinos regardless of class tended to experience more downward mobility.
  • Students of different social classes do not, by virtue of their class position alone, experience different mobility regimes.
  • In English, upper-class Whites, lower-class Whites, upperclass Blacks and Latinos-Latinas, and lowerclass Blacks and Latinos-Latinas seem to encounter not only the same regime, but the same prospects for mobility within that regime. In mathematics, however, they appear to confront fundamentally different mobility regimes.
Keywords: EnglishMathSESTrackingRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: SurveyAnalysis Methods: Regression Sampling Frame:National
Sampling Types: RandomAnalysis Units: StudentData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • The data are from the sophomore cohort of the High School & Beyond study. This study uses data from student transcripts on course based indicators (CBIs) to determine track location. Six categories are identified: remedial, business/vocational, lower college, regular college, elite college, not taking course in subject. The base year SES composite (parental education, father occupation, family income, household items index) is used. SES categories: middle class is defined by SES above or at the mean and lower class is SES below the mean. Race was self-reported by the students (Black and Latino/a are combined and Whites).
  • 4 groups analyzed in this study: upper class Whites, lower class Whites, upper class Blacks/Latinos and lower class Blacks/Latinos. Math and English mobility through the last 3 years of high school is examined.
  • DV: Number of students following a particular pattern of course taking. Topological log-linear models are estimated.
  • IV: Race and social class
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts
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