Citation
Crosnoe, R. (2009). Low-income students and the socioeconomic composition of public high schools.
American Sociological Review. vol. 74 (5) pp. 709 , PMCID: PMC3086272
Abstract
Increasing constraints placed on race-based school diversification have shifted attention to socioeconomic desegregation. Although past research suggests that socioeconomic desegregation can produce heightened achievement, the “frog pond” perspective points to potential problems with socioeconomic desegregation in nonachievement domains. Such problems are important in their own right, and they may also chip away at the magnitude of potential achievement benefits. In this article, I report conducted propensity score analyses and robustness calculations on a sample of public high schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. As the proportion of the student body with middle- or high-income parents increased, low-income students progressed less far in math and science. Moreover, as the proportion of the student body with middle- or high-income or college-educated parents increased, low-income students experienced more psychosocial problems. Such patterns were often more pronounced among African American and Latino students. These findings suggest curricular and social psychological mechanisms of oft-noted frog pond effects in schools and extend the frog pond framework beyond achievement itself to demographic statuses (e.g., race/ethnicity and SES) perceptually linked to achievement. In terms of policy, these findings indicate that socioeconomic desegregation plans should also attend to equity in course enrollments and the social integration of students more generally.
URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400502Keyword(s)
School
Reference Type
Journal Article
Journal Title
American Sociological Review
Author(s)
Crosnoe, R.
Year Published
2009
Volume Number
74
Issue Number
5
Pages
709
DOI
10.1177/000312240907400502
PMCID
PMC3086272
Reference ID
1046
