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With the proliferation of choice policies in education, parents are increasingly positioned as 'consumers' tasked with choosing the 'best' school for their children. Yet a large body of research has shown that the process of selecting a school is far more complicated than policy-makers and researchers often predict. This article uses ethnographic data on middle-class parents in a large city who are considering sending their children to a diverse neighborhood public school to further develop our understanding of school choice. Drawing from sociological research on consumption as a social and cultural process, we examine the intersections between parents' choice of a particular school (i.e. consumption) and their own identity construction. Our data show that the act of choosing a school can become, for parents, a means of expressing and enacting a particular identity. In this case, the intersections between identity and choice pushed many parents - invested in seeing themselves as liberal urbanites - towards an urban public school. We suggest that similar dynamics could have different outcomes for other groups of parents and that the symbolic nature of the school choice decision has broader relevance and merits further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internal processes of higher education have implications for the cohesion and shape of societies as well as for the quality of life of individuals. The comparison of the historical evolution of access to higher education in the American and European/Romanian contrasted countries reveals the presence of several norms successively constraining the organization of access. These norms will reflect the transformation of both a legitimated social order, and the role of the higher education systems within societies. This article examines several aspects of higher education's role in relation to social equity and the related notion of meritocracy, especially as it relates to admission. Since the role of higher education is measured in terms of its contribution to achieving a fair and just society, questions on the impact of higher education are considered alongside issue(s) of access, equal opportunity and widening participation. To preview our argument, we argue that the development of a national standardized entrance exam in Romania would promote greater access and equity to higher education. Relying on comparison with the US context we show how the construction of merit especially in determining access to higher education is often socially constructed in such a way as to maintain the privilege of elites. Our examination of the US context illustrated how definitions of merit can be subverted and essentially become a proxy for membership in a particular social class or social group. While the ability of the elites in any society to affect the structure and rules governing access to scarce resources and experiences will continue, the introduction of standard measures and a national rather than local system can ameliorate these forces. The ability of higher education to maintain and promote equality of access is intimately linked to its ability to continue to provide value and remain relevant to the society it serves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1986 Fordham and Ogbu introduced the idea that black students continue to underperform in school because of their cultural opposition to "acting white." This notion of the burden of acting white and Ogbu's cultural ecological theory more broadly have provided one of the dominant theories used to explain the black-white achievement gap. The research presented here offers a reassessment of the burden of acting white and directs researchers to examine the variation to be found in students' peer groups. This article highlights the ability of students to sustain an authentic black identity and to achieve academically by effectively managing their academic success among their peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a case study of parents' involvement with their third-grade children. Using interviews and classroom observations, the research revealed how some black parents, deeply concerned about the historical legacy of discrimination against blacks in schooling, approach the school with open criticisms. Since educators seek a positive and deferential role for parents in schooling, race appears to play an independent role in parents' ability to comply with educators' requests (although social class also mediates the ways in which black parents express their concerns). The results highlight the difference between possession and activation of capital and the value accorded displays of capital in particular settings. Taken together, the findings suggest the importance of focusing on moments of inclusion and exclusion in examining how individuals activate social and cultural capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with the expansion and improvement of urban universities through the development of community-university relationships as conceived in the collegiate ideal. Roots of the collegiate ideal; Goal of intellectual communities in an urban environment; Assumptions that underlie such ideal; Ways in which urban universities can expand the collegiate ideal.

Highlights: [•] We developed new race and sex stereotype bias measures. [•] All stereotype measures change in a discontinuous pattern over the school year for STEM students. [•] Differences in intercept by race and sex were not as predicted by stereotype threat theory. [•] Most measures show little relationship to grades. [•] For the most part, only grades show a relationship to retention in STEM majors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]