Doctoral Dissertation Research: Information, Understanding and Choice in the Chicago Public Schools

博士论文研究：芝加哥公立学校的信息、理解和选择

• 批准号: 0826512
• 负责人: Thomas Cook
• 金额: $ 0.48万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-15 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0826512&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Information; Understanding

SES-086512Thomas CookLori Delale-O?ConnorNorthwestern UniversitySchool choice is currently a topic of contention in both empirical and theoretical literature. The assumption that families will make informed choices underscores all school choice theory. However, information access and dispersion are barriers to school choice in its myriad forms. Because choice places the onus for information gathering and quality control on the parents and/or students, how families choose is an important aspect of school choice that has implications for the design and outcomes of individual choice systems, as well as larger education reform. This dissertation project examines how families make school choices, focusing in particular on the networks, knowledge, and motivations that affect these decisions. The three main questions that animate this research are: What factors influence parent/student decision making?, How does information and information gathering differ across different subgroups?, and What is the role of ?defaulting? within a choice system? The study is set in the Chicago Public School system, where open enrollment policies allow parents and students to choose the high school they will attend from a variety of options, including remaining in their assigned neighborhood school. To examine how choice occurs in this context, the study employs three methods: survey, in-depth interview and ethnography. The survey consists of demographic information and general questions about information sources, content, and implementation used for making the high school decision. The in-depth interview asks parents to expand on their thoughts and knowledge about the choice process. Finally, ethnography situates school choice in its larger context. Broader Impacts. This project will contribute greater understanding of both the mechanisms that drive school choice, as well as the success and failure of educational policies surrounding choice. Such insight is important both empirically and theoretically. Because school choice is increasingly part of the educational landscape in the U.S., understanding how it works and, in turn, how to improve it is key to remedying systemic ills. In addition to policy impact, the study contributes to larger social science literatures on choice, decision-making, socio-cultural boundaries and neo-liberalism, all topics of interest in sociology and the social sciences more broadly. Further, this project offers insight into the actual processes underlying choice, rather than merely relying on outcomes as an indication of process. In this way, it allows a nuanced look at the impact of choice policies, including that of default settings.

SES-086512Thomas CookLori Delale-O?Connor西北大学择校目前是实证和理论文献中争论的话题。家庭将做出明智选择的假设强调了所有择校理论。 然而，信息的获取和分散以多种形式成为择校的障碍。 由于选择将信息收集和质量控制的责任交给了家长和/或学生，因此家庭如何选择是学校选择的一个重要方面，它对个人选择系统的设计和结果以及更大的教育改革产生影响。本论文项目研究了家庭如何做出学校选择，特别关注影响这些决定的网络、知识和动机。推动这项研究的三个主要问题是：哪些因素影响家长/学生的决策？、不同小组的信息和信息收集有何不同？以及“违约”的作用是什么？在选择系统内？ 这项研究以芝加哥公立学校系统为背景，开放招生政策允许家长和学生从多种选择中选择他们要就读的高中，包括留在指定的社区学校。 为了研究在这种背景下选择是如何发生的，该研究采用了三种方法：调查、深度访谈和民族志。该调查包括人口统计信息以及有关用于做出高中决定的信息来源、内容和实施的一般问题。深度访谈要求家长扩展他们对选择过程的想法和了解。 最后，民族志将择校置于更广阔的背景中。更广泛的影响。 该项目将有助于更好地了解推动学校选择的机制，以及围绕选择的教育政策的成功和失败。 这种洞察力在经验和理论上都很重要。由于学校选择越来越成为美国教育格局的一部分，了解其运作方式以及如何改进它是纠正系统性弊病的关键。除了政策影响之外，该研究还为有关选择、决策、社会文化边界和新自由主义的更广泛的社会科学文献做出了贡献，这些都是社会学和更广泛的社会科学感兴趣的主题。 此外，该项目提供了对选择背后的实际流程的洞察，而不仅仅是依赖结果作为流程的指示。 通过这种方式，它可以细致地观察选择策略的影响，包括默认设置的影响。