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My Kids Will Never Go to (Urban) Public Schools: A Study of the African-American Middle Class’ Abandonment of Urban Public Schools

Williams, Esther Lynette
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1185292256

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Educational Leadership.
Access to a quality education is a recurring theme in the history of African-Americans. From America’s infancy to the present, African-Americans have steadfastly held to the conviction that a quality education was inextricably intertwined with notions of freedom and upward mobility. Historically, most African-American parents relied on public schools to provide that education. However, by the mid-1980’s, many African American parents became disillusioned with public education, and those who possessed the requisite resources to do so, began to abandon urban public schools, choosing to educate their children in suburban schools, independent private schools, and parochial schools. Researchers studying school choice primarily focus on charter schools and school voucher programs, giving little consideration to the abandonment of urban public schools by the African-American middle class. This qualitative study investigates the experiences of seven middle class African-American parents to ascertain how they constructed their decisions to exclude urban public schools as educational options for their children. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews, which allowed for the structure of qualitative inquiry and the flexibility and fluidity of natural conversations. In addition, more than twenty-five informal interviews and conversations with African-American parents of various socioeconomic levels were conducted. The parents’ narratives revealed five concerns: academic achievement; discipline and safety; teacher quality; racism, and cultural issues. An analysis of those concerns resulted in two major findings. First, parents do not believe urban schools possess the requisite resources to effectively educate their children and enable them to gain admission to a reputable college or university. Second, parents do not believe their children can acquire the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed as a prerequisite to become economically and socially successful in the world of the dominant culture when they are educated in an urban public school. The concerns and findings were analyzed through intersecting lenses of critical race theory and social reproduction theory. The author discusses how issues of race and class often underpin the inequities and inadequacies of urban public schools.
Richard Hofmann (Advisor)
128 p.
African-American middle class; African-American parents; critical race theory; urban schools; public schools; school choice; private school; parochial schools; African-American students; social reproduction theory; social capital; cultural capital

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Williams, E. L. (2007). My Kids Will Never Go to (Urban) Public Schools: A Study of the African-American Middle Class’ Abandonment of Urban Public Schools [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1185292256

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Williams, Esther. My Kids Will Never Go to (Urban) Public Schools: A Study of the African-American Middle Class’ Abandonment of Urban Public Schools. 2007. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1185292256.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Williams, Esther. "My Kids Will Never Go to (Urban) Public Schools: A Study of the African-American Middle Class’ Abandonment of Urban Public Schools." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1185292256

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1185292256
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.