Research on Schools, Neighborhoods and Communities

Toward Civic Responsibility

Contributions by Walter Allen, Angela E. Arzubiaga, Miguel Ceja, Anna K. Chmielewski, Davido Dupree, Jacquelyn Duran, Evellyn Elizondo, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Suzanne Fegley, George Galster, Olivia Golden, Courtney Grzesikowski, Kris D. Gutierrez, Dr. Shirley Brice Heath Professor at Large, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown Unive, Larry V. Hedges, Kathryn Hill, Mark Hogrebe, Nathan Jones, Carol D. Lee Northwestern University, Henry M. Levin, Ph.D., John Logan, Jill McNew-Birren, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Jerome E. Morris, Sheri Notaro, Deirdre Oakley, Michael A. Olivas University of Houston, Katherine O'Regan, Stephen W. Raudenbush, Douglas Ready, sean f. reardon, Allison Roda, Robert J. Sampson, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Margaret Beale Spencer, Leanna Stiefel, William F. Tate, Brian Tinsley, Anne Velasco, Ronald Walters Institute for Advanced Study, Miya Tamiko Warner, Amy Stuart Wells, Terrenda White, Brian Williams, Gail Wolfe, John T. Yun Edited by William F. Tate

Publication date:

23 February 2012

Length of book:

564 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

260x180mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9781442204676

Research on Schools, Neighborhoods, and Communities: Toward Civic Responsibility focuses on research and theoretical developments related to the role of geography in education, human development, and health. William F. Tate IV, the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and former President of the American Educational Research Association, presents a collection of chapters from across disciplines to further understand the strengths of and problems in our communities. Today, many research literatures—e.g., health, housing, transportation, and education—focus on civic progress, yet rarely are there efforts to interrelate these literatures to better understand urgent problems and promising possibilities in education, wherein social context is central. In this volume, social context—in particular, the unequal opportunities that result from geography—is integral to the arguments, analyses, and case studies presented. Written by more than 40 educational scholars from top universities across the nation, the research presented in this volume provides historical, moral, and scientifically based arguments with the potential to inform understandings of civic problems associated with education, youth, and families, and to guide the actions of responsible citizens and institutions dedicated to advancing the public good.

Acknowledgments

Introduction
William F. Tate IV

Part I. Conceptualizing Urban Space

Chapter 1: Neighborhood Inequality, Violence, and the Social Infrastructure of the American City
Robert J. Sampson
Chapter 2: Toward a Theory of Place: Social Mobility, Proximity, and Proximal Capital
Odis D. Johnson, Jr.
Chapter 3: Urban Opportunity Structure and Racial/Ethnic Polarization
George C. Galster
Chapter 4:Racial Segregation in Multiethnic Schools: Adding Immigrants to the Analysis
Ingrid Gould Ellen, Katherine O’Regan, Amy Ellen Schwartz, and Leanaa Stiefel

Part II. The Growing Complexity of Metropolitan America

Chapter 5: Suburbanization and School Segregation
sean f. reardon, John T. Yun, and Anna K. Chmielewski
Chapter 6: Schools Matter: Segregation, Unequal Educational Opportunities, and the Achievement Gap in the Boston Region
John R. Logan and Deirdre Oakley
Chapter 7: Still Separate, Still Unequal, but Not Always So “Suburban”: The Changing Nature of Suburban School Districts in the New York Metropolitan Area.
Amy Stuart Wells, Douglas Ready, Jacquelyn Duran, Courtney Grzesikowski, Kathryn Hill, Allison Roda, Miya Warner, and Terenda White
Chapter 8: Adding Geospatial Perspective to Research on Schools, Communities, and Neighborhoods
Mark C. Hogrebe

Part III. Teaching and Learning Research in Social Context

Chapter 9: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges to a Cultural and Ecological Framework for Studying Human Learning and Development
Carol D. Lee
Chapter 10: An Ecological and Activity Theoretic Approach to Studying Diasporic and Non-Dominant Communities
Kris D. Gutiérrez and Angela E. Arzubiaga
Chapter 11: Reconstructing Education in America
Henry M. Levin
Chapter 12: Can School Improvement Reduce Racial Inequality?
Stephen Raudenbush
Chapter 13: Seeing Our Way Into Learning Science in Informal Environments
Shirley Brice Heath
Chapter 14: No Color Necessary: High School Students’ Discourse on College Support Systems and College Readiness
Evellyn Elizondo, Walter R. Allen, and Miguel Ceja
Chapter 15: Taking Math and Science to Black Parents: Promises and Challenges of a Community-Based Intervention for Educational Change
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Linwood Cousins, Anne Valasco, and Brian Williams

Part IV. Research on Human Development, Health, and Human Service Providers in Social Context

Chapter 16: Maximizing Cultural and Contextually-Sensitive Assessment Strategies in Developmental and Educational Research
Margaret Beale Spencer, Brian Tinsley, Davido Dupree, and Suzanne Fegley
Chapter 17: Immigrant Children—Hiding in Plain Sight in the Margins of the Urban Infrastructure
Michael A. Olivas
Chapter 18: Delivering High-Quality Public Services to Vulnerable Families and Children in America’s Cities: The Lessons from Reforming Child Welfare
Olivia Golden
Chapter 19: Health Disparities among African Americans in Urban Populations
Sheri R. Notaro
Chapter 20: A “Tragic Dichotomy:” A Case Study of Industrial Lead Contamination and Management in a Company Town
Jill McNew-Birren
Chapter 21: Pandemic Preparedness: Using Geospatial Models to Inform Planning in Systems of Education and Health in Metropolitan American
William F. Tate IV

Part V. Case Studies of Metropolitan Communities

Chapter 22: Urban America in Distress: A Case Study Analysis of Gary, Indiana: 1968-1987
Gail E. Wolfe
Chapter 23: God’s Will or Government Policy? Katrina’s Unveiling of History and Mass Dispersion of Black People
Jerome E. Morris

Epilogue

Chapter 24: Research Infrastructure for Improving Urban Education
Larry V. Hedges and Nathan Jones
Chapter 25: The White House Office on Urban Affairs: Regionalism, Sustainability, and the Neglect of Social Infrastructure
Ronald Walters
Chapter 26:Toward Civic Responsibility and Civic Engagement
William F. Tate IV

Professor Tate is to be congratulated for emphasizing the role geography and location can play in research on schools. Issues of racial segregation and inequality are at the forefront here, grounded in theoretical scholarship on place and methodological work on how learning takes place. Issues of health, immigration, culture, and college readiness are studied in a spatially sensitive manner, emphasizing that schools are not isolated islands but offer greater or lesser opportunities depending on where they are located. The book should be required reading for anyone interested in schools, neighborhoods, or communities.