Family engagement has long been held as an important component of the educational experience for our students. This study is about how schools tend to aim towards the middle when looking to engage families in their child's school life, and future implications for how educators need to shift from the lens of the middle-class to reach our…

Amid the intensifying phenomenon of educational "involution," parental anxiety regarding education has become a widespread social issue, prompting parents to engage in reflection and adjust their educational strategies accordingly. This paper, framed by Archer's reflexivity theory, employs the method of digital ethnography to examine the…

There is increasing concern regarding widespread educational anxiety in China, driven by significant investments of money, time, and effort made by parents in their children's education. This study investigates the phenomenon of rising parentocracy in China and its relations to educational anxiety among middle-class parents, based on in-depth…

In recent years, Innovative Schools in Dali have received increasing coverage in Chinese social media and have also attracted middle-class parents from cities, as viable bottom-up educational initiatives. This paper explores the rationales for Chinese middle-class parents' choice of Innovative Schools in Dali. Analysis of data from online…

This interview study examines the school choices of white middle class parents who live in a large Northeastern city. Interviewees identify as progressive urbanites and express an appreciation for racial diversity. Simultaneously, interviewees draw on anti-Black stereotypes when evaluating school options and avoiding majority Black schools. While…

This study uses survey data from 12,548 parents in seven major cities in mainland China, including 5,850 middle-class parents. Through differential analysis, path analysis, and quantile regression, it examines the relationships between meritocratic educational beliefs, achievement expectation gaps, and educational anxiety. The findings reveal that…

This study examines the complex nature of educational anxiety among middle-class parents in contemporary China, particularly in the context of the "Double Reduction" policy. Through in-depth interviews with sixteen middle-class parents in Nanjing, our research explores how socio-economic changes, policy impacts, and parental responses…

The growth of middle-class families in gentrifying neighborhoods has sparked questions about how these families select schools for their children. Research on elementary school selection has found that some parent gentrifiers are willing to try their neighborhood public schools. These parents are often motivated by civically oriented values,…

Parental involvement in children's education often prescribes strategies to align with educational authority. Prevailing perspectives view compliance with educational authority as subjection and its rejection as a form of autonomy. However, there is autonomous parental involvement that accepts educational authority but results in opposite…

Municipal governments have long looked to gentrification in hopes of addressing social problems, including poverty concentration, crime, and more recently, school segregation. Yet, little is known about the educational implications of neighborhood gentrification. This article examines the process of "school gentrification" exploring…

Despite the documented rise of children's use of mobile media devices in the United States, particularly in lower-income homes, there is limited research on how children and parents interact together with these types of devices. This study sought to describe and investigate how parents and their 3-year-old children use one type of mobile digital…

In this paper the authors study 19 Global Middle Class (GMC) families currently residing in four global cities: Hong Kong; London; Buenos Aires; and Tel Aviv. Through qualitative in-depth interviews, they sought to gather insights about GMC parenting strategies, specifically drawing attention to the decision-making processes of school choice. To…

School choice policy in China aims to achieve educational equity by limiting school choice. Synchronous Admission Reform (SAR hereafter) is a recent school choice reform in China, which continues to limit parents' autonomy and strengthen the equal distribution of school resources. This study explores Chinese middle-class parents' (n = 21) justice…

This article explores the intersecting desires and anxieties of Chinese middle-class families and students in their pursuit of studying abroad in the United States. Through the qualitative analysis of narratives from students and interview data, the findings reveal that the decision for studying in the U.S. is deeply intertwines with anxieties…

"Meredith v. Jefferson County/Parents Involved v. Seattle" ruled that K-12 public-school districts could no longer use the race of an individual student for placement in schools, which resulted in districts adopting new "race-neutral" assignment plans. This qualitative research study on school assignment and school choice…