School engagement predicts academic achievement and attainment, yet remains under-theorized in the sociological literature. While psychologists describe three distinct yet mutually reinforcing categories of school engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement), sociologists have largely neglected to analyze cognitive engagement.…

Safety is one of the primary reasons why parents report seeking out a school of choice in depressed cities with a high proportion of charter schools. However, little empirical research has examined how parents assess school safety in these settings. This study explores factors that parents associate with school safety in Detroit, Michigan by…

In 1981, Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the first school district in America to replace its neighborhood schools with a "controlled choice" assignment plan, which considered parental preference and racial balance. This article considers the history preceding this decision to explore how and why some Americans became enamored with…

Longstanding inequities in science education across the lines of race and class remain the most intractable problem in the field. Justice-centered science pedagogy is introduced as a theoretical framework built on the traditions of critical pedagogy and culturally relevant pedagogy to address these inequities as components of larger oppressive…

This article tells the story of two exploratory youth-centered participatory action research (PAR) projects to consider how youth-centered research can resist inequality. In this paper, I focus on the findings and process of two PAR projects that took place within one geographically isolated neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The studies focused…

Many school districts are increasingly offering their students options that break the geographic link between residential location and school attendance. This study considers the consequences of non-local school attendance on neighborhood perception. Specifically, do parents of children who attend schools within their neighborhood feel more…

Even though choice is not officially a feature in the German primary school system, some parents intervene in determining which school their child attends. Especially in urban contexts, the informal school market is growing. This demand is based on promises with respect to a certain quality of education as well as on issues that prevail in certain…

In Chicago's Altgeld-Riverdale neighborhood, the Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten Transitions Project (PKTP) promotes an intentional approach to early educational transitions through the implementation of classroom and community transition practices. PKTP brings together teachers and families from across all schools and early childhood centers…

In Chicago's Altgeld-Riverdale neighborhood, the Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten Transitions Project (PKTP) promotes an intentional approach to early educational transitions through the implementation of classroom and community transition practices. PKTP brings together teachers and families from across all schools and early childhood centers…

In this special issue exploring parents' responses to neoliberal policy changes, especially shifting notions of risk and responsibility, this article provides a historical account of local and national policy initiatives in the contemporary United States that have increased risk and placed responsibility for this risk on the shoulders of parents…

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in six different types of rural area and their schools in different parts of Sweden, this article identifies how rural schools relate to the local place and discusses some of the educational implications from this. Recurrent references to the local community were present in some schools and people there explicitly…

This article explores the importance of considering transportation mode when calculating commute time for a child's school choice options. While proponents of school choice argue that students can attend any school that will provide them the best education, several have argued that commute time is as important for families as a school's…

Many urban districts use a portfolio management model, hoping to promote school choice and improve school performance. This model requires school closure, which has predominantly impacted lower income families. In 2013, Chicago Public Schools relocated Granger Elementary into one of 48 schools it closed, placing its middle-class parents in the…

Project SYNC (Systems, Yoked through Nuanced Collaboration) details perspectives of a community of stakeholders committed to the enhancement of early childhood (i.e., prekindergarten through grade 3) education. Although there is a growing number of public-school programs informed by the Montessori philosophy, Montessori educational experiences…

In at least ten cities across the country, there are schools that operate under some sort of partnership school model: a "third way" governance strategy that breaks through district-charter divides that could help improve struggling schools or increase the number of quality school options in a neighborhood. Like charter schools,…