Diversity or Gentrification: Middle-Class Parents at Working Class Schools
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| Title: | Diversity or Gentrification: Middle-Class Parents at Working Class Schools |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Edward L. Watson (ORCID |
| Source: | Urban Education. 2026 61(1):43-73. |
| Availability: | SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 31 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Elementary Education |
| Descriptors: | Middle Class, Low Achievement, School Effectiveness, Immersion Programs, Mandarin Chinese, Minority Group Students, Diversity, Working Class, Social Class, Neighborhoods, Parent Participation, Urban Schools, Suburbs, Advantaged, Educational Change, Elementary Schools, Parent Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Administrator Attitudes, Parent Student Relationship, Student Characteristics |
| DOI: | 10.1177/00420859251331535 |
| ISSN: | 0042-0859 1552-8340 |
| Abstract: | What happens after middle-class parents arrive at an underperforming majority-minority school with a Mandarin immersion strand program? I use parent interviews and observations to examine the institutional changes in an elementary school. I show how a struggling school located in a working-class neighborhood gradually gentrifies without neighborhood demographic change. I find the immersion program creates a disconnect between the demographically different immersion and the non-immersion parents and students. This pushes the immersion parents to seek a school that is completely immersion. The findings suggest those that may benefit most from an improved school environment may lose the opportunity to participate. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1492152 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | What happens after middle-class parents arrive at an underperforming majority-minority school with a Mandarin immersion strand program? I use parent interviews and observations to examine the institutional changes in an elementary school. I show how a struggling school located in a working-class neighborhood gradually gentrifies without neighborhood demographic change. I find the immersion program creates a disconnect between the demographically different immersion and the non-immersion parents and students. This pushes the immersion parents to seek a school that is completely immersion. The findings suggest those that may benefit most from an improved school environment may lose the opportunity to participate. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0042-0859 1552-8340 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/00420859251331535 |
