Stratification in Secondary Education

          When we first set out to uncover the stratification that is prevalent throughout U.S. secondary education we were quite unaware of the interesting information we were soon to discover. However, before we began work on our project, we decided on a few techniques that we believed would be most successful when attempting to illicit a thought-provoking response. First, we believed that the best way to achieve a wide array of responses was to interview a diverse body of participants. We interviewed four people who attended public school and three people who attended private school. Secondly, we believed filming our interviews would make our blog more visually and intellectually stimulating. A few of the questions we asked our helpful participants are as follows:

- What social class do you identify with?

- How do you define social class?

- Did you go to college after high school?

- Did your school give you access to computer labs?

- How large was your school/graduating class?

- What was the graduation rate for your high school?

- Did you notice anyone from your high school on a Federally Funded Lunch Program?

- Do you believe it's fair that wealthier students may have more opportunity than their poorer counterparts when it comes to their secondary education ? If yes, do you think all students should have equal opportunity regardless of wealth or class?

        When we asked our participants about the social class they identified with, we did not find it surprising that everyone of them claimed to be a part of the middle class. According to Dalton Conley, author of the textbook, You May Ask Yourself, almost 90% of the American population identifies with this stratum and our participants were no exception to the rule. Whether they attended a free, federally funded, public school or a pricey private school, our participants all believed to be a part of the same social class. In fact, our participant's definitions of social class were also quite similar across the board. 

In this video, Margaret, a young woman who attended a private school in Austin, Texas, describes her definition of social class:

Margaret's definition of social class was pretty much universal among our participants, they all included money and type of household as driving forces in the determination of one's social class. An understanding of social class is important for our project because if one understands social class then one can better understand educational stratification. This is true because there is an obvious correlation between income and the type of schooling one receives. We found that, for the most part, the wealthier you are the more likely you are to attend a private institution. 

We discovered another correlation involving free, large, public high schools and high drop out rates when compared to private schools. 

In this video, Willy Mcgee, who attended a large public high school, talks about teacher availability at his school:

Willy's opinion regarding the availability of teachers at his public high school stands in stark contrast with Margaret and the role of instructors at her private school:

Willy now mentions his public school's high dropout rate:

Using this information, it is not difficult to understand the importance of teacher availability in secondary education. Because Willy's public high school was so large and the instructors did not have the time to meet with students individually, the academia at his school suffered, and the drop out rate was high. Margaret's private school, on the other hand, made teacher availability a large part of their philosophy and thus lead to a higher graduation rate (Margaret estimated 100% of her class graduated).

We were surprised by the answers we received from our participants regarding access to computer labs during their secondary education. While four of our participants acknowledged the presence of computer labs on their high school campus, Margaret and Angela, two private school students, said they were forced to buy laptop computers. The fact that their secondary institutions required them to buy expensive computers is a perfect example of stratification within U.S. secondary education. While one of our participants did not have access to computers at all during his high school years, Margaret and Angela's institutions required their students to not only have enough money to pay tuition but also to buy a laptop.

The last, and perhaps most important, question we asked our participants was if they, "went to college after high school" and the results are as follows:

Willy (Public): No
Emily (Public): Yes
Ashley (Public): Yes
Craig (Public): Yes
Angela (Private): Yes
Margaret (Private): Yes
Nicole (Private): Yes

Had Willy's high school been smaller, wealthier, or more concerned with teacher-student interaction he may have gone off to college. The difference between a wealthy private school and a disadvantaged public school is made more transparent by listening to Willy's interviews and looking at the data above.

Finally, after sharing all of this information with Willy we asked him if he thought that it was "fair" wealthier students had more opportunity than himself when it came to their secondary education:

The answer Willy gives us here is a perfect example of the idea of "equality of condition," or the notion that everyone should have an equal starting point, regardless of wealth or class. Another example of the idea of "equality of condition" is affirmative action, which has attempted to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, business and education. We believe a similar federal program could be put into place for underprivileged students and their pursuit of secondary education.

Private vs. Public Graphs

With the information provided in these graphs, the difference in stratification among private school education and public school education is evident. The education level among private schools is significantly higher than the education level of public schools.

Table 1.

The image above is displaying the difference between the graduation rate for religious and non-religious private and public schools. As shown here in Table 1., the graduation rate is higher amongst private religious and non-religious schools than it is for public schools.

Table 2.

The image above displays the difference between the cumulative SAT Scores by school type. (Public, Religious Private, and All Private)

Table 3.

The image above displays the difference in funding between private and public schools. Another factor could be the amount of resources available to each school. The private school's funding is substantially higher than public school funding. Coleman’s theory on social capitalism helps to support this claim. His definition states “any relationship between people that can facilitate the actions of others” (Conley 288).   The different resources accessed in social networks create stratification and obviously private schools have more access to resources within their social networks.

Table 4.

The image above displays the difference in standardized testing results between private and public schools.

As evidenced by the graphs above, the differences between public and private education become clear. As seen in Table 3, funding for private schools is much higher than funding for public schools. As a result, private schools have more access to resources and thus score higher on standardized tests. According to Lareau, “teachers tend to place a higher emphasis on parental involvement because it improves students’ educational outcome” (Conley 304). Furthermore, evidence shows that “middle- and upper-class parents have much higher levels of involvement than lower-class parents” supporting Lareau’s theory. 

Why is there Stratification?

There is no clear or definite answer to this question, but there are possible theories to explain this phenomenon. While it may be easier to accept the existence of stratification because that is how it has always been, we must look at the possible social forces driving these systematic inequalities. Here are a few examples:

Functionalist Theory

Davis and Moore believe society has different tasks and positions that need to be filled in order for a society to work functionally. There are certain positions that are more important in order to help society function properly. We want these important tasks to be filled by the most qualified people and in order for the most qualified people to take on these important roles, society must reward and motivate these individuals. A functionalist would argue stratification exists in the educational system because we need a variety of different jobs that need varying levels of education and skill. A doctor’s job might require a higher level of education than garbage men, but each occupation is absolutely necessary for society.

The Conflict Theory

Stratification in school systems exist because there is a surplus of resources. These resources are divided unequally and thus produce stratification. This is evident in the way income is distributed in the U.S. The majority of the resources are held by the upper class, which makes up the smallest group of the United States. This is why it is mostly the upper class that can afford to attend private schools. Most lower class and some middle class families are unable to attend  private schools because they lack the income and resources to attend due to the private school’s steep tuition rates.