Social class discrimination in the schooling process: Myth and reality

Abstract

A recurrent finding is that student's social class is related to school performance (EeUs et al., 1951 ;Heimann and Schenk, 1954;Deutsch, 1960;Coleman et aL, 1966; Fleishmann Report, 1972) and to educational attainment (Folger and Nam, 1967;Spady, 1967;SeweU, 1971, U_S. Bureau of the Census, 1973 Treiman and TerreU, 1975). A variety of causative factors have been suggested. This paper will explore only two: social class bias of school personnel and the relationship of the meritocratic ideology of the schools to the opportunity structure of the American society. Studies of teachers" classroom behavior and the assignment of students to ability and curriculum tracks will be reviewed in an attempt to demonstrate that social class discrimination in the schooling process is both myth and reality. It will be argued that the lower class student suffers at several key points in the schooling process, not because of criteria applied in a biased manner, but because of the nature of the criteria used to make decisions and the negative consequences that disproportionately affect lower class individuals when they are applied. These class-related criteria are discussed as affecting lower class students' opportunities during their school careers and as extending beyond the school to limit their opportunities for postsecondary education and their rewards in the labor market. Meritocratic criteria are then discussed in terms of their role in perpetuating, rather than reducing, educational and economic inequality. SOCIAL CLASS BIAS IN THE SCHOOLSLooking first at classroom behavior studies, differential classroom treatment by social class has been studied for some time. Davis and Dollard (1940) reported that lower class children received a majority of teacher criticisms, whereas more teacher rewards went to upper status children. Clifton (I 944) noted that teachers in areas of high status had slightly more "highly integrative" contacts and slightly fewer conflict contacts with their pupils than teachers in other areas. More recently, Friedman and Friedman (1973) found that significantly more total reinforcement went to middle class than to lower class children in the fifth-and sixthgrade classes observed.

Hispanic Employment and the Holland Typology of Work

“…In a study using national data, Fligstein and Fernandez (1985) found that both Hispanic and White students who attended schools having a high percentage of Hispanics were more likely to have experienced grade delay and to drop out of school. Other studies have shown that Hispanic students are very often "tracked" in high school general or vocational programs, and very rarely placed in college preparatory programs (Amato, 1980;arum, 1986). This practice places Hispanic students at a clear disadvantage because most public high school students in vocational programs do not meet admissions requirements for four-year colleges.…”