Why are English secondary schools socially segregated?

Commentary

“…Now "parents can express a ranked preference for between three and six (depending on the LEA) schools anywhere in England ... [T]he LEA allocates prospective pupils into available places using pre-specified admissions criteria, with the exception of Academies, foundation and voluntary-aided schools which control their own admissions" (Singleton et al, 2011, page 241). Most LEAs favour prospective pupils living close to oversubscribed schools, but formal appeal procedures do operate (Coldron et al, 2010;Singleton et al, 2011). Thus, since the1988 reforms, which were designed to make the allocation process more market driven, ostensibly to enhance educational outcomes and reduce polarisation (Gibbons and Asthana, 2000), and also the subsequent process of academisation, LEAs have become even less appropriate as the spatial unit.…”

“…Socioeconomic segregation within UK schools remains an important research topic given that schools with an overconcentration of pupils from disadvantaged families tend to have lower educational attainment which has a detrimental effect on pupils' life chances (Coldron et al, 2010;Croxford and Paterson, 2006;Gorard, 2009). Debate continues about the measurement of segregation, with recent contributions from Allen and Vignoles (2007); Cheng and Gorard (2010), Gorard (2007;2009;, and Johnston and Jones (2010; about the choice of an aspatial index and Harris and Johnston (2008), Harris (2011;2012), and earlier work by Gibson and Asthana (2000) who assess spatial measures.…”

Making working-class parents think more like middle-class parents: Choice Advisers in English education

“…While middle class parents tend towards being 'privileged/ skilled' choosers (Gewirtz et al, 1995), able to use more extensive agency to access schools with the strongest examination performance and the most middle class peers for their children, working class parents tend more towards ambivalence about choice, rejecting consumerist identities and 'choosing' instead schools which are outside middle class norms of desirability. They are less concerned with aspects of schools such as examination performance, valuing instead those which emphasise inclusion and which focus attention on the less academically able, again ensuring that their children can be educated alongside others 'like them' (Reay and Ball, 1997;Coldron et al, 2010).…”

“…Policy responses to the specific problem of classed school choice experiences in England have involved interventions based on a 'deficit model' of working class parenting (Vincent and Tomlinson, 1997;Coldron et al, 2010), with attempts to challenge working class values and behaviours. A driving feature of 'Third Way' politics has been a belief in the declining importance of class identity (see Giddens, 1991;1994;1998) and an emphasis on individuals' greater degree of agency to make reflexive and emancipatory lifestyle choices.…”

Segregation by poverty in secondary schools in England 2006–2009: a research note

“…Also since Gorard (1997), there has been a long-running academic debate about how to measure segregation, including which indicators and which summary indices to use. This debate is now largely settled (see Coldron et al 2010, for example); the results of Gorard et al (2003) 1 9 8 9 1 9 9 0 1 9 9 1 1 9 9 2 1 9 9 3 1 9 9 4 1 9 9 5 1 9 9 6 1 9 9 7 1 9 9 8 1 9 9 9 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 9…”