Inequality in Gifted and Talented Programs: Parental Choices about Status, School Opportunity, and Second-Generation Segregation (Palgrave Studies in Urban Education)

"Inequality in Gifted and Talented Programs examines the relationship between gifted and talented (G & T) education, school choice, and racialized tracking within New York City elementary schools. Roda examines parental attitudes around placing their children in a racially diverse elementary school with segregated G & T and General Education programs"-- Provided by publisher "Inequality in Gifted and Talented Programs examines the relationship between gifted and talented (G & T) education, school choice, and racialized tracking within a New York City elementary school. This qualitative case study draws on in-depth interviews with a diverse group of parents who have children enrolled in G & T, General Education (Gen Ed), or both. In the book, Roda uses a unique theoretical lens to probe the role of boundaries in maintaining privilege and navigating the negative stigma of the Gen Ed label. The findings show that white, advantaged parents strive for the majority white G & T program despite the seemingly paradoxical attitudes they have about 'diversity' and segregation, their tendency to downplay the distinctions between programs, and the fact that they socially construct the G & T label. Meanwhile, Gen Ed parents of color believe that G & T is used as a tool for segregation, status, and power. By relying on a single test score for G & T admission, Roda asserts that the New York City G & T system creates status distinctions between schools and programs and perpetuates social inequalities"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages I-XVI Introduction Maintaining Their Advantage....Pages 1-25 The Case: G&T Programs Within New York City Schools....Pages 27-54 Striving To Be G&T “Because the People in It Are Just Like You”....Pages 55-73 The Social Construction of Giftedness....Pages 75-97 How Parents Recreate and Reproduce the Boundaries....Pages 99-128 “The Only Thing They Got out of This Is Segregation”: TCS Revisited....Pages 129-154 Conclusion Putting Integration (Back?) on the Education Policy Agenda....Pages 155-166 Back Matter....Pages 167-190