Cornelia Kristen  
 

School Choice and Ethnic School Segregation

 vergrößerte Ansicht in neuem Fenster    
  Primary School Selection in Germany  
   
Internationale Hochschulschriften, Bd. 437		  
  208 p., Münster, Waxmann, 2005  
  ISBN: 3-8309-1447-4  
     

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Table of Contents

About the author

 

Abstract :

This publication explores the origins of ethnic school segregation. More specifically, it studies individual school choice processes and how they contribute to segregation. Cornelia Kristen develops a general explanatory approach to school choice behavior and applies the theory to the German elementary school system. By means of a quantitative survey conducted in the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia, she shows why families of Turkish origin make different school selection decisions from German families. The book reveals which general mechanisms lead to the emergence and persistence of ethnic and social stratification.

Table of Contents:

1 Introduction      
1.1 Research Problem    
1.2 Why Ethnic School Segregation?    
1.3 Basic Considerations    
1.4 Research Design    
1.5 Structure of the Contribution    
2 Ethnic School Segregation      
2.1 A Description of the Phenomenon    
  2.1.1 School Choice at the German Elementary School Level  
  2.1.2 Ethnic School Segregation in a German City  
2.2 Residential Segregation and School Choice Decisions    
  2.2.1 A General Illustration  
  2.2.2 Application to the German Example  
3 Theories of School Choice      
3.1 Main Aspects of School Choice Research    
3.2 Theoretical Approaches    
  3.2.1 The Theoretical Background of School Choice Research  
  3.2.2 Theories of Educational Decisions  
  3.2.3 The SEU Framework as the Basis for Modeling School Choice  
4 School Choice as a Sequential Process      
4.1 The Need for Specification    
4.2 A Sequential Framework for School Selection Decisions    
4.3 Application of the Sequential View to the German Situation    
5 The Perception of Alternatives      
5.1 Distributions at the Perception Stage and School Segregation    
  5.1.1 Ethnic Distributions at the Perception Stage  
  5.1.2 Implications for Ethnic School Segregation  
5.2   The Perception of Alternatives  
  5.2.1 A Perception Model  
  5.2.2 Perception Mechanisms and their Separating Effects  
    5.2.2.1 Differences in the Distribution of Relevant Resources
    5.2.2.2 Differences in Goals
    5.2.2.3 Application to the Perception Stage
5.3 Empirical Study    
  5.3.1 Data Limitations  
  5.3.2 Differences between Turkish and German Families  
  5.3.3 Family Resources and the Different Perception Routes  
  5.3.4 Ethnic Differences in Information Resources  
  5.3.5 Summary of Empirical Results  
6 The Evaluation of Alternatives      
6.1 Distributions at the Evaluation Stage and School Segregation    
  6.1.1 Ethnic Distributions at the Evaluation Stage  
  6.1.2 Implications for Ethnic School Segregation  
6.2   Evaluating Alternatives and Selecting a School  
  6.2.1 A School Choice Model  
  6.2.2 School Choice Mechanisms and their Separating Effects  
    6.2.2.1 Differences in the Distribution of Relevant Resources
    6.2.2.2 Differences in the Productivity of Alternative Schools
    6.2.2.3 Preferences for Segregation
6.3 Empirical Study    
  6.3.1 Family Resources and the Different Selection Routes  
  6.3.2 Differential Productivity or Preferences for Segregation?  
  6.3.3 Summary of Empirical Results  
7 School Access      
7.1 Distributions at the School Access Stage and School Segregation
  7.1.1 Ethnic Distributions at the School Access Stage  
  7.1.2 Implications for Ethnic School Segregation  
7.2   Schools Selecting Students  
  7.2.1 A Student Selection Model  
  7.2.2 Admission Mechanisms and their Separating Effects  
    7.2.2.1 Differences in the Distribution of Access-Relevant Resources
    7.2.2.2 Differences in Alternative Applicants’ Productivity
    7.2.2.3 Tastes for Discrimination
7.3 No Empirical Study    
8 Summary and Conclusions      
   
Appendix  
A The Sample
A.1 Sample Design and Response Rate
A.2 Sample Weights
B Unusual Cases
C Operationalization
C.1 Perception
C.2 Selection
C.3 Admission
   
References  
List of Tables  
List of Figures  

The author:

Cornelia Kristen conducted the research presented in this contribution at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), Germany, and at the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS) in Groningen, the Netherlands. She is currently engaged in postdoctoral research (wissenschaftliche Assistentin) at the University of Leipzig, Germany.