Gentrification and Parent Engagement in an Urban School Community: A Study of Scoieoeconomic Disparity in Philadelphia
Open Access
Author:
Rothrock, Angela Renee
Graduate Program:
Educational Theory and Policy
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
July 12, 2017
Committee Members:
David Alexander Gamson, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Erica Frankenberg, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Mindy L Kornhaber, Committee Member David Alexander Gamson, Committee Member B. Stephen Carpenter, Outside Member
Keywords:
Gentrification urban education education policy
Abstract:
This dissertation contributes to a growing research focus on interactive effects of urban housing and education policy within gentrifying urban neighborhoods. Interviews with middle-class and working-class parents from a gentrifying neighborhood enclave in Philadelphia, along with demographic data from the school and school catchment zone have been analyzed with a theoretical framework of social practice to form an understanding of class-based differences in engagement and marginalization within this social sphere. Although an influx of middle-class parent engagement in the school community results in increased resources for all students, pre-existing working-class families are frequently marginalized within the school community. Furthermore, as a result of increased middle-class participation in economically redeveloping neighborhoods, within district stratification has deepened leaving Philadelphia’s public schools more economically and racially segregated.