McArthur, Daniel John orcid.org/0000-0002-7310-9897 and Reeves, Aaron (2022) The Unintended Consequences of Quantifying Quality: Does Ranking School Performance Shape the Geographical Concentration of Advantage? American journal of sociology. pp. 515-551. ISSN 0002-9602
Abstract
In this article we investigate whether quantifying school performance can have the unintended consequence of increasing the spatial concentration of advantage. Combining research on residential segregation with the sociology of quantification, we argue that ranking school performance may induce affluent parents to sort into areas with higher-ranked schools. We explore this hypothesis by analyzing linked decennial census data from 1981 to 2011 to examine whether the introduction of league tables measuring school performance in the early 1990s in England affected the spatial concentration of advantage. We find that the introduction of league tables was associated with an increase in the geographical concentration of occupational class. Advantaged households containing children became more likely to move to areas with better-performing schools after the introduction of league tables compared to less advantaged households. Quantifying school quality has the unintended consequence of increasing the geographical concentration of advantage, potentially entrenching inequalities.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Education (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 14 Nov 2022 13:00 |
Last Modified: | 28 Feb 2025 00:08 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1086/722470 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1086/722470 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:193360 |