Experiential Knowledge and Latinx School Enrollment Across Time

• In Event: Schooling Past, Present, and Future: Segregation, School Choice, and Other Issues of Equity

Abstract

Drawing on the conceptual framework of experiential knowledge we examine how Latinx families navigate school choice, highlighting how the process of choosing schools is dynamic for families over time in response to new experiences. Using interviews with a generationally diverse set of 35 Latinx families living across the Dallas metropolitan area we demonstrate that school selection is a dynamic process, often occurring multiple times, and we highlight how families’ gain and leverage experiential knowledge to inform their school enrollment decisions. As families experience new school contexts this shapes whether and how they approach additional school choices. In other words, parents’ experiential knowledge of schools shapes their choice sets, preferences, and actions when it comes to school enrollment.

Authors

• Julia Colleen Campbell Szabo, Rice University
  Presenting Author

• Anna Rhodes, Rice University
  Presenting Author