School Choice or Circumscribed Choice?: A Case Study in Refugee Education in Marketized Systems

• In Event: Dissertation workshop session
  In Special Session: Refugee Education

Proposal

Abstract
This case study seeks to analyze ways in which refugees interact with the social, economic, and political aspects of school choice programs in an urban district located in the Midwest. Employing the vertical case study methodologies that utilize horizontal, vertical and transverse axes this study will compare strategic agents influencing parental decision-making across multiple sites (schools), the international organizations in and during refugee transition to the U.S. and across time and space. (Bartlett and Vavrus, 2014). Interviews, artifacts of recruitment and policy analysis are informative in teasing out the extent to which stakeholders, such as schools, administrative staff, teachers, policy makers, international and governmental organizations, NGOs navigate and negotiate their way through the quasi-market education systems. Across the face of the globe, there have been unprecedented levels of men, women and children who have been displaced and are seeking asylum in the United States from political, economic, or religious persecution (UNHCR, 2016). Those fortunate enough to receive asylum are often relocated to urban cities; wherein, many districts implement some degree of school choice programs. Thus, it follows that a portion of these families may be asked to participate in districts that have adopted a market-lead view of education. The nature of school choice programs requires those participating in them make a crucial educational decision (even one not to participate in school-choice programs). Thus, the conditions of which these decisions are made, the influence of the various interested stakeholders, and the availability of pertinent information remains warrants further exploration.

The purpose of this study is to better understand the types of interactions, both biotic (recruitment programs, neighbors, non-profit organizations) and abiotic (school ranking, state testing data, additional costs), that influence the decision-making process of refugee students and their families regarding school-choice. The questions that drive this study include:
1. Who are the actors/stakeholders involved in influencing decisions regarding school choice for recently resettled refugees?
2. What are the recruitment strategies of varying schools and organizations and how does that translate into practice?
3. How much of this information is considered when making decision? To restate, what are the barriers, if any, to accessing/processing available information for refugee families to make a more informed decision?

Informed by poststructuralist and postcolonial epistemologies and ontologies, I propose to use Actor Network Theory & Path Dependency Theory to determine the extent to which educational choice systems may or may not circumscribe refugee students into certain predetermined pathways. This study will utilize the vertical case study approach, put forth by Bartlett and Vavrus (2014) to investigate how refugee populations navigate school choice program. The vertical case study is most appropriate as a research methodology given the interest of local, national and international actors as it pertains to refugee populations. Of particular interest are the resources (un)available, resources accessed, and the barriers to school entrance/exit. The horizontal axis will compare schools that exhibit large refugee student populations as a reflection of parental choice while controlling for differences in admissions criteria and other structural and institutional barriers. Whereas the vertical axis will examine the influence of international organizations in and during transition to the U.S. Finally, the transversal axis examines the influx of neoliberal ideology across time and space.A recent literature review into this topic revealed much information regarding U.S. school choice programs, but little regarding the process of refugee families make that decision. Therefore, this research will serve to fill that gap in the literature, specifically, how individuals from varying backgrounds, go about obtaining information to navigate school choice programs.