Shadowed Beneath Thy Hand: Organizational Capital and the Cultivation of Academic Talent at a Low-Socioeconomic-Status Suburban High School (Poster 2)

• In Event: Social Capital and Social Networks in Education

Abstract

Students from low-socioeconomic (SES) backgrounds often have extenuating circumstances that impede their academic achievement. While many of the factors affecting said students have been concentrated in urban cities, the nation's suburbs have become home to more low-income residents than at any other time in American history (Kneebone & Berube, 2013). Research suggests that suburban schools offering students access to social capital, reverse the disadvantages associated with their status (Galindo, Sanders, Abel, 2017). Southland College Prep High School shows evidence of unusual educational outcomes among low-SES students. This qualitative case study identifies the elements of the school’s social structure and asks: what sources of social capital exist within the school and how that social capital functions to facilitate high achievement.

Author

• Montia D. Gardner, Northside Achievement Zone