Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper compares patterns of school enrollment, labor force participation and work intensity among four generational groups of Mexican-origin adolescents with those of 3rd-and-later generation non-Latino white and black adolescents. Consistent with perspectives viewing the school and work orientations of early-generation Mexican-origin youths as influenced by the countervailing pressures of a labor migrant culture on the one hand, and immigrant optimism on the other, I find that school enrollment and labor force participation tend to be more mutually exclusive among these youths, as compared with later-generation Mexicans, whites, and blacks. Early-generation Mexican-origin youth are less likely to pursue school and labor force participation simultaneously. Those not enrolled in school tend to participate in the labor force to a greater extent, and work more intensively than their later-generation counterparts. By contrast, those enrolled in school are likely to participate in the labor force, and work less intensively. In the paper I argue that these findings carry implications for contemporary perspectives of immigrant incorporation.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The majority of research studies on adolescent employment consider the intensity of work (measured by hours of work per week) as single most important dimension of student employment. However, findings concerning the determinants of work intensity patterns among high school students have been inconsistent. It is conceivable that differences in socioeconomic and academic characteristics between schools and not just differences in characteristics of individual students within these schools affect work intensity patterns. Between-school disparities in schools funding, available resources, class offerings, and normative expectations of college attendance, to name a few, may affect both the educational outcomes of students as well as the intensity of their participation in the adolescent labor market. In order to account for the largely overlooked influence of the school environment on employment intensity levels of students, I account for the differences in socioeconomic and academic characteristics of the schools as well as disparities in student characteristics. Preliminary analysis results indicate that between-school variation in socioeconomic characteristics exerts a significant effect on differences in work intensity patterns of students. Individual characteristics of students, both socioeconomic and academic, are found to be significantly related to employment patterns even when school-level characteristics are accounted for.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Notions that teachers’ classroom work often gets decoupled from institutional goals of schooling have long been central to sociological theories of schools’ organizational functioning. Despite the pervasiveness of decoupling arguments, we know comparatively little about how teachers learn to operate within schools’ organizational conditions. In this article, I draw upon data from a longitudinal ethnographic study of college seniors in a teacher education program transitioning from coursework, through student teaching, and into their first jobs as teachers. I focus on the collective routines teacher candidates experience, and how they make sense of their roles in schools – both prospectively and upon entry into the occupation – as they pass through the stages of their transition from student to teacher. I find that new teachers reproduce and reinvent the organizational conditions of schools by developing perspectives which prioritize: 1) ongoing adaptation to individual classroom contexts; 2) a locus of control in the classroom; and 3) having a positive influence on students which may or may not overlap with curriculum standards. I discuss implications for theories of decoupling in schools, teacher education, and understanding relationships between social structure and processes of professional socialization.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper investigates whether charter schools provide more favorable working conditions for teachers than traditional public schools (TPS), as predicted by the theory of market education. The analysis utilizes data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). First, charter schools are matched with comparable TPSs based on multiple variables using propensity score matching method. Then, Hierarchical Linear Modeling are used in comparing the working conditions in charter schools and TPSs.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Bullying is a common problem in schools, however, there is a need for more research concerning why kids bully and how bullying can be prevented. The lack of research has lead schools to adopt ineffective solutions, such as zero tolerance policies (See Coloroso, 2002). Zero tolerance policies practice quick suspension or expulsion of students who violate school polices. This creates further problems by the denial of education, increased dropout rates, increased rate of suspensions and expulsions (Skiba, 2000), and a racially biased impact (Skiba, Michael, Nardo, Peterson. 2000). More importantly zero tolerance fails to address the problems that cause bullying. Therapeutic Jurisprudence (TJ) is a framework for creating more positive policy solutions based on social science research. TJ would reject “zero tolerance” policies that focus only on punishing and do not address the underlying issues. A better approach is that of restorative action (Zehr, 2002). This approach would take into account the well-being of all individuals involved: the bully, victim and school community. Restorative action would be more effective at finding out what is causing this behavior while promoting a positive and safer school climate.