Abstract
While urban charter schools often share similar mission statements emphasizing high intellectual standards, challenges, and opportunities for students, little research has directly examined how these missions shape teaching and learning inside the classroom. Building on educational research on neoliberal education reform policies, the distinctions between traditional public schools and charter schools, and the theories of racialized organization and hidden curricula, I investigate the pedagogical practices of an urban charter school that are derived from its mission statement and their impacts on marginalized students. Through three months of fieldwork and interviews with teachers and administrators, I argue that urban charter school missions can serve as a mechanism for imposing a neoliberal and racialized hidden curriculum, perpetuating inequalities, and controlling marginalized students through stringent disciplinary measures.
Type of Work
Thesis - Limited Access
Department or Program
Sociology
Institution
Hamilton College
Degree
Bachelor of Arts
Date of Graduation
5-2024
Faculty Advisor
Mahala Stewart
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Citation Information
Reboredo, Natalia '24, "Inside an Urban Charter School: What are Marginalized Students Learning?" (2024). Hamilton Digital Commons.
https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/soc_theses/88