Allocation, Choice, and Stratification within High Schools: How the Sorting Machine Copes

• Published in: American journal of education Vol. 99; no. 2; pp. 181 - 207
• Main Author: Delany, Brian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago The University of Chicago Press 01-02-1991; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Administration; California (San Francisco); Case Studies; Curricula; Curriculum; Educational Administration; High School Students; High Schools; Organizational Structure; Resource Allocation; San Francisco, California; Scheduling; School enrollment; School Organization; School year; Secondary school curricula; Social Stratification; Teachers; Urban schools; California (San Francisco)
• ISSN: 0195-6744; 1549-6511
• DOI: 10.1086/443978

This article analyzes the scheduling process in high schools as a study of stratification and of schools as organizations. It examines how students, courses, teachers, and time are allocated and the ambiguities associated with that process. While much previous literature reifies curricular grouping, student plans, and resource allocation, this study finds the scheduling process buffering the schools from environmental uncertainties. Individual student paths through the curriculum are seen as artifacts of managing the school's scheduling process rather than as the result of intentional choice by the school or student. As a result, in the management of curricular choice in many high schools, the processing of clients takes precedence over the delivery of some educational service.