Conceptualizing Socioeconomic Segregation

In this chapter, we present a justification for the potential importance of socioeconomic segregation in schools. We present a model for the role of schools in society based on normative theory, in which educational institutions serve to legitimize basic institutions. We then review the extensive research literature on how the capacity of schools to mediate background inequalities, and how socioeconomic segregation may partly explain why schools struggle to do so. This evidence is used to build up a conceptual approach to studying socioeconomic segregation.