Producing success : the culture of personal advancement in an American high school /
Demerath, Peter.
Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press,
2009.
The result of four years at Midwestern "Wilton High," this book seeks to understand the merciless, competitive culture of an upper-middle-class American high school, showing the various things parents, students and community members do to secure different kinds of advantages for themselves and their families.
The result of four years at Midwestern "Wilton High," this book seeks to understand the merciless, competitive culture of an upper-middle-class American high school, showing the various things parents, students and community members do to secure different kinds of advantages for themselves and their families.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction: Producing success -- Community, home, and school settings. The Wilton way: middle-class culture and practice -- Parental support, intervention, and policy manipulation -- The role of the school: institutional advantaging -- Student identity and practice. Identities for control and success: the acquisition of psychological capital -- Teaching the "point-hungry" student: hypercredentialing in practice -- Costs of personal advancement. "Generation stress" and school success -- Alienation, marginalization, and incivility -- Conclusions -- Appendix: WBHS 2002 student survey.
Educational sociology
High schools
Academic achievement
Students
Social stratification
Middle class