The Blackwell Companion to Sociology (85 page)

ment. Finally, peers affect a student's tendency to engage in deviant behavior,

to be truant, and to drop out of school.

Effects of Organizational Context on School Outcomes

A few studies have examined the effects of the formal organization of the school or classroom on student cognitive and social outcomes. Bossert (1979) found

that an elementary school classroom in which student competition was stressed

had a wider achievement distribution than a classroom in which cooperative

activities were encouraged. Schofield and Sagar (1977) showed that when

middle-school classrooms were detracked, blacks and whites were more likely

to mix socially. The organizational effects on student achievement observed in

these studies are attributed to the influence of normative and comparative

reference groups, though these mechanisms are not tested directly.

Studies also show the effects of the organization of a school or classroom on

student peer relations and friendships. Students assigned to the same class or

ability group are exposed to the same curriculum, share academic experiences,

and usually work together on common projects. The propinquity and similarity

imposed by membership in the same ability group encourages friendship. More-

over, student friendships that form within the boundaries of an instructional or social grouping in school are more likely to endure than those that form across

organizational units.

Several empirical studies demonstrate how school and classroom context

affect the likelihood that students become and remain friends. Hallinan

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367

and Sorensen (1985) found that assigning students to the same ability group

increased the likelihood of their becoming friends and of forming cliques. In

another study, Hallinan (1976) demonstrated that student-centered classrooms

that encouraged student interaction had a less hierarchized distribution of

friendship choices and fewer social isolates and sociometric leaders than

teacher-centered classrooms with little student interaction. Similarly, Felmlee

and Hallinan (1979) found that the greater the amount of peer interaction in

a classroom, the more uniformly distributed are the students' friendship choices.

Organizational features of schools affect the likelihood of cross-race as well as same-race friendships (Hallinan and Teixeira, 1987; Hallinan and Williams,

1987, 1989). The interpersonal mechanisms that lead to same-race friendships,

including propinquity, similarity, complementarity, and reciprocity, also govern cross-race friendships. Students of different races are more likely to become

friends when they belong to the same group. In addition, when a school climate

supports cross-race friendships and encourages cooperative behavior, and when

school practices and policies reward students with various talents from all racial groups, cross-race friendships are likely to form. Hence, racially mixed academic or social groups are likely to promote cross-race friendships, while more segregated groups are likely to deter them.

Effects of School Climate on Student Outcomes

In one of the earliest studies of the effects of school climate on behavior, Coleman (1961) described a strong adolescent subculture in which boys esteem

athletics, girls value beauty, and both respect academic achievement. Athletes,

cheerleaders, and high academic achievers were more popular than their peers.

The adolescent subculture affected pupils' self-image and achievement. Cusick

(1973) portrayed a large public high school in which several cliques with

different subcultures coexisted and exerted differential effects on student aca-

demic performance.

Following these studies, a number of survey analyses were conducted to

examine the effects of school climate on student achievement. In the aftermath

of mandatory school desegregation, researchers examined how the racial com-

position of a school (viewed as an indicator of academic climate or social class) affected student outcomes (for reviews of early empirical studies, see Spady,

1973; Crain and Mahard, 1978). The findings typically showed that black

students attained higher achievement in majority white schools. Other studies

show that the normative climate of a school, referred to as `ènvironmental

press'' (Thistlewaite and Wheeler, 1966), influenced a student's aspirations,

achievement, college plans, and career goals. In general, the research indicates that the stronger the academic climate of a school, the higher the academic

outcomes.

While the interest of researchers in contextual effects on student outcomes

declined in the 1980s and early 1990s, a study of public and private schools

refocused attention on context as a socializing agent. In a comparison of public and private school achievement, Coleman et al. (1983) found that Catholic

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Maureen T. Hallinan

school students had higher academic achievement than public school students.

Attempting to explain this Catholic school advantage, Bryk et al. (1993) ana-

lyzed both survey and observational data on Catholic schools. They concluded

that the higher achievement of Catholic school students was due to a supportive

communal school atmosphere, a common academic curriculum, and high educa-

tional expectations for all students.

Bryk et al. argue that Catholic school students participate in a voluntary

community which provides personal support from peers who share a common

commitment to the school's mission of working for social justice and the com-

mon good. This commitment leads students and teachers to attach greater value

to education than they would if they were in a school without a communal

environment and shared mission. Bryk et al. claim that any school that empha-

sizes community values and/or provides a moral or ethical context should

improve student learning. Their study should motivate further research on

how school context affects student behavior in order to identify ways public

schools might create a community environment more supportive of students and

of the school's educational goals.

In general, conceptualizing the school as a formal and informal organization

has yielded a rich body of research that explains how schools operate in society.

The theoretical ideas that motivated empirical research on organizational char-

acteristics of schools and their effects on students' cognitive and social behavior provided an intellectual coherence to this research and allowed systematic progress to be made. This research tradition remains one of the most robust in the

field of sociology of education.

Transition from School

School to Work

Since the main function of schooling is to prepare students to live effectively in adult society, the transition from school to work is of central interest to sociologists of education. The study of this transition has developed along two parallel lines. One body of research examines characteristics of US schools and the US

labor market and how they facilitate or constrain the transition process. The

other body of work compares the structural and organizational features of

schools and the labor market in different countries and investigates how institutional differences across countries lead to variation in students' post-secondary opportunities.

Research on the transition from school to work may be located in a larger

body of sociological research on social stratification and social mobility. Stratification research has described the hierarchical ordering of occupations and

professions in society and how individuals are channeled into this stratified

labor market. Sociologists of education have contributed to this research by

studying the antecedents of educational achievement and attainment and the

role these educational outcomes play in the process of social mobility.

Stratification and mobility research has concentrated primarily on individual-

level determinants of occupational attainment. In contrast, research on the

Research in the Sociology of Education

369

transition from school to work adopts an institutional perspective and focuses

on the way characteristics of schools and of the labor market channel occupa-

tional opportunities to individuals leaving school and entering the labor force.

The research concentrates on the transition from secondary school to work, but

also examines the progression from higher education to an individual's occupa-

tional destination.

Transition from School to Work in the United States

High school graduates who do not attend college experience high unemploy-

ment, frequent job turnover, and low salaries (Rosenbaum and Kariya, 1989;

Borman, 1991). Fewer than half of all high school students who choose not to

attend college obtain jobs by the time they graduate, and more than half of these students continue to work the part-time jobs they held during high school

(University Consultants, 1978). By the time they are 27 years old, high

school graduates will have experienced approximately 4.5 spells of periods of

unemployment (Veum and Weiss, 1993).

One reason for the difficult transition from school to work in the United States is the fact that the transition lacks structure. Students are not presented with a set of steps that would lead them to employment. In most comprehensive high

schools in the United States, teenagers are offered a wide array of academic,

general, and vocational courses. Schools allow students considerable leeway in

constructing their high school programs. Graduation requirements include com-

pletion of a set of academic courses and a number of electives selected from

across the curricular offerings.

The most definitive preparation for future employment is found in a high

school's vocational program. Many students take one or more vocational

courses out of interest in the area or to prepare for a particular career or

occupation. Vocational programs may include various kinds of on-the-job train-

ing, such as internships, work-study programs, and summer employment. Some

vocational programs lead to licensing in a craft or occupation or award a

certificate of competence in a particular area.

Research shows that vocational training in high school increases the like-

lihood of a student's obtaining a job after graduation and has a positive impact on salary compared to similar students without vocational training (Campbell et

al., 1986; Kang and Bishop, 1986). Nevertheless, only a minority of students

with vocational training work in occupations that utilize their training (Bishop, 1988). Consequently, while vocational training may ease the transition from

school to work for some students, the benefits of vocational education are lost

for those students whose training is not utilized.

Other than vocational programs, schools provide little job preparation

for students. Only 37 percent of American high schools offer job place-

ment services (Arvey and Faley, 1988). These schools tend to focus on in-

school training, such as how to fill out a job application and how to act

during an interview, rather than formal outreach procedures to develop job

openings.

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Maureen T. Hallinan

Similarly, the search of employers for qualified workers is largely unstruc-

tured. Employers seldom seek contacts with high schools to identify qualified

candidates to fill their positions. While employers may require a high school

diploma as a job requisite, the diploma provides little information about a

student's job qualifications. Employers tend to ignore high school grades and

test scores in their recruitment efforts. Lacking critical information about students and their skills and preparation for a particular occupation, employers are not in a position to make the most suitable hire, nor are employment agencies

able to direct students toward appropriate employment.

In the absence of a structured transition from school to work, informal

contacts play a critical role for some students. Granovetter's (1974) classic

research on getting a job has pointed to social contacts as a powerful tool to

expedite a job search. Granovetter showed that weak ties in the form of contacts with acquaintances and casual friends can be more instrumental in a job search

than strong ties with close friends and relatives.

High school counselors and teachers are strategically located organizationally

to link students to future employers. Since US employers typically do not have

mechanisms to request information from high schools to help them identify

prospective employees, information provided informally by teachers and coun-

selors is particularly useful.

Although not many employers utilize informal social contacts in their

search for new workers, those who do benefit from the help they receive. Bishop

(1993) reported that 5 percent of employers have contacts with schools

which, they claim, are a useful source of productive employees. Students

recruited from schools typically obtain higher status jobs (Holzer, 1995) than

those hired from other sources and earn higher salaries (Rosenbaum and Roy,

1996).

The difficulty that high school students have in obtaining their first job is also experienced by students who have had some college education. Only half of the