Riverfront Girls Making the Transition to High School

Abstract

The purpose of this one-year ethnographic study was to explore and make meaning of the "lived reality" of white working-class girls from Riverfront who are at risk for dropping out as they make the transition from eighth grade to ninth. The focus on white working-class girls from Riverfront, a deindustrialized neighborhood in the Northeast, reflects the fact that they are one of the many subgroups vulnerable to dropping out. While large quantitative studies are providing us with information abut who drops out, when they drop out, and the "official" reason based on school codes, the voices and views of students are glaringly absent. This study provides an in-depth account of seven girls as they make the transition to high school, employing the methodology and analytic techniques of ethnography. Situated in the context of class, the study explored how these girls and their families made decisions, and investigated their beliefs, feelings and behaviors during this critical year. The study found that the girls' lives and educational experiences sharply diverged after they left their neighborhood elementary school and spread out to various high schools. The girls who attended magnet and other selective schools increased their chances to realize their potential as these schools were far superior in terms of offering students curricular, pedagogical and environmental advantages that would prepare them for higher education and well-paying jobs. In contrast, the girls who went to neighborhood schools further increased the likelihood that their economic position would remain stagnant, as the schools they attended were poorer in every respect from teacher quality to curriculum and classroom environment. While the neighborhood negatively impacted the education of these working-class girls, the influence of their families varied. Families that had social and cultural capital transmitted many advantages to their daughters, while the poorest and most socially excluded families unwittingly perpetuated poorer life outcomes for their daughters.