Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Table 1—School profiles
—Continued
East City Area Schools
East Middle School 
is an immense, modern school built within the last 5
years, located in a rapidly growing suburban community. Student achieve-
ment in math and science was average for the state. Close to 90 percent of
the students were white, and under 10 percent were African-American. The
portion of students eligible for free lunches was 7 percent.
East High School
, built about 20 years ago, is a large split-level structure that
was overcrowded; 7 trailers served as an annex to the school proper. Stu-
dent achievement on math and science tests was in the middle range for the
state. White students made up just over 60 percent of the student body, and
nearly a third of the students were African-American. The portion of students
eligible for free lunches was 14 percent.
In Metro City, William Foraker and Mavis Sanders conducted the majority of the
interviews and observations on the topic of schooling and adolescent’s lives. This
work was supplemented by additional fieldwork conducted by other members of
the research team: Douglas Trelfa, Roberta Nerison-Low, and Carmen Maldonado
de Johnson. In East City, William Foraker and Carmen Maldonado de Johnson
were the primary researchers, and in West City, Gerry LeTendre and Sally Lubeck
filled this role. The data from this collection of interviews and observations were
analyzed by Barbara Hofer, who had been involved in the design phase of the
study and who conducted further fieldwork in the primary site following initial
analyses of the data.
The field research includes transcribed interviews with students from 8th through
12th grade, including 49 students from Metro City, 7 from West City, and 6 from
east City. A smaller number of parents were also interviewed: 19 in Metro City,
4 in West City, and 1 in East City. Fifteen teachers were interviewed in Metro
City, 4 in West City, and 3 in East City. The research team also interviewed admin-
istrators, including principals, assistant principals, and curriculum directors; there
were 11 such interviews in Metro City, 6 in West City, and 1 in East City. In addi-
tion, classroom observations, primarily of math and science classes, were con-
ducted in 25 classes in Metro City, in 2 classes in West City, and in 4 classes in
East City. Written material provided by the schools, generally regarding school
policies, curriculum and scheduling, were also included in the analysis.
The adolescents who contributed to this study and their parents, teachers, and
school administrators appeared open and willing to share their views and experi-
ences with us. They were aware, however, that we were researchers from a uni-

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versity, collecting data for a national study, and we do not know to what extent
this may have affected their responses. We met with the participants in class-
rooms, teachers’ lounges, in the hallways, and in homes. Interviews with students
were arranged through principals or teachers; most were conducted individually
or, in a few cases, as group interviews. Principals also recommended parents and
teachers to be interviewed. This process may have restricted our access to a
broader range of students, and within each of the schools we may have been
more likely to have interviewed and observed those most engaged with the
school.
We did not interview students in rural areas, and while our sites were carefully
selected, they cannot be presumed to be representative of all U.S. cities. Within
these limitations, we have provided our best interpretation of the role of school-
ing in the lives of adolescents in the selected communities where we lived during
this period of time.