Identity and Schooling: Some Lessons for the Economics of Education

摘要

This review considers a sociological perspective on students and schools and integrates this perspective into an economic model. This view focuses on variables―identity, social categories, and school ideals―that have been beyond the purview of the economic theory of education. The framework we suggest captures phenomena that could not be explained by standard economic modeling. It easily explains the sequence of events at Hamilton High, the implications of school discipline and changes in the legal status of students, the success of notable school reform experiments such as CPESS and the Comer schools, the tradeoffs in the Shopping Mall High, and arguments of non-economists in favor of school vouchers and charter schools.