Diverse Families, Desirable Schools: Public Montessori in the Era of School Choice

by Mira Debs

Overview

In Diverse Families, Desirable Schools, Mira Debs offers a richly detailed study of public Montessori schools, which make up the largest group of progressive schools in the public sector. As public Montessori schools expand rapidly as alternatives to traditional public schools, the story of these schools, Debs points out, is a microcosm of the broader conflicts around public school choice.
 
Drawing on historical research, interviews with public Montessori educators, and ethnographic case studies, Debs explores the forces that pull intentionally diverse, progressive schools toward elitism. At the heart of Debs’s book is a thoughtful analysis of the notion of “fit” between parents and schools—an idea that is central to school choice, which is often marketed as an opportunity for parents to find the perfect fit for their kids. By exploring parents’ varied motivations in choosing these schools and observing how families experience—or fail to experience—a “good fit” after having chosen a particular school, Debs makes an original contribution to the literature on school choice and sheds light on the dilemmas entailed in maintaining diversity in progressive charter and magnet schools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682533093
Publisher:	Harvard Education Press
Publication date:	03/09/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Mira Debs is the executive director of Yale University’s Education Studies Program and a lecturer in the Sociology Department. Her research, teaching, and policy interests include school diversity, urban education, school choice, parent involvement, and progressive public schools.

Her research has been published in Cultural Sociology, Nations and Nationalism, and the Journal of Montessori Research and featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Education Week, and the Christian Science Monitor.

In addition to her research in Montessori schools, Dr. Debs taught high school for five years in Boston-area public schools. She is a founding board member of Elm City Montessori School and helped to start Montessori for Social Justice, a grassroots organization of Montessori educators.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 Access and Belonging 1

The Challenge of Creating Diverse, Progressive Schools of Choice

Chapter 2 Montessori for All? 21

Fidelity Versus Flexibility

Chapter 3 The Hidden History of Public Montessori 47

Adaptation, Access, and Exclusivity

Chapter 4 Seeking a "Good Fit" 83

Educator Outreach and Parents' Choices

Chapter 5 Beyond the True Believers 105

The Experiences of Satisfied and Conflicted Families

Chapter 6 The Parent Community 129

Connections and Conflicts

Conclusion 149

Appendix A Best Practices for Equitable and Diverse Public Montessori Schools 157

Appendix B Best Practices for Family Engagement in Equitable and Diverse Schools 161

Appendix C Methodological Appendix 165

Appendix D List of Interviews by Category and Title 181

Notes 185

About the Author 221

Index 223