Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"In
Defining Student Success, Nunn demonstrates that she is a careful and nuanced writer who brings life and character into her discussion of how ideas about success are negotiated within the schools she studied." -- Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández * author of The Best of the Best: Becoming Elite at an American Boarding School *
"Beautifully done. Lisa Nunn deftly shows how particular high schools refract American ideals of merit, hard work, and intelligence in ways that encourage some students toward elite colleges and nudge many others toward alternate futures. Nunn’s careful ear and sophisticated analysis combine for an especially thoughtful sociology of aspiration." -- Mitchell Stevens * Stanford University *
"This book provides readers with a valuable framework for understanding the enculturation of academic values in different types of secondary schools. The volume’s rich descriptions and structured comparisons allow for thoughtful deliberation of what would be an optimal school message and mission for adolescents with different backgrounds, academic abilities, and aspirations. Recommended." * Choice *
"Overall,
Defining Student Success is itself a success.Lisa Nunn has written a book that is theoretically grounded, empirically detailed, and fills important gaps in what we previously knew about the relationships between institutions, student identity, and education." * American Journal of Sociology *
"In
Defining Student Success, Nunn demonstrates that she is a careful and nuanced writer who brings life and character into her discussion of how ideas about success are negotiated within the schools she studied." -- Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández * author of The Best of the Best: Becoming Elite at an American Boarding School *
"Beautifully done. Lisa Nunn deftly shows how particular high schools refract American ideals of merit, hard work, and intelligence in ways that encourage some students toward elite colleges and nudge many others toward alternate futures. Nunn’s careful ear and sophisticated analysis combine for an especially thoughtful sociology of aspiration." -- Mitchell Stevens * Stanford University *
"This book provides readers with a valuable framework for understanding the enculturation of academic values in different types of secondary schools. The volume’s rich descriptions and structured comparisons allow for thoughtful deliberation of what would be an optimal school message and mission for adolescents with different backgrounds, academic abilities, and aspirations. Recommended." * Choice *
"Overall,
Defining Student Success is itself a success.Lisa Nunn has written a book that is theoretically grounded, empirically detailed, and fills important gaps in what we previously knew about the relationships between institutions, student identity, and education." * American Journal of Sociology *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: Three High Schools with Three Distinct Ideas about School Success
1. Alternative High: Effort Explains School Success
2. Fearing Failure at Alternative High
3. Comprehensive High: Effort Is Helpful, but Intelligence Limits School Success
4. Separate Worlds, Separate Concerns: AP versus “Regular” Track at Comprehensive High
5. Elite Charter High: Intelligence Plus Initiative Bring School Success
6. Competitive Classmates at Elite Charter High
7. Beyond Identity: Consequences of School Beliefs on Students’ Futures
Appendix A: Identity Theory and Inhabited Institutionalism
Appendix B: Methodology: Interviewing Students about Success Identity
Afterword
Notes
Bibliography
Index
