Category: Family

Family Work Among the Astors

British Journal of Sociology (2026) Authors: Shamus Khan, Max Besbris, Estela Diaz Abstract: Within classical sociological accounts of capitalism, families are curious remnants of the past. Contemporary elite sociology dismisses the family in a different way: by primarily focusing on individual men. When the family does appear within elite studies, scholars frequently follow a stratification framework, …

Are Neighborhood Effects Explained by Differences in School Quality?

American Journal of Sociology (2023) Authors: Geoffrey T. Wodtke, Ugur Yildirim, David J. Harding, and Felix Elwert Abstract: It is widely hypothesized that neighborhood effects on academic achievement are explained by differences in the quality of schools attended by resident children. The authors evaluate this hypothesis using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study and a diverse set …

The Signaling Power of Unexcused Absence from School

Educational Policy (2023) Authors: Jaymes Pyne, Eric Grodsky, Elizabeth Vaade, Bo McCready, Eric Camburn, Dominique Bradley Abstract: State and national school accountability policies situate preventing chronic absenteeism on par with meeting state standardized test benchmarks. We question relying on school attendance as both a component of accountability policies and a means of enhancing equity in schools. …

Individual Adjustments for Many and Structural Change for Some: Teacher and School Responses to Classed Out-of-School Responsibilities

Children and Society (2023) Authors: Annaliese Grant, Eric Grodsky, Maria Velazquez, Helen Rose Miesner, Elizabeth E. Blair, Lyn Macgregor Abstract: Research on adolescent responsibilities outside of school rarely considers how schools and teachers mitigate the adverse consequences of those responsibilities on academic outcomes. We seek to understand when, and for whom, teachers and administrators accommodate students’ out-of-school …

Instructional Coordination for Response to Intervention: How Organizational Contexts Shape Tier 2 Interventions in Practice

American Journal of Education (2023) Authors: Helen Rose Miesner, Elizabeth E. Blair, Chiara C. Packard, Lyn Macgregor, Eric Grodsky Abstract: This study examines how resources and organizational decisions within seven geographically diverse elementary schools shape instructional coordination for Tier 2 interventions within the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework. This work is part of a larger, multiple-case study examining …

School Disruptions Exacerbated Inequality in High School Completion

Educational Researcher (2023) Author: Ran Liu Abstract: Using school-month-level learning mode data and high school completion rates across three school years from 429 Wisconsin public high schools, this study examines the impact of disruptions to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic on high school completion rates, with a focus on socioeconomic disparities. Findings reveal that a …

Egalitarian Penalty or Reward? A Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Gender Attitudes and Adulthood Income

Social Science Research (2024) Authors: Yi-Lin Chiang and Ran Liu Abstract: Studies often attribute the persistent gender pay gap to different labor force experiences between men and women. Yet, attitudes formed in earlier life stages also critically shape individual outcomes. Using longitudinal data from Taiwan, this study examines whether and how adolescents’ gender attitudes are related to …

The Gendered Patterns and Impacts of Teacher-Student Interactions: Highlighting Cross-Subject Dimensional Comparison

British Journal of Sociology of Education (2025) Author: Ran Liu Abstract: Teacher-student interactions (TSIs) are crucial in shaping student learning attitudes and outcomes. Current literature primarily focuses on within-subject TSI effects, neglecting potential cross-subject TSI effects and related gender disparities. Using data from Chinese adolescents and extending the dimensional comparison theory, this study examines the within- and …

Synthesizing Intra-Individual and Social Comparisons: How Integrated Comparative Advantage Shapes Math Attitudes and Gender Stereotypes

International Journal of STEM Education (2025) Author: Ran Liu Abstract: Despite gender similarity in math performance, gender disparities persist in math-related attitudes and STEM aspirations among adolescents globally. To disentangle this puzzle, some studies adopt the dimensional comparison theory to investigate the role of intra-individual comparative advantage across academic subjects, while others focus on the role …

Scaling Gender and Sexual Diversity Policies in K-12 Schools

Educational Policy (2023) Authors: Mollie T. McQuillan  Abstract:  As policy debates concerning LGBTQ+ students and staff continue across the American education system, there is not a clear description of the prevalence of local policy protections, even in states with legislative mandates, nor a strong understanding of how to expand reform initiatives. After conducting a document analysis …