Linn Posey-Maddox
Biographic Data
| ID | 180855 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Linn Posey-Maddox |
| GIVEN NAMES | Linn |
| FAMILY NAME | Posey-Maddox |
| SIGNATURE | POSEY-MADDOX L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9193-5930 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 209 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Advantaged Families’ Opportunity Hoarding in U.S. K–12 Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature
A growing body of educational research uses opportunity hoarding as a construct to understand advantaged families’ engagement in K–12 U.S. schooling. Our systematic review of the literature reveals that advantaged parents hoard educational resources and opportunities in three key areas: (1) the creation and maintenance of white space; (2) school choice/selection; and (3) organizational routines. While much can be learned from the extant research,…
Race Lessons: The Role of Place in Shaping Black Parents' Racial Learning and Educational Engagement in a Predominantly White Suburb
While a large body of literature examines Black parents' racial socialization, few studies have employed a sociological lens to explore parents' own racial learning and how it relates to the implicit and explicit messages they send their children. Based on an ethnographic study of Black parents' experiences and educational engagement in a predominantly white Midwestern suburb, this article uses a racial learning framework to examine how Black par…
No Choice Is the “Right” Choice: Black Parents’ Educational Decision-Making in Their Search for a “Good” School
In this article, Linn Posey-Maddox, Maxine McKinney de Royston, Alea R. Holman, Raquel M. Rall, and Rachel A. Johnson examine Black parents’ educational decision-making in the racial and educational contexts of predominantly white suburban districts, majority-Black urban schools with an Afrocentric focus, and racially diverse urban public and private schools. Undertaking a qualitative meta-analysis, they ask, How and why is anti-Black racism sali…
Reframing Suburbs: Race, Place, and Opportunity in Suburban Educational Spaces
Most students in the United States attend suburban schools. However, most education research focuses on urban school districts. This may be in part because many of the core issues that currently drive education research—issues of race and class inequities, social mobility, immigration, English learning—are believed to be “urban” challenges. In this article, we argue that the changing nature of suburban schools and communities, and the history of …
The Changing Terrain of the Suburbs: Examining Race, Class, and Place in Suburban Schools and Communities
Suburban school districts in the United States (U.S.) have experienced major demographic shifts in recent decades and vary substantially in their student populations. More than half of Asian, black, and Latinx students in large metropolitan areas attend suburban schools, and the suburbs are commonly the first destination for new U.S. immigrants. Thus, suburban schools offer the opportunity to study the confluence of race, ethnicity, class, and im…
One Size Does Not Fit All: Understanding Parent Engagement in the Contexts of Work, Family, and Public Schooling
We examined how parents and educators in a low-income school conceptualize parental engagement, and how school, work, and family domains together shape these parties’ practices as well as understandings of how and why parents engage. From interviews with the principal, five teachers, and 17 mothers of children at a Title I elementary school, we observed mothers’ varied approaches to juggling employment and caregiving responsibilities with desires…
Schooling in suburbia: The intersections of race, class, gender, and place in black fathers’ engagement and family–school relationships
Few studies have explored the engagement of fathers in children’s schooling. Understanding the role that black fathers, in particular, play in their children’s education is both important and timely given the persistent opportunity gaps faced by many black students in the US and the influential role that black fathers can play in their children’s academic success. This paper thus explores the experiences and educational engagement strategies of a…
Beyond the consumer: Parents, privatization, and fundraising in US urban public schooling
Given recent budgetary gaps in public education, many civic and educational leaders have relied upon private sources of funding for US public schools, including funds raised by parents. Yet parents’ role as economic actors in public education has been largely unexplored. Drawing from a qualitative study of parent engagement, fundraising, and school change in Chicago public schools, I explore the educational investments of a largely White group of…
Seeking a ‘critical mass’: Middle-class parents’ collective engagement in city public schooling
A growing body of literature has begun to explore the individual identities, motivations, and school choices of middle-class, typically white, parents who choose to reside in socioeconomically and racially mixed central city neighborhoods. Drawing on qualitative research in three US cities, we argue that a focus on middle-class parents’ collective engagement in schooling is particularly important in under-resourced urban contexts. In these enviro…
Fitting it all in: How Mothers' Employment Shapes Their School Engagement
Although incompatibilities between work and home life are well studied, less is known about the implications of employment for another key life role, particularly for working mothers: being a 'school-engaged parent'. Using data from in-depth interviews with 17 employed mothers in a mid-size Midwestern city, recruited from a diverse sample of 95 survey-taking parents, we examined the mechanics of how mothers' employment conditions shaped their inv…
When Middle-Class Parents Choose Urban Schools: Class, Race, and the Challenge of Equity in Public Education
Middle‐Class Parents and Urban Public Schools: Current Research and Future Directions
Middle‐class flight from urban public schools to suburban districts or private schools is a key source of educational inequality. Recently, however, a number of studies have focused on middle‐class and upper‐middle‐class families who have made a different choice, opting to remain in the city and send their children to neighborhood public schools. While the movement of advantaged families into urban public schools has received positive attention i…
Professionalizing the PTO: Race, Class, and Shifting Norms of Parental Engagement in a City Public School
A growing number of parents—particularly middle- and upper-middle-class parents—are working to fill budgetary gaps through their fundraising, grant writing, and volunteerism in urban public schools. Yet little is known about how this may shape norms and practices related to parental engagement within particular schools. Drawing from a case study of an elementary school undergoing demographic shifts in its student population, this article examines…
Middle‐Class Parents and Urban Public Schools: Current Research and Future Directions
Middle‐class flight from urban public schools to suburban districts or private schools is a key source of educational inequality. Recently, however, a number of studies have focused on middle‐class and upper‐middle‐class families who have made a different choice, opting to remain in the city and send their children to neighborhood public schools. While the movement of advantaged families into urban public schools has received positive attention i…
Professionalizing the PTO: Race, Class, and Shifting Norms of Parental Engagement in a City Public School
A growing number of parents—particularly middle- and upper-middle-class parents—are working to fill budgetary gaps through their fundraising, grant writing, and volunteerism in urban public schools. Yet little is known about how this may shape norms and practices related to parental engagement within particular schools. Drawing from a case study of an elementary school undergoing demographic shifts in its student population, this article examines…
Reframing Suburbs: Race, Place, and Opportunity in Suburban Educational Spaces
Most students in the United States attend suburban schools. However, most education research focuses on urban school districts. This may be in part because many of the core issues that currently drive education research—issues of race and class inequities, social mobility, immigration, English learning—are believed to be “urban” challenges. In this article, we argue that the changing nature of suburban schools and communities, and the history of …
One Size Does Not Fit All: Understanding Parent Engagement in the Contexts of Work, Family, and Public Schooling
We examined how parents and educators in a low-income school conceptualize parental engagement, and how school, work, and family domains together shape these parties’ practices as well as understandings of how and why parents engage. From interviews with the principal, five teachers, and 17 mothers of children at a Title I elementary school, we observed mothers’ varied approaches to juggling employment and caregiving responsibilities with desires…
Beyond the consumer: Parents, privatization, and fundraising in US urban public schooling
Given recent budgetary gaps in public education, many civic and educational leaders have relied upon private sources of funding for US public schools, including funds raised by parents. Yet parents’ role as economic actors in public education has been largely unexplored. Drawing from a qualitative study of parent engagement, fundraising, and school change in Chicago public schools, I explore the educational investments of a largely White group of…
Fitting it all in: How Mothers' Employment Shapes Their School Engagement
Although incompatibilities between work and home life are well studied, less is known about the implications of employment for another key life role, particularly for working mothers: being a 'school-engaged parent'. Using data from in-depth interviews with 17 employed mothers in a mid-size Midwestern city, recruited from a diverse sample of 95 survey-taking parents, we examined the mechanics of how mothers' employment conditions shaped their inv…
Schooling in suburbia: The intersections of race, class, gender, and place in black fathers’ engagement and family–school relationships
Few studies have explored the engagement of fathers in children’s schooling. Understanding the role that black fathers, in particular, play in their children’s education is both important and timely given the persistent opportunity gaps faced by many black students in the US and the influential role that black fathers can play in their children’s academic success. This paper thus explores the experiences and educational engagement strategies of a…
Seeking a ‘critical mass’: Middle-class parents’ collective engagement in city public schooling
A growing body of literature has begun to explore the individual identities, motivations, and school choices of middle-class, typically white, parents who choose to reside in socioeconomically and racially mixed central city neighborhoods. Drawing on qualitative research in three US cities, we argue that a focus on middle-class parents’ collective engagement in schooling is particularly important in under-resourced urban contexts. In these enviro…
Race Lessons: The Role of Place in Shaping Black Parents' Racial Learning and Educational Engagement in a Predominantly White Suburb
While a large body of literature examines Black parents' racial socialization, few studies have employed a sociological lens to explore parents' own racial learning and how it relates to the implicit and explicit messages they send their children. Based on an ethnographic study of Black parents' experiences and educational engagement in a predominantly white Midwestern suburb, this article uses a racial learning framework to examine how Black par…
Professionalizing the PTO: Race, Class, and Shifting Norms of Parental Engagement in a City Public School
A growing number of parents—particularly middle- and upper-middle-class parents—are working to fill budgetary gaps through their fundraising, grant writing, and volunteerism in urban public schools. Yet little is known about how this may shape norms and practices related to parental engagement within particular schools. Drawing from a case study of an elementary school undergoing demographic shifts in its student population, this article examines…
When Middle-Class Parents Choose Urban Schools: Class, Race, and the Challenge of Equity in Public Education
Middle‐Class Parents and Urban Public Schools: Current Research and Future Directions
Middle‐class flight from urban public schools to suburban districts or private schools is a key source of educational inequality. Recently, however, a number of studies have focused on middle‐class and upper‐middle‐class families who have made a different choice, opting to remain in the city and send their children to neighborhood public schools. While the movement of advantaged families into urban public schools has received positive attention i…
Beyond the consumer: Parents, privatization, and fundraising in US urban public schooling
Given recent budgetary gaps in public education, many civic and educational leaders have relied upon private sources of funding for US public schools, including funds raised by parents. Yet parents’ role as economic actors in public education has been largely unexplored. Drawing from a qualitative study of parent engagement, fundraising, and school change in Chicago public schools, I explore the educational investments of a largely White group of…
Seeking a ‘critical mass’: Middle-class parents’ collective engagement in city public schooling
A growing body of literature has begun to explore the individual identities, motivations, and school choices of middle-class, typically white, parents who choose to reside in socioeconomically and racially mixed central city neighborhoods. Drawing on qualitative research in three US cities, we argue that a focus on middle-class parents’ collective engagement in schooling is particularly important in under-resourced urban contexts. In these enviro…
Fitting it all in: How Mothers' Employment Shapes Their School Engagement
Although incompatibilities between work and home life are well studied, less is known about the implications of employment for another key life role, particularly for working mothers: being a 'school-engaged parent'. Using data from in-depth interviews with 17 employed mothers in a mid-size Midwestern city, recruited from a diverse sample of 95 survey-taking parents, we examined the mechanics of how mothers' employment conditions shaped their inv…
Schooling in suburbia: The intersections of race, class, gender, and place in black fathers’ engagement and family–school relationships
Few studies have explored the engagement of fathers in children’s schooling. Understanding the role that black fathers, in particular, play in their children’s education is both important and timely given the persistent opportunity gaps faced by many black students in the US and the influential role that black fathers can play in their children’s academic success. This paper thus explores the experiences and educational engagement strategies of a…
The Changing Terrain of the Suburbs: Examining Race, Class, and Place in Suburban Schools and Communities
Suburban school districts in the United States (U.S.) have experienced major demographic shifts in recent decades and vary substantially in their student populations. More than half of Asian, black, and Latinx students in large metropolitan areas attend suburban schools, and the suburbs are commonly the first destination for new U.S. immigrants. Thus, suburban schools offer the opportunity to study the confluence of race, ethnicity, class, and im…
One Size Does Not Fit All: Understanding Parent Engagement in the Contexts of Work, Family, and Public Schooling
We examined how parents and educators in a low-income school conceptualize parental engagement, and how school, work, and family domains together shape these parties’ practices as well as understandings of how and why parents engage. From interviews with the principal, five teachers, and 17 mothers of children at a Title I elementary school, we observed mothers’ varied approaches to juggling employment and caregiving responsibilities with desires…
No Choice Is the “Right” Choice: Black Parents’ Educational Decision-Making in Their Search for a “Good” School
In this article, Linn Posey-Maddox, Maxine McKinney de Royston, Alea R. Holman, Raquel M. Rall, and Rachel A. Johnson examine Black parents’ educational decision-making in the racial and educational contexts of predominantly white suburban districts, majority-Black urban schools with an Afrocentric focus, and racially diverse urban public and private schools. Undertaking a qualitative meta-analysis, they ask, How and why is anti-Black racism sali…
Reframing Suburbs: Race, Place, and Opportunity in Suburban Educational Spaces
Most students in the United States attend suburban schools. However, most education research focuses on urban school districts. This may be in part because many of the core issues that currently drive education research—issues of race and class inequities, social mobility, immigration, English learning—are believed to be “urban” challenges. In this article, we argue that the changing nature of suburban schools and communities, and the history of …
Race Lessons: The Role of Place in Shaping Black Parents' Racial Learning and Educational Engagement in a Predominantly White Suburb
While a large body of literature examines Black parents' racial socialization, few studies have employed a sociological lens to explore parents' own racial learning and how it relates to the implicit and explicit messages they send their children. Based on an ethnographic study of Black parents' experiences and educational engagement in a predominantly white Midwestern suburb, this article uses a racial learning framework to examine how Black par…
Advantaged Families’ Opportunity Hoarding in U.S. K–12 Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature
A growing body of educational research uses opportunity hoarding as a construct to understand advantaged families’ engagement in K–12 U.S. schooling. Our systematic review of the literature reveals that advantaged parents hoard educational resources and opportunities in three key areas: (1) the creation and maintenance of white space; (2) school choice/selection; and (3) organizational routines. While much can be learned from the extant research,…
Sociology (12 works) · Parental Involvement in Education (10 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms (6 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (6 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · Middle class (5 works) · Pedagogy (5 works)