Dados Bibliográficos

AUTOR(ES) D.A. McFarland
AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) Daniel A. McFarland, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Education and (by courtesy) Sociology, School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, California. His main fields of interest are social networks, interaction, social dynamics, and conflict. He is currently working on four projects that concern the social dynamics of schooling: (1) actors' use of discursive tools to mobilize and rewire networks in classrooms, (2) sociocultural analysis of network dynamics using adolescents' interpersonal notes, ...
ANO 2006
TIPO Artigo
PERIÓDICO Sociology of Education
ISSN 0038-0407
E-ISSN 1939-8573
EDITORA Annual Reviews (United States)
DOI 10.1177/003804070607900301
CITAÇÕES 14
ADICIONADO EM 2025-08-18
MD5 1f7bd4810b6ee5cb0ed371571c19ac89

Resumo

What do course trajectories look like? Do career paths intersect? Do courses assume distinct roles in educational careers? What factors lead students to adopt various curricular moves? This article addresses these questions by examining the structure and dynamics of participant flows across courses in two high school math curricula. Drawing on Markov models and network analytic methods, it examines the length, rate of progression, volume, and direction of multiple trajectories in math and identifies certain courses as important career turning points. The findings suggest that schools can design a variety of mobility systems by altering course offerings, prerequisites, and grading policies. Analyses of individual curricular moves show that nonsanctioned moves, such as leaving school, are guided by students' background characteristics, while sanctioned moves, such as course transitions, are guided primarily by structural constraints and adaptations to signals about classroom performance.

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