Tigerle, could you be more specific about what exactly you see as the problems with classrooms and/or schools with a high proportion of low SES? What exactly are the characteristics that are the problem? The answer can't just be that "low SES" itself is the problem. It has to be other things, and these other things need to be made explicit.
Oh, absolutely. Though only if I may refer you to the research - this is not what *I* see as the problems, though I see them playing out in schools, of course. And I may not have them all at the tip of my tongue, so take these as examples. This isn't rocket science though, a lot of it is a no brainer and perfectly familiar to very one here - after all, this is how parents have always selected "good" schools.
There are peer effects, mostly vocabulary: high SES peers, due to early childhood exposure, bring a much bigger and more sophisticated vocabulary to the classroom - however, the low SES peers can only benefit if the classroom discussion is at the level of their higher SES peers, hence the need for the majority. Also, the more motivated and well behaved peers there are, the better the classroom atmosphere and the more learning Is going on. Ability cannot rub off, but motivation and behaviour can - if there is peer pressure from a majority! All of this works the other way round, too, after all.
There are teacher effects: higher expectations in higher SES schools, educated parents who keep teachers on their toes (also a parent effect, if you will). Parents who expect achievement from their children, creating an atmosphere in which learning is valued. Effects specific to school systems, such as availability of AP classes children may strive for, or, in a tracked system like mine, striving for placement in higher tracks. I think in another thread there was the example of kids in low SES schools not being aware that the needed to take the SAT in order to apply to a elective college - impossible in a higher SES school. There is also extensive research that even high achieving low income kids from low SES schools may not apply to selective colleges over community colleges or for profit schools, though they do much better if they do.
All of this is cultural - there are also financial effects when higher SES schools have better resources, but these can be compensated for and sometimes are. The cultural effects that middle and high SES families have on schools cannot be recreated easily.
I'm sure there's more, but you get the drift.
Of course, whether to turn this into a policy as opposed to let every family scramble for the highest SES school they can access, is a political question. I like the idea that every child deserves a school that has a culture conducive to learning, just as every child deserves to be taught at their level. No child should go to a particular school or be in a particular classroom so that other children can learn better. However, I think quotas could be a way to ensure that most (not all) children have to make that trade off.
