Douglas Downey

Professor Downey’s work reconsiders the role schools play in the stratification system. While most social scientists believe that unequal schools are an important cause of inequality, Downey’s research challenges that position. In his book, How Schools Really Matter, Downey highlights several empirical patterns that suggest that, rather than exacerbating inequality, schools are likely compensatory institutions. At its best, he argues, school reform is a suboptimal way to reduce inequality. At its worst, school reform becomes a distraction from the broader social reform required to really reduce the gap between the haves and the have nots.