During 1975–2023, scholarship framed schooling as a central site where social structure, culture, and policy intersect to shape learning and opportunity. Analyses of classroom labor and socialization reveal how the hidden curriculum and power dynamics within school practices influence student engagement and teacher work. The literature also traces how credentialism and market logic reform discourse, shaping reforms and debates about professionalization and equity. Methodologically, the field embraces ethnography, policy analysis, and theory-driven critique to illuminate the interplay of culture, class, and economics in education and to guide reforms focused on equity and practice.