Research undertaken during the 1970s and early 1980s on the education of poor and minority children and young adults in higher education is evaluated in this book. First, an overview is provided of recent research on the development of education for the Mexican-American and Black communities and a framework is established for the education of minority children in terms of community and institutional support for the implementation of legal decisions. Next, the controversy over genetic determination of intelligence among racial groups is analyzed along with the resistance by all races to court-ordered desegregation. The question of whether all Black or predominantly Black schools have provided high quality education is reviewed and variations in per pupil expenditures among schools within the same district are examined. The relationship between desegregation and increased educational achievement, the transformation of simple desegregation into true integration, and the impact of minority public opinion on desegregation and busing are then considered. A special comparative study of Mexican-Americans and Native Americans with respect to ethnic character and assimilation is provided. In the last chapters, research on minority students in higher education is reviewed and some ideas about the future of equal education are offered. (RDN)