This book is a partly quantitative, partly qualitative analysis of public school desegregation in the United States from 1968 to 1980. It is based on racial data (collected for the House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights) released for the first time in this work. Chapter 1, "Regional Trends in School Desegregation," focuses on changes since 1968, first for Black students and then for Hispanic students. The Northeast, it is reported, was the only region in which segregation of Black students increased; in 1980, it had the highest level of any region while in all other regions segregation of Blacks decreased. In contrast, the book reveals, segregation for Hispanics rose sharply in the seventies. Chapter 2, "The Cities and School Segregation," discusses the special situation of large cities: in almost all large metropolitan areas, White enrollment is reported as having declined as Black and Hispanic enrollment increased. Desegregation efforts reportedly were most successful where a metropolitan approach--involving suburbs and central city--was employed. Chapter 3, "Metropolitan Desegregation Patterns," examines metropolitan areas for which areawide data are available. The effects of desegregation plans are considered for the two regions that are best documented, the Southern and Western states. It is found that, unlike in the South, desegregation orders are far from universal in the West, even within central cities. Chapter 4 draws conclusions and makes recommendations regarding policies for data collection and school and housing desegregation. Appended are data indicating school segregation by State (1980), percentage of White and Black enrollment in the nation's largest school districts (1968-80), and technical notes. (KH)