Summarizes plaintiffs' and defendants' opinions in the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) case concerning why some minority students fail TAAS, history of racial/ethnic discrimination in Texas schools, students' opportunity to learn TAAS content, teaching-TAAS alignment, adverse impact on minority students, psychometric integrity, decision…

Considers declining enrollment, White flight, and the fiscal crisis in the public schools. Shows how these factors coalesced in a school-closing suit in Santa Barbara, California, and discusses the implications of the court's decision for Mexican American education in that state. (GC)

Contests the State of Texas argument in the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) case that historical discrimination against African Americans and Mexican Americans is unrelated to their TAAS outcomes. Examines contemporary de facto school segregation, distribution of substandard teachers, and the relationship of these factors to student…

Examines five major assumptions of "first wave" school reform and their negative consequences for Latino and other minority group students. Suggests that the reforms of the 1980s focused on excellence for white college-bound students while ignoring equity issues and the needs of at-risk, culturally diverse students. (SV)

The monograph covers the background, progress, and outcome of the "Castro case," a racial discrimination lawsuit filed in 1982 by a group of Chicano and Black parents and their children against the Phoenix (Arizona) Union High School District alleging that their 94% minority high school was unfairly singled out for closure due to a…

This book includes eight chapters that explore the history and current status of educational "deficit thinking" and its effects on educational policies and practices. Educational deficit thinking is a form of blaming the victim that views the alleged deficiencies of poor and minority group students and their families as predominantly…