In 1963 and 1964, organizers in Boston held Freedom Stay-Outs--one-day school boycotts-- to protest the neglect of predominantly Black schools from the Boston School Committee, the governing body of the Boston Public Schools. Boycotting students attended Freedom Schools, where they learned about Black history and discussed issues facing Black…

Chicago's magnet schools were one of the nation's earliest experiments in choice-driven school desegregation, originating among civil rights advocates and academic education experts in the 1960s and appearing at specific sites in Chicago's urban landscape during the 1970s. The specific concerns that motivated the creation of magnet schools during…

While some state and local education agencies may raise concerns over shifting legal principles and political apprehension in pursuing strategies that integrate students across race, socioeconomic status, and other factors, the changing demographics warrant serious inquiry into integration opportunities. This paper surveys the landscape of K-12…

More than ever before, social science research identifies an array of academic and social benefits for students stemming from learning in integrated educational settings, which is even more beneficial for younger students. While some state and local education agencies may raise concerns over shifting legal principles and political apprehension in…

Last summer, the Supreme Court declared voluntary student assignment plans to racially integrate the public schools in Louisville, Kentucky, and Seattle, Washington, unconstitutional by a 5-4 majority. This was a landmark ruling for public school integration and civil rights; the "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School…

The November 13, 2009 Conference of the National Coalition on School Diversity brought together more than 300 people from across the nation. This included parents, teachers, school administrators, local and state elected leaders, long time civil rights advocates, community organizers, and government officials. Participants engaged in a…

This article explores the legacies of the 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" Supreme Court decision within the historical context of race relations in the United States. The pursuit by African Americans to exercise their rights of citizenship is described as influenced by the changing face of fear. The Supreme Court decisions that…

Background/Context: Most narratives of Brown v. Board of Education primarily focus on integrated schooling as the ultimate objective in Black people's quest for quality schooling. Rather than uniformly assuming integration as Black people's ideological model, the push by Black people for quality schooling instead should be viewed within the…

American schools, resegregating gradually for almost two decades, are now experiencing accelerating isolation and this will doubtless be intensified by the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. In June 2007, the Supreme Court handed down its first major decision on school desegregation in 12 years in the Louisville and Seattle cases. A…

The purpose of this report is to examine what effect the increase in the number of schools obtaining unitary status has had on the racial balance of schools that were previously under court order. Specifically, the report examines whether levels of integration tend to erode as consent decrees are lifted. To that end, the Commission collected data…

The year 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the landmark "Brown vs. Board of Education" case that put an official end to segregated schooling in the USA. Desegregation has received little attention as of late, yet a number of scholars argue that the work of desegregation is far from being complete in the USA. The aim of this paper is to…

Author Derrick Bell is not alone in wondering why "Brown v. Board of Education" commands such "awe and respect" in a nation where racial and ethnic groups remain separate and unequal in its public schools. Indeed, the ethnic disparities in academic achievement, the resegregation of public schools, and the ever-widening…