"Equality of Educational Opportunity," also known as the Coleman Report, sought answers to two burning questions: (1) How extensive is racial segregation within U.S. schools?; and (2) How adversely does that segregation affect educational opportunities for black students? In answering the first question, James S. Coleman and his…

Background: The demographic landscape in the United States has shifted dramatically since "Brown v. Board of Education," leading to more complex diversity in many school districts than the diversity contemplated nearly 60 years ago. Desegregation research has shown that countywide districts are better able to maintain diverse schools,…

Purpose: School administrators and policy makers live in a complex, changing policy universe in which there are many competing demands and political pressures. Rarely is there much time to think about sensitive issues of long duration that are not part of the immediate demands they face. This article is about such an issue, a question that will…

The racial achievement gap has persisted in the decades since "Brown v. Board," despite large-scale investment in school reform. Accordingly, some administrators and politicians are reconsidering integration policies as a means of addressing the gap. This study examines one Chicago community's discussion of such integration policy.…

Purpose: This article examines factors that affect school board policy making about student diversity within two southern urban-suburban school districts experiencing changing demographics: Jefferson County Public Schools and the Wake County Public School System. Both districts have a history of voluntary integration efforts, and research shows…

Southern California is facing a demographic transformation that will become characteristic of the nation as a whole in coming decades. In this research, we present a historical review of the region's attempt to address school inequity, recent enrollment and segregation trends, and an investigation of whether segregation still matters. Our results…

Though once a leader in school integration, Massachusetts has regressed over the last two decades as its students of color have experienced intensifying school segregation. This report investigates trends in school segregation in Massachusetts by examining concentration, exposure, and evenness measures by both race and class. First, the report…

Thirty-eight years have elapsed since the "Brown" decision outlawing public school segregation. Part 1 reveals three clearly identifiable periods of judicial development. Part 2 treats unanswered questions and attitudes of school officials pre-"Dowell." Part 3 examines the post-"Dowell" period to the present and…

This report is about the changing patterns of segregation in American public schools through the 2003-2004 school year. It begins by examining the transformation of racial composition in the nation's schools, the dynamic patterns of segregation and desegregation of all racial groups in regions, states, and districts by using data from 1968 until…

An interpretive overview of Georgia's response to the 1954 school desegregation decision is presented. The study, approached historically, concludes that massive resistance to desegregation crumbled in the state in large part due to forces within the state. It is argued that the public's commitment to public education was stronger than its support…