For decades, charter schools have been promoted as a panacea for increasing competition in the educational marketplace. Supporters argue that increased choice forces neighboring schools to innovate, while opponents contend that charters "skim" students and funds away from traditional public schools (TPS). We test the two differing views…

Automatic admissions policies (AAPs, "percent plans") redistribute college-going opportunities across segregated high schools to diversify college enrollments, increasing opportunities at predominantly minority high schools. If students "game" AAPs by attending schools with increased opportunities, AAPs could alter racial…

We use linked birth and education records from Florida to investigate how the identification of childhood disabilities varies by race and school racial composition. Using a series of decompositions, we find that black and Hispanic students are identified with disabilities at lower rates than are observationally similar white students. Black…

AERA's 2016 theme is an exciting call for educational research that draws on history to inform present challenges and abiding societal dilemmas. In this regard, recent studies of African American segregated schooling have begun to illuminate the vibrancy, resilience, resourcefulness and professionalism that existed in African American school…

This paper examines civic mobilization for school improvement in Rivergrove, a small suburban city within the inner rings of a large Florida metro (All names of individuals, schools, organizations and communities are pseudonyms per IRB agreement with district. Subsequently, references to local media reports and city documents are disguised to meet…

In this reflective essay, the author addresses fellow educators and their responsibility to students on issues surrounding the ongoing struggle for civil rights. She links the integration of Little Rock, Arkansas schools in 1957 with the 2018 student protest against gun violence following the Parkland, FL mass shooting. As a facilitator of…

In this study, I employ geospatial techniques to assess the impact of school attendance zone "gerrymandering" on the racial/ethnic segregation of schools, using a large national sample of 15,290 attendance zones in 663 districts. I estimate the effect of gerrymandering on school diversity and school district segregation by comparing the…

Effective history teaching includes ample opportunities for students to develop historical thinking skills and habits of mind which encourage them to learn content beyond simple acquisition of facts. Covering the profound topic of segregation by employing multiple perspectives and encouraging investigation beyond the traditional narrative provides…

This article utilizes "Brown v. Board of Education," which is traditionally taught in college and K-12 history courses as the case that both started the discussion about and ended the practice of segregation in schools, to highlight "testimonios of coalition" as a framework for historical analysis. First, the authors…

During the 2008-09 school year, over 5,000 charter schools operated in 40 states and Washington, D.C. and were attended by over 1.5 million students, or about three percent of the nation's public school students. Although the first U.S. charter schools opened in 1992, debate continues over whether they provide students with a better education than…

A case study of the events precipitating a black student boycott in 1969 in Gainesville, Flordia, when school board manuevering to avoid school integration led to the threatened closing of Lincoln High School, a reputable black community school. Also described are the subsequent transformations of Lincoln into a vocational-technical school and…

An account of the State of Florida's attempts to resist the desegregation mandate of the 1954 "Brown" decision, as initial public school integration did not take place until 1959. (EH)

In 1971-72, desegregation of pupils in Florida schools is approaching totality. Simultaneously, disruption of schools because of interracial friction appears to have increased, though it may directly involve only a small percentage of pupils. Complete integration of schools remains a goal to be sought. (Author)

In this article, the author describes how he was born in 1954, just four months after the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision outlawed the "separate but equal" doctrine of school segregation. He discusses how that fact has shaped his life immeasurably. Beginning with entering the world in Tallahassee, Fla., where his…

The history of public higher education for African Americans in Florida provides an excellent opportunity to examine American institutional and political dynamics. Following World War II, Florida public higher education expanded dramatically, while at the same time, state leaders maintained racial segregation well after "Brown v. Board of…