In this research brief, we describe and decompose school segregation by race and ethnicity in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, in which we include: the District of Columbia; Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax County in Virginia; and Montgomery County and Prince George's County in Maryland. We find only modest segregation within all but one…

Several contemporary demographic trends suggest that school systems in America's central cities, typically characterized by high levels of racial and economic isolation, are being presented with new opportunities to create quality, diverse schools. Still, numerous obstacles linger. Using multiple sources of data and innovative mapping tools, this…

In 1933, Ethel Thompson Overby became the first African American female principal in Richmond, Virginia. Her motto was "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness" (Overby 1975, 1). Before becoming principal, Overby had been a teacher in the southern urban "de jure" segregated schools of the city. How did the…