Taken together, recent national education reports imply that public resources should be refocused toward students with acceptable in-school skills, technological head starts, and higher than average incomes. Implementation of such policies will result in further educational inequities, disenfranchisement, and discontent among disadvantaged groups.…

In three linked but separate essays, this book explores how African-American students experience school in a society that has historically devalued their intellectual abilities. It calls for a new understanding of the unique obstacles black students face in American schools and points to a variety of educational practices that can mitigate those…

Numerous interpretation problems currently exist in the statutory and regulatory definition of "handicapped individual." The three-part definition as set forth in section 504 of the 1974 amendments is analyzed, and potential sources of controversy are identified in each section. Possible applications of such a broad definition are…

Examines the concept of damage imagery (as related to damaged black psyches), which was incorporated into strategies for overturning educational segregation. The article argues for a different interpretation of damage based on race, and it raises questions about the contributions of social science to the collective thinking about race and…

Statistics indicate significant disparities between suspensions of White students and of minority group, especially African-American, students. This article argues that school disciplinary action against minority students must be reduced if educational equity is to be attained. A revised classification system for offenses, and in-school suspension…

Forty years after "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" mandated equal education for black students, racial discrimination thrives in public schools. Educators must lead the fight for quality education for black students in racially isolated urban schools and for monitoring the educational offerings provided for minority…

Examines the dual meaning of promise (hope and vow) in relation to "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas," discussing how the two conceptions are implemented in a desegregated school and explaining how multicultural education can help meet the dual expectations of "Brown" as promise/vow and promise/hope. (Author/SM)

Argues that the movement to provide parents with financial incentives to send students to private schools will increase the racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic homogeneity of American schools. Six common assumptions about the positive effects of privatizing education are examined and deemed false. Probable costs of tuition vouchers for private…

Explores reasons for absence of Chicanos in rural sociology. Possible causes include (1) absence of rural-sociology support system for Chicanos; (2) social-class biases and other institutional factors limiting Chicanos' higher-education and research opportunities; and (3) subject-matter limitations and uncertain status of ethnic studies. Suggests…

Increasing alienation and school failure of minorities relates to the decline of minority teachers who provide culturally based approaches compatible with minority student learning needs. African-American teachers understand African-American students' presentation and language styles; their teaching style attends to cultural differences in…

Explores social acceptance of inequality in U.S. education. Views the legitimation of inequality primarily as a product of early stratification in education, such as tracking, and cumulative reinforcement in a cultural context of contests as equality of opportunity. Early levels of schooling are organized as a series of contests. (SLD)

This article reflects on previous articles (EC 624 620-621) that explore how pre-existing structures within the educational system impede the academic achievement of many African-American learners. It urges more educators to be willing to critique school practices and to seek understanding of African American culture in order to alter teacher,…

The first part of this article critiques categorical approaches to special education, overrepresentation of minority children in special education, inclusion and exclusion, and white privilege. The second part of the article describes the potential of multicultural education, transformation, and participatory leadership approaches to address the…

These 12 essays provide insights into how racism demoralizes and debilitates the confidence of all Canadians affected in the educational milieu, especially the young. The writers all unmistakably signal the challenge for change and a renewed commitment to justice and equality. Essays include: (1) "There is a Better Canadian Answer"…

This publication contains a speech on the continuing struggle for equity in education for African Americans presented to the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) by Jean Fairfax when she received the John A. Griffin Award for Advancing Equity in Education. In the speech, Fairfax addressed disagreements within the black community over educational…