School assignment policies are a key lever to increase access to high performing schools and to promote racial and socioeconomic integration. For over 50 years, the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) has bussed students of color from Boston, Massachusetts to relatively wealthier and predominantly White suburbs. Using a…

In this study, we examine eight social and emotional outcomes (e.g., student engagement, sense of belonging) analyzing differences for students who attend racially diverse schools. Drawing on survey responses from roughly 26,000 students, we find that racially diverse schools are associated with more positive social and emotional outcomes for all…

Using a theoretical lens of democratic education, this study critically analyzes pilot schools in the Boston Public School system, a school model gaining influence and imitation around the United States. Building on theories regarding the role of democracy in schools, and especially workplace democracy, this article juxtaposes these conceptions of…

This study analyzes public perceptions of Boston's magnet school program. Typically evaluated in terms of their impact on racial integration, magnet schools also were designed to improve the tarnished image of the Boston school system. While promoting voluntary integration at a handful of schools, the magnet program struggled to change the…

This report reviews the first year of integration, under the implementation of the Six-District Plan, of the elementary schools in Springfield, Massachusetts. Through this plan the school department changed the racial composition in five previously imbalanced elementary schools and integrated the elementary school system. Redistricting, the…

Describes the use of sociograms and computer analysis of sociometric data in order to evaluate the progress of Springfield, Massachusetts, public schools toward racial integration. Also shows how these techniques can be used to encourage racial integration at the classroom level. (GC)

A sociometric instrument assessed the progress of a school system toward integration and provided feedback for teachers. A computer program generated information about classroom social structure, indicating progress in integration in the Springfield public schools. (LHW)

To date, Ohio has not developed a systematic program for ensuring equal educational opportunity. In this paper options available for state policy which would bring about such a program are considered. Information is presented about the legal premises behind desegregation. Legal alternatives to the courts, as well as legal decisions regarding…

This report presents the work of the parents, students, citizens, and educators who developed 22 practically, politically, and financially feasible recommendations whose implementation would have a broad and constructive impact on the availability, quality, and cost of educational service in Massachusetts. Recommendations deal with the…

Studies the relationship between academic achievement and inter-racial friendship development in Springfield (Massachusetts) elementary schools. Concludes that integration suffers because achievement plays an increasingly important role in friendship as a student moves through school. (FMW)

This study examined the influence of racial/ethnic dynamics on the process of social and academic integration. Students of diverse racial/ethnic and academic backgrounds were interviewed throughout their first-year and again at the beginning of their sophomore year about their pre-college and in-college experiences. Results yielded a qualitative…

The complex interactions which led to the implementation of the court-ordered desegregation plans for two cities in Massachusetts involve not only the courts but many levels of government. The school departments, the school committees, the mayors, the State Board of Education, the legislature, the governor, and the citizens of Massachusetts, all…