Background: This longitudinal study examines the long-term effects on the achievement of students at a diverse suburban high school after all students were given accelerated mathematics in a detracked middle school as well as ninth-grade "high-track" curriculum in all subjects in heterogeneously grouped classes. Despite considerable…

This analysis is about the role of poverty in school reform. Data from a number of sources are used to make five points. First, that poverty in the United States is greater and of longer duration than in other rich nations. Second, that poverty, particularly among urban minorities, is associated with academic performance that is well below…

Article discusses status differentials between student and teacher. (MM)

Summarizes the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to implement the mandate of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, examining traditional tools used in enforcing civil rights laws and reviewing new strategies to promote high quality education, equal educational opportunity, and diversity.…

"Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" called the United States to a new level of moral consciousness. Current efforts to denigrate "Brown" as a failure overlook its effect as a social catalyst for movement toward equality. Six visions of "Brown" examine its contemporary meaning (triumph, aspiration,…

Consistent with the Williams v. California suit, our focus in this article is on educational equity, particularly the interface between equity and school organization. We concentrate on two structural issues, school size and school overcrowding, and one specific school structure, schools-within-schools. We organize the article as an interpretive…

The research literature on urban education has tended to focus on the problems of low-status minority groups, the complexity of urban school systems, and the financing and governance of such systems. Given this focus, the deeper problems and the significant opportunities associated with the condition of urbanicity have not yet been properly…

To understand why women attain higher educational levels than men, this study used participant observation data from a predominantly Hispanic New York City public high school to investigate race(ing) and gender(ing) processes in the high school setting. Results found that both formal and informal institutional practices within schools…

In this article, I use perspective gained from 18 years of experience as an urban public school parent between 1978 and 1996 to provide insights into "Brown" at 50. Through description of two public conflicts over special choice programs in the school districts where my family and I lived during those years, I analyze the emergent issues of…

Introduces a special section comprised of papers presented at a National Research Council workshop. The four papers focus on: what constitutes racial discrimination in education from a social science perspective and from a legal perspective; what empirical data exist on the sources of discrimination and racial differences in educational outcomes;…

Synthesizes the social science research on racially correlated disparities in education, focusing on biological determinism (behavioral genetics); social structure (e.g., reproduction theory and resistance theory); school organization and opportunities to learn (e.g., resources, racial composition, and tracking); family background (financial,…

The paper recapitulates the flow of a 2-day conference on the 40 years since "Brown v. Board of Education," focusing on 2 general-session presentations that examined "Brown" as promise and discussed visions for the future. "Brown" is viewed as a benchmark of American democracy and an opportunity for redemption. (SM)

Discusses the relationship between Chicago's school reform and history, noting implications for current reform: (1) origins of bureaucracy and ascendance of experts and professionals; (2) educational reform as a social movement; (3) race and ethnicity; (4) revitalization of the public sphere; and (5) limits of educational reform. (SM)

Presents a comparative analysis of the U.S. and Indian Supreme Courts' roles in civil rights and preference policies. Despite structural and historical differences, similarities exist in the development of such policies. Both are more concerned with fidelity to constitutional and statutory interpretations than to personal ideological viewpoints.…

In the 1930s, educational leaders in New Mexico turned to the General Education Board (originally created to assist southern African-American students) for philanthropic aid, envisioning reforms geared to the needs of Hispanic students. The board's sponsorship allowed great latitude to some very innovative educators who were sensitive to cultural…