Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian Americans are entitled to equal access to all institutions of higher education. Ensuring greater access and participation by minorities in higher education is one of the most practical ways of moving America closer to the ideal of equal opportunity, which is the actualization of the American dream.…

U.S. postsecondary education has enjoyed a strong history for more than 350 years but at the present time faces uncertainties never experienced in the past. American higher education enjoys the greatest diversity of students in its history and grants degrees to an ever-increasing number of students. Accountability for student learning outcomes as…

California's three-tier public postsecondary system is meant to provide equal access to higher education for all students in the state. Yet even though Latina/os will soon make up the majority of students in K-12 education, the enrollment of Latina/os in the state's postsecondary institutions remains low. When compared to the percentage of…

Equity in education relies on equal access to learning experiences and fair play during those experiences. Too often policy makers, voters and even some educators define equity only in terms of equal access. Equity is less about the same treatment for all and more about holding everyone to the same high standards and high expectations. All…

During the last 35 years, the right-to-education movement and the standards-based educational reform movement have merged to impact reading research and practice. In the process, equal access to education has become a reality for minority students and students with disabilities. The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001 and the…

Over the last 50 years, the United States Supreme Court has made several rulings that have had lasting effects on the American public educational system. But no ruling has been more influential than the "Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas," decision the Court handed down in 1954. 2004 marked the fiftieth anniversary of this…

Changes in affirmative action policies in some states create possibilities for "natural experiments" to observe the effect of public policy on racial and ethnic inequality in American society. This study measured the impact of Initiative 200, a ballot measure that eliminated affirmative action in Washington State, on the transition from…