Throughout the English-speaking world, and now Western Europe and parts of East Asia, parental choice and educational markets are being seen by politicians and policy advisors as the panacea to problems of low educational standards and social exclusion. This book tests the key assumptions underlying the faith in markets by linking an analysis of…

"Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas" (1954) ("Brown I"), is the United States Supreme Court's most significant ruling on education, if not of all time. In "Brown I", the Court unanimously held that "de jure" racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth…

This paper describes the results of research examining the racial and socioeconomic segregation of public schools in two very different cities, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and Houston (Texas). Factors that explain the degree of racial and economic segregation and the consequences of this segregation for student academic achievement were examined.…

This summary report examines ability grouping and its possible use for in-school segregation in the North Carolina public schools. The report describes the development of concerns among minority parents about the placement of minority children in special education and low-ability classes and the investigation into the issue by a forum of six…

The present research was conducted to determine the relative importance of a variety of background variables and school effects on curriculum assignment in public high schools. The emphasis was on the sociological processes of selection and differentiation within schools, and the role of education in facilitating or blocking social mobility. A…

In this Supreme Court litigation, respondents brought a class action alleging that the Detroit public school system is racially segregated as a result of the official policies and actions of petitioner state and city officials and seeking implementation of a plan to eliminate the segregation and establish a unitary nonracial school system. The…

This study evaluated whether or not there was a compelling educational interest in diversity within the Jefferson County, Kentucky, public schools. High school students (mainly juniors) completed the Diversity Assessment Questionnaire, which asked about their experiences with diversity in their schools and classrooms. It also examined students'…

ANALYSIS OF THE ETHNIC COMPOSITION AND POPULATION MOVEMENTS OF BUFFALO SHOW THAT IT IS A DEMOGRAPHICALLY DECLINING AND HIGHLY SEGREGATED CITY. FOR ANALYTICAL PURPOSES, THE CITY IS DIVIDED INTO THREE MAJOR AREAS--(1) AREA I, HIGH PERCENTAGE NEGRO, (2) AREA II, MIXED POPULATION, AND (3) AREA III, HIGH PERCENTAGE WHITE. SINCE SUBURBS AND A HIGH…

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of governmental actions from 1967 to 1974 to integrate public schools in the nation's cities. Data used were obtained from the Office of Civil Rights and were drawn from school districts in the 100 largest metropolitan areas. The results of this evaluation indicate there are substantial indications of…

In this book, an expanded version of a 1968 special issue of the Harvard Educational Review, contributors discuss the definition of the concept of equal educational opportunity, educational research relevant to the concept, and the policy issues surrounding the achievement of equal opportunity. Included are such topics as the validity of the…

Parochial and other private secondary schools in the United States enroll disproportionately few Blacks. Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore discounted this segregation. However, their analysis of within-district segregation is inappropriate and misleading. If future analysis of an appropriate data set is undertaken, standard analysis-of-variance methods…

This book presents a collection of papers that examine progress since 1954 in achieving racial equality in education and how to most effectively and efficiently achieve the promise of Brown v. Board of Education. The 11 papers are: (1) "Introduction: Assessing the Promise of 'Brown'" (Christine H. Rossell, David J. Armor, and Herbert J.…

This witness appeared for the state of Missouri, which wished to discontinue funding the St. Louis public schools' desegregation efforts, in the areas of school desegregation plans and techniques, surveys and survey methodology, race relations and attitudes, allocation of resources, statistical analysis, and the relationship between school…

This report, submitted during the 1996 Liddell court case on school desegregation in the St. Louis (Missouri) city schools, has been revised. Part 1 analyzes the effects of race on student achievement, using school district data. Part 2 uses national survey data to focus on the effects of race on education, employment, and attitudes. (SLD)

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…