Many American schools continue to struggle with segregation. This important book tells the story of how two school districts--one a predominantly White and wealthy suburban community and the other a more diverse and urbanized community--were merged into a single district to work toward a solution for school segregation. The authors focus on the…

Polling data routinely indicate broad support for the concept of diverse schools, but integration initiatives--both racial and socioeconomic--regularly encounter significant opposition. We leverage a nationally representative survey experiment to provide novel evidence on public support for integration initiatives. Specifically, we present…

Students in racially and socioeconomically integrated schools experience academic, cognitive, and social benefits that are not available to students in racially isolated, high-poverty environments. As Americans consider the consequences of an education system that increasingly sorts students by race and class, it is also important to recognize the…

While U.S. public education is experiencing an increase in student body size and diversity, there is also an increase in racial and socioeconomic isolation. Participation rates among White students are decreasing as rates among Latine and Asian American and Pacific Islander students increase, and Black student participation rates hold steady.…

While some state and local education agencies may raise concerns over shifting legal principles and political apprehension in pursuing strategies that integrate students across race, socioeconomic status, and other factors, the changing demographics warrant serious inquiry into integration opportunities. This paper surveys the landscape of K-12…

Following the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans public schools underwent a variety of changes including a mass influx of charter schools as well as a demographic shift in the racial composition of the district. Using school-level data from the Louisiana Department of Education, this study examines the extent that New Orleans public schools…

Two separate school districts--a city one and a county one--operated independently in Durham, North Carolina, until the early 1990s. The two districts merged relatively late compared to other North Carolina cities, such as Raleigh and Charlotte. In Durham, residents in both the county and city systems vehemently opposed the merger until the county…

Background/Context: In "Milliken v. Bradley" (1974), the U.S. Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional a metropolitan-wide desegregation plan in Detroit that sought to achieve racial balance in part by busing white suburban students to the city's majority black schools. In a stark departure from "Brown v. Board of Education of…

More than ever before, social science research identifies an array of academic and social benefits for students stemming from learning in integrated educational settings, which is even more beneficial for younger students. While some state and local education agencies may raise concerns over shifting legal principles and political apprehension in…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the latest reauthorization of the country's premier K-12 education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under ESSA state education agencies (SEAs), along with local education agencies (LEAs) and the communities they serve assume significant new responsibilities, ranging from the formulation of…

This study investigated the efficacy of race-neutral student assignment policies following the 2007 Supreme Court decision in "Parents Involved". Highlighting one urban school district--Chicago Public Schools--we examined differences in racial composition at their elite, "selective enrollment" high schools before and after…

This article reports the findings of a multiyear investigation of school district central office directors of diversity and equity in Minnesota, who play an important role in school desegregation/integration policy implementation. Ethnographic and survey data were collected to examine a range of leadership activities and perspectives in…

Based on analyses of 1,622 Hmong adolescents in a large urban school district, we illuminate a positive association between school different-race exposure and Hmong limited English proficient students' reading achievement. However, we also note a negative association of neighborhood different-race exposure with Hmong students from low…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on School Integration and includes: (1) Using Socioeconomic Indicators as a Tool for School Diversity and Integration (David Hinojosa…

The question of how school choice programs affect the racial stratification of schools is highly salient in the field of education policy. We use a student-level panel data set to analyze the impacts of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) on racial segregation in public and private schools. This targeted school voucher program provides funding…