A Long-Term View of School Desegregation: Some Recent Studies of Graduates as Adults (original) (raw)

The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality -review

LSE Blog, 2023

In The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality, R. Shep Melnick examines the evolution of federal school desegregation policy in the US from 1954 through the termination of desegregation orders in the first decades of the 21st century. Combining legal analysis with a focus on institutional relations, Melnick’s analysis of the difficulty of defining and implementing desegregation is a valuable contribution to the fields of law, history, and educational studies, writes Pabitra Saha.

Assessing School Desegregation Effects: New Directions in Research

1981

This reportexaaines previous research on school desegregation effects and suggests new research directions tc provide information for policy deliberations. The current imbalance in school desegregation research is attributed to unresolved technical disputes in policy debates, the limitation of debate topics relevant for research, and the absence of a strong theory of social mobility, comaunity power, or discrimination to support researth 'studies. A review of the desegregation effects on black students shows a general additive incremental effect on Attendance at'deit4regated colleges from each extra year of earlier experience in,debegregated elementary or secondary schools. This evidence indicates that other adult outcomes such as eiployment or housing attainments may be significantly influenced by desegregation in elementary and secondary schools. A consideration of the long term outcomes of schoo desegregation and its implications for policy deliberations suggest the need to identify the processes that exclude qualified minorities from promising opportunities as well as compare both institu4ional and individual behavior in an effort to explain the problems of minority social nobility and segregation. (JCD)

Incrementalism, Majoritarianism, and the Failures of School Desegregation

1982

This paper argues that cautious and participatory desegregation efforts yield less desirable outcomes than either sweeping, authoritative desegregation policies or no imposed effort at all. The author proceeds to support these claims by identifying 10 goals of school desegregation and examining the rules and consequences of incremental and democratic desegregation policies in the light of these goals. Investigating the rules of temporal, spatial, organizational, and analytical incrementalism, and citing supportive evidence, the author maintains that minorities in all cases, and sometimes whites, are the worst off when gradual or partial procedures are used. Similarly, the author explores the rules of democratic desegregation planning and concludes that while citizen participation and control are fundamental values, they are rarely effective in ending racial isolation; on the other hand, people with official roles can have an impact. Several policy options are suggested: (1) continue muddling along; (2) stop imposing desegregation against majority desires; or (3) proceed to full and complete desegregation. It is concluded that if the political and moral will to undertake desegregation properly are absent, alternative solutions for granting minority rights and satisfying citizen preferences ought to be pursued. (Author/MJL)

Desegregation. [CEMREL Paper 1]

1980

A' cleir and'effective relatiOnship between the State and Federal governments is needed in pursuing School desegregation,,. The lack-of State al0 Federal government congruence results ina(o.' desegregation polio* that emanates from judicial decrees on a district by distriOt basis. In Michigan, incdAsistencies among districts and betWeen Federal and State policies have hampered 4 desegregation. Areas affected by these policy difficulties includei' (1) 'educational (21 metropolitan desegre4ation ,plans: (31, Federal funding: (41 ficnity 'desegregation: and (5) bilinguaP. edncatiOn. SoCihi impediments to desegregation implementation alto' exists. liore analytical research and improved coordination and. clarification./of desegregation policy are need (APM)

The Hidden Injuries of School Desegregation

The 1954 Supreme Court ruling against the applicability of the "separate but equal" doctrine in the public school system in Brown v.s. Board of Education of Topeka augured the dawning of the Civil Rights Movement in 20 th century America. This decision sparked a major transformation in the nation's educational system-school desegregation-a process that in some cases took decades to come to fruition. Much has been written about the social and economic outcomes that have resulted from this landmark decision, however, research on the psychosocial consequences of school desegregation on the generation of African Americans who experienced this process is sparse. Employing a cultural trauma theoretical framework, this study takes up the latter issue by analyzing the ways in which the dislocation of the "colored school" system affected the social structures of the African American community and the collective identity of the children of integration. I analyzes this phenomenon in a local context by using oral history interview data collected on a cohort of African Americans who matriculated through the "colored school" system in Harlan County, Kentucky. The school systems in these communities desegregated between 1960 and 1963, and share similar cultural, regional, and political contexts. The primary questions guiding this research are (1) How did this generation of African Americans understand their racialized subjectivity prior to school desegregation? (2) What was the localized experience with school desegregation for this cohort of African Americans? and (3) What impact did school desegregation have on the collective identity of the children who experienced integration?

After the Bus Arrives: Resegregation in Desegregated Schools

Journal of Social Issues, 1985

Datu ,from 5284 Jifih-grade students and 886 teachers in 94 elernentap schools are used to exuriiitie two aspects of thc. prevalence and effects of resegregation in desegregated schools. First we explore teacher arid school characteristics that uflect how teuchers organize opportunities for intergroup contact und academic. learning in their cYussrooms. Results suggest that positive attitudes tocvard integrution injlucnce teachers' .selec.tion qf'groupitig practices that promote student interaction. .such us active Iwrning unrl equal-status programs. Negative (it-titudc~s towurrl integrution, or teachers' beliLif:T in separate education ,for blacks and whites. promote their use qf' less jle.rible, resegregative practices, such US tracking tirid within-class grouping. NeW, with data from teachers and studtwts, we iriwstigati~ whcther rl$fc>rent ckmroom organizations itifluenccJ black and whit(. students' achievement and behavior. Multiple regrrssioti unalyses show that, with other important student, teacher. and ckssroom structures controlled. less resegregative clmssroom structures are more udvantugeous for black students' uchievcwient. There is higher black achievement in clussrooms itsing equal-status programs, cooperative uctivities, or ,flexible tracking.

Moving from separate, to equal, to equitable schooling: Revisiting school desegregation policies

Urban Education, 2011

For over a century after the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, researchers have been grappling with how to effectively implement educational reform policies to provide students with an equal education in American schools. This literature review examines previous school desegregation cases and school desegregation plans to investigate how schools have been unsuccessful in fully implementing desegregation plans. The paper discusses the role that social and political factors played in prohibiting schools from fully desegregating in the South. It ends with some suggestions on moving from equal to equitable schooling inside and outside of the Southern region of the United States.