This book presents a summary of school-choice issues, and is organized around a 1992 seminar entitled "Choice: What Role in American Education?" Each part presents a set of conference papers, followed by discussants' remarks and excerpts from audience discussion. The introduction summarizes the papers' positions and conclusions. Participants generally agreed that choice cannot successfully drive school reform, but might be an ingredient of multifaceted school-reform efforts. Part 1, which examines the effects of school choice on the educational, racial, and socioeconomic integration of students, contains five chapters: (1) "The Sociology of School Choice: Why Some Win and Others Lose in the Educational Marketplace" (Amy Stuart Wells); (2) "The Scottish Experience of Parental School Choice" (J. Douglas Willms and Frank H. Echols); (3) "The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program" (John F. Witte); (4) "Effects of Choice in Education" (Stephen Plank, Kathryn S. Schiller, Barbara Schneider, and James S. Coleman); and (5) "Comments and General Discussion" (Michael Alves and Paul L. Pryde, Jr.). Part 2, which examines the effects of school choice on achievement, includes the following eight chapters: (6) "Choice, Achievement, and School Community" (Mary Erina Driscoll); (7) "Assessing Private School Effects: Implications for School Choice" (Peter W. Cookson, Jr.); (8) "Science or Policy Argument? A Review of the Quantitative Evidence in Chubb and Moe's Politics, Markets, and America's Schools'" (Valerie E. Lee and Anthony S. Bryk); (9) "A Re-Examination of Chubb and Moe's Politics, Markets, and America's Schools" (Marla E. Sukstorf, Amy Stuart Wells, and Robert L. Crain); (10) "The Forest and the Trees: A Response to Our Critics" (John E. Chubb and Terry M. Moe); (11) "Science or Policy Argument? A Rejoinder to Chubb and Moe" (Anthony S. Bryk and Valerie E. Lee); (12) "A Final Word on Chubb and Moe" (Marla E. Sukstorf, Amy Stuart Wells, and Robert L. Crain); and (13) "Comments and General Discussion" (Paul Hill and Herbert J. Grover). Part 3, "The Role of Choice in School Reform," contains three chapters: (14) "New York City's Career Magnet High Schools: Lessons About Creating Equity Within Choice Programs" (Robert L. Crain); (15) "Democratizing Choice: Reinventing, Not Retreating from, Public Education" (Michelle Fine); and (16) "Comments and General Discussion" (Herbert J. Wahlberg and Anthony J. Alvarado). Part 4, "School Choice in American Education," includes "A Dialogue Between Two Educators," in which a discussion between Michael Cohen and Chester E. Finn is moderated by Kathleen Matthews. Endnotes, a bibliography, an index, a list of contributors, and information about the Economic Policy Institute are included. (LMI)