This chapter examines connections between segregation and Chicano school failure. The isolation of Chicano students in "Mexican schools" or in high-density ethnic minority schools is a long-standing fact of the Chicano schooling experience. Current data reveal that Chicanos and other Latino students continue to be segregated and are becoming more and more isolated from their White peers. In addition, there is a great deal of historical and contemporary evidence that the school segregation of Chicano students is connected to school failure, hence inequality. Segregated schools tend to be characterized by low funding, high dropout rates, low achievement test scores, a disproportionately high percentage of low-income students, and few college preparatory courses. The ideological foundations of school segregation date back to the 19th-century belief that White groups should not socially interact with biologically inferior races. By the early 1900s, most states practiced some form of social segregation and had institutionalized school segregation as the main vehicle to maintain a segregated society. In the Southwest, the growth of residential segregation was accompanied by school segregation and was strongly linked to racial prejudice. Language was also used to segregate Mexican students. Mexican students were not permitted to attend classes with their White peers because they needed special instruction in English and would impede the academic progress of other children. In 1945, federal legislation finally ended the era of de jure segregation. Although Chicanos won the battle against de jure segregation, their isolation in segregated schools has continued. Suggestions for achieving integration include encouraging residential integration, busing Chicano students to predominantly White schools, two-way bilingual education programs, multicultural education in teacher education, proactive technical assistance in desegregation planning, and conceptualization of integration. Contains 124 references. (LP)