Ten years ago, the United States Supreme Court struck down two local school board initiatives meant to reverse extreme racial segregation in public schools. The sharply divided 5-4 decision in "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District" marked the end of an era of efforts by local authorities to fulfill the promise…

In general, controlled school choice policies that aim to integrate schools along the lines of race or ethnicity and socioeconomic status are most often successful in achieving that goal. Unregulated systems of school choice, however, tend to exacerbate school segregation (Cobb & Glass, 2009). This research brief summarizes research about…

May 17, 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court decision that ruled segregated schools were "inherently unequal." At the time, North Carolina was one of 17 states that enforced de jure segregation, that is, segregation by law. The state of North Carolina and the school districts within…

North Macedonia's two main ethnic groups, the Albanians and Macedonians, have experienced increasing segregation in education, though recent political shifts have made social cohesion a priority, which could replace decades of segregationist policies and break down a damaging cycle of segregation. Using a qualitative approach, I examine the…

In a context that privileges neighborhood zoning and school choice over within-district busing, we examine urban residents' perceptions of the benefits of racial diversity. We analyze public opinion trends by race and residents' experience as a student in a district under court-ordered desegregation--Nashville, TN. We find racial differences…

Ten years ago, the United States Supreme Court struck down two local school board initiatives meant to reverse extreme racial segregation in public schools. The sharply divided 5-4 decision in "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District" marked the end of an era of efforts by local authorities to fulfill the promise…

In the United States, most local jurisdictions are challenged as they seek to maintain fiscal strength. But majority-Black jurisdictions are uniquely burdened due to legacy and contemporary racist and racialized policies and racial capitalism. Leaders in majority-Black locales make harsher budget trade-offs than those in majority-White…

A common criticisms of school choice programs is that, instead of improving student achievement, they would increase school segregation. Parents may use different criteria to choose a school, such as proximity, school quality, or the school's ethnic/racial composition. As a result, the system would be segregated based on the parent's preferences.…

This study assesses the extent to which public high schools become more or less socially mixed after families are allowed to choose schools outside their designated catchment areas in a mid-sized Canadian city. We draw on settler-colonial theory, critical human geography, and critical social theory while applying a critical mapping of school…

This report shows that the segregation of Black students has increased in almost every region of the nation, and that Black students in many of nation's largest school districts have little access to or interaction with White, Asian or middle-class students. The report documents substantial Black enrollment in suburban schools, but high levels of…

This article examines charter school reform in the midst of gentrifying urban spaces and documents, through extant research and the findings from our research, the role of school choice in perpetuating school segregation in racially diverse neighborhoods. We argue that 65 years after "Brown v. Board of Education," the more the specific…

Critical race theory (CRT) was used to frame a study of the impact of racial resegregation on students in a public school district. Racism operated in the district at multiple ontological levels -- such as interpersonal microaggressions, structural economic arrangements, and discursive processes. CRT provided a rationale for the interdisciplinary…

Research supports the notion that exposure to individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds has positive social and political benefits for a pluralistic society, and an expanding body of research attests to the positive consequences of school integration for academic outcomes. Yet schools remain highly segregated by race and class, in part because…

At many U.S. universities, the tendency to self-segregate has become a familiar and accepted occurrence, evident in a wide array of college settings including housing and social gatherings, classes and training events, protests, and grievance sessions, and even separate commencement events. In many ways, this trend represents a return to the…

This essay outlines the case for keeping schools diverse socioeconomically as an important priority in school choice and school assignment. The author uses the current climate surrounding charter schools and private vouchers to connect to other times in the history of our nation's schools when diversity was threatened, namely the civil rights era…