Integration and Diversity

Research in this section explores the impacts and benefits of racial and ethnic diversity in education, as well as resegregation trends and remedies in our nation's public schools.

Historic Reversals, Accelerating Resegregation, and the Need for New Integration Strategies

This report released by The Civil Rights Project at UCLA finds that for the first time in three decades, the South is in danger of losing its leadership as the nation's most integrated schools. The report examines the effects of the dual processes of racial transformation and resegregation on the educational opportunity of students, as well as the relationship between race and poverty and its implications in light of the recent Supreme Court decisions. The report concludes with recommendations for school districts.

The Segregation of American Teachers

Data from a survey of over 1,000 teachers in K-12 public schools across the country show that our teaching force — like public school students — is largely segregated. Teachers of different races are teaching students of very different racial composition, adding an extra dimension to growing student racial segregation.

PICS: Brief of 553 Social Scientists on School Desegregation Submitted to US Supreme Court

A social science statement has been submitted to the United States Supreme Court with the signatures of 553 social scientists and researchers, urging the Court to permit the continuation of voluntary race-conscious student assignment plans in American public schools.

School Accountability Under NCLB: Aid or Obstacle for Measuring Racial Equity?

We conclude from the analysis presented in this policy brief that AYP and the state proficiency targets are not very informative when it comes to determining educational progress because of the ways the law has been changed. The AYP data does not allow us to say whether schools are getting better because some states have retained their original standards while others have modified them. Since states are going in opposite directions—some states report a decline in the number of schools identified for improvement while others report an increase—it is difficult to know how much progress has been made improving student performance.

Data Proposals Threaten Education and Civil Rights Accountability

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed sweeping changes in the way we count minority and white students in our schools, changes that would dramatically alter the reported enrollment by race and ethnicity in our states and in many of our educational institutions. The changes are partly in response to a need recognized in the 2000 Census to collect information on students who are biracial or multiracial in their background. However, the Department of Education has proposed changes that are very different from the Census changes and would make it extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible, to conduct meaningful research or monitor civil rights compliance and educational accountability for students by race and ethnicity. The guidelines published August 7, 2006 in the Federal Register, specifythe changes by which schools, colleges, and state governments will collect and report individual-level data and aggregate data on race and ethnicity.

Private School Racial Enrollments and Segregation

Though religious schools are not now under any desegregation requirements from courts and this report does not assess blame for the patterns reported, private school educators do have freedom to provide leadership in this area, and could well consider the techniques used by public magnet schools and secular private institutions. Moreover, private schools may well be held publicly accountable should they become publicly funded through voucher systems.

Tracking Achievement Gaps and Assessing the Impact of NCLB on the Gaps

This report concludes that neither a significant rise in achievement, nor closure of the racial achievement gap is being achieved. Small early gains in math have reverted to the preexisting pattern. If that is true, all the pressure and sanctions have, so far, been in vain or even counterproductive. The federal government is providing $412 million a year to help pay for part of the additional testing required by the law and many states claim that they are being forced to divert state funds to testing and other provisions they believe are unnecessary.