Integration and Scholastic Performance: A Pilot Study of Chicago Public High School Graduates Attending the University of Illinois, Chicago

Abstract

Grade point averages of 897 white university students representing 25 public high schools in Chicago were examined. Socioeconomic status and individual ability were taken into consideration. A comparison was then made of the scholastic performance of white students who attended integrated high schools and that of white students who attended white-segregated high schools. With no refinement as to ability or socioeconomic status, white students from integrated high schools performed as well as white students who attended white-segregated high schools. However, when the above average ability—above average socioeconomic status groups—are compared, the findings are barely significant (if P = .05). This leaves open the question of whether there may be some slight suppression of achievement associated with attendance at an integrated high school. More research is necessary before definite conclusions can be teached.