School Segregation Research Articles

Educational inequalities and school segregation. Social cohesion challenges faced by public schools in the local educational system

Challenges that schools face in relation to social cohesion include the need to minimise the impact of students’ social background on their educational career and ensuring that the public school is a place of contact between children from different social groups and class. Research supporting local policy in this area should therefore monitor the social status-based determinants of students’ educational careers and other processes of intentional as well as spontaneous between school and between classroom segregation. The following facts were found in the local educational system analysed. The measures of SES dimensions of students’ family are significantly related to their school achievement. In Ostrołęka, this connection was found to be considerably stronger than the national average. However, which is certainly an optimistic result, the financial resources of the students’ families, with other SES dimensions controlled, did not affect school achievement. Parents’ educational aspirations for their children, on the other hand, are related to all aspects of socio-economic status. In this case, also the financial capacity of the students’ families is significantly related to the level of these aspirations. Including students’ school grades along with the SES dimensions in the analysis of the determinants of educational aspirations shows that they determine aspirations to the same degree as family status does. Sadly, there is no evidence that pre-school education helps low SES students catch up with their peers with high SES families. This means that the key to effectively support the development of children from educationally at-risk backgrounds is in the quality of preschool education and not just its universality. Schools in Ostrołęka differ in their social composition in terms of the parents’ education status and the financial capacity of their families, but the scale of these differences is not considerable. On the other hand, between classroom within school differentiation due to parents’ social status is in some schools much stronger than inter-school differences, which poses a serious problem.

The Past, Present, and Future of Brown’s Mandate: A View from North Carolina

The unanimous 1954 Brown v. Board of Education opinion is one of the most consequential legal decisions of the 20th century. Even though it concerned government sanctioned racial segregation of public schools, many legal scholars, policy makers, and citizens see Brown’s impact going well beyond ordering the dismantling of de jure segregated public schools and instituting desegregated ones that would provide equitable high quality public education to all students irrespective of their race. Brown’s mandate overturned the notorious Plessy decision sanctioning legal segregation and exposed the fiction that separate could be equal in any institution or sphere of public life. But, progress toward Brown’s literal and figurative mandate has been halting and, at best, uneven. This article considers the question of whether the nation will achieve Brown’s mandate by its 100th anniversary in 2054. The authors reflect upon the relevant history of progress in Brown’s implementation and the current retrenchments on those gains that have returned this nation’s schools, in some districts, to pre- Brown levels of segregation. Using the state of North Carolina as a strategic case study, they speculate about the sets of social forces that may either discourage or encourage realization of Brown’ s mandate going forward. In doing so, they note population changes, national and local political factors, and other events that will either make it more or less likely that Brown’s mandate will be realized by 2054.

Ethnoracial Diversity and Segregation in U.S. Rural School Districts*

AbstractThe ethnoracial diversification of rural America is gaining more attention in scholarly and policy circles, but its impact on rural school districts is often overlooked. We use federal data sources to explore the magnitude and structure of rural ethnoracial diversity and to analyze variation in how U.S. rural school district demographics have changed nationally from 2000 to 2019. Employing a majority rule typology, we classify more than 5,000 school districts according to their ethnoracial structure. Our findings illustrate that rising Hispanic enrollment is a central element of changing rural public school student demographics nationwide. Since 2000, rural school districts have become more ethnoracially diverse, and rural students of most ethnicities/races have become less ethnoracially isolated. However, despite demographic changes resulting in more diversified district enrollments overall, segregation within rural districts persists. Furthermore, White enrollment in rural district types with the fewest White students declined twice as much as in the rural district types with the highest share of White students. Together, these patterns suggest how school segregation and opportunity hoarding can persist despite growth in districts’ ethnoracial diversity.

Segregate, Discriminate, Signal: A Model for Understanding Policy Drivers of Educational Inequality

Decades after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling banned mandatory race-based separation of students to different schools, school segregation, and inequality in the United States are rapidly increasing. In this research synthesis, I propose a model for explaining how segregation and inequality are formed in urban and suburban school systems and exacerbated even in the absence of formal segregation policy. The model describes segregation as a component in a triangle of discriminatory education policy processes: segregation, discrimination, and signaling. Connecting these three seemingly distinct policy practices could provide a better explanation for the growing inequality in the U.S. school system.

The role of schools in the de- and revalorization of stigmatized neighborhoods: The case of Berlin-Neukölln

ABSTRACT This paper asks what role schools play in the gentrification process, a topic that remains understudied outside the Anglo-American context. I analyze how the discourse about schools has shaped the gentrification process in Berlin’s working-class and immigrant-dense Neukölln district. By considering the different perspectives and narratives of parents, the local government, property owners, and investors, I show that, even in a context in which education remains mainly public, schools play a crucial role in determining the housing and educational strategies of different stakeholders in the area. I argue for a more thorough engagement of European urban studies with the histories of racism and migration, in specific with the question of school segregation and territorially based ethno-racial stigma, to fully grasp the current gentrification of previously neglected neighborhoods across western European cities.

Race and School Librarianship in the Jim Crow South, 1954–1970: The Untold Story of Carrie Coleman Robinson as a Case Study

On December 23, 1969, the National Education Association and the Alabama State Teachers Association (a black organization) filed a class action suit in federal court against the Alabama Department of Education on behalf of Carrie Coleman Robinson, Negro School Library Supervisor in Alabama’s Department of Education. The suit argued that Robinson had suffered racial discrimination in hiring and stated that her First, Fifth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated. The American Association of School Librarians and its parent American Library Association (Robinson had been a member of both for decades) chose not to participate in the suit. The decision reflected the library profession’s unwillingness to openly discuss public school segregation, one of the nation’s major social issues in the last half of the twentieth century that was sparked by the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education (1954). This article recounts the heretofore untold story of Carrie Coleman Robinson’s experiences with racial discrimination within the professions of education and librarianship.

The 1957 Central High crisis: civil rights and education in the United States as a public history experience through the Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History

Through an oral and visual history archive, we sought to develop an analysis regarding the period of school segregation in the United States, as well as the moment known as “integration”. Drawing on the experiences recorded in The David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, an analysis based on the memories of the period of overcoming segregation in the school context was developed. Our focus was on the perception of the persistence of prejudice as a factor that harms the learning process, as was observed in Terrence Roberts’ speech. The orientation of the work within the sphere of public history aims to show how people simultaneously experience a conflicting situation and the problem of abandoning the past, bearing in mind the continuity of the issues faced and which need to be reestablished.

Voluntary school fees in segregated public schools: how selective public schools turbo-charge inequity and funding gaps

ABSTRACT Parent-generated revenue in public schools, in the form of fee-giving or fundraising, is fast developing as a robust source of financial revenue for public schools in OECD countries. In this paper we draw on a comprehensive empirical dataset of parent-generated financial revenue for public schools located in New South Wales, Australia. We draw on a census dataset of all public schools over a five-year period, examining how funding gaps are exacerbated by selective processes and school segregation. The analysis compares parent-generated financial revenue within two types of public schools, namely select-entry public schools and local comprehensive public schools. We find that select-entry public schools consistently generate more than three-times more income across different measures, and over a five-year period. Furthermore, the amount of revenue for select-entry schools annually grows, and the gap increases, suggesting that as market logics intensify, cyclical disadvantage and residualisation of comprehensive public schools increase.

The Role of Catchment Areas on School Segregation by Economic, Social and Cultural Characteristics

The Role of Catchment Areas on School Segregation by Economic, Social and Cultural Characteristics

When Ethnicity and Gender Align: Classroom Composition, Friendship Segregation, and Collective Identities in European Schools

AbstractUsing survey data on school classes in four European countries, we study how the social relations and identities of adolescents develop depending on the degree to which ethnic and gender boundaries align with each other. Minority students will have mostly same-ethnic friends, we find, when classmates of different ethnic origins tend to be of the opposite sex as well. Within such local topographies of boundaries, minority students will also end up identifying less as members of the nation. In contrast, majority students are not affected by the alignment of ethnic and gender boundaries, and gender identities of both minorities and majorities are less malleable as well: Neither friendship segregation along gender divides nor the development of gender role attitudes depend on the degree to which gender and ethnic origin align. We argue that gender boundaries and feelings of national belonging among majority students are widely taken for granted and thus less sensitive to attribute alignment at the local level. The article builds a bridge between the literatures on ethnic segregation of friendship networks, adolescent ethnic identities, and gender role attitudes by integrating them into a structuralist framework that identifies the conditions under which the local configuration of boundaries affects social life.

A Review of Adverse Childhood Experiences as Factors Influential to Biopsychosocial Development for Young Males of Color

Despite the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision ending school segregation in 1954, African American children and other children of color still experience severe and adverse challenges while receiving an education. Specifically, Black and Latino male students are at higher risk of being placed in special education classes, receiving lower grades, and being suspended or expelled from school. Although adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and the negative outcomes associated with experiencing them, are not specific to one racial or ethnic group, the impact of childhood adversity exacerbates the challenges experienced by male students of color at a biological, psychological, and sociological level. This article reviews the literature on how ACEs impact the biopsychosocial development and educational outcomes of young males of color (YMOC). A strengths-based perspective, underscoring resilience among YMOC, will be highlighted in presenting strategies to promote culturally responsive intervention with YMOC, focused professional development, and advocacy in the school counseling profession.

Socioeconomic school segregation in Canary Islands

ABSTRACT This study provides evidence about the degree of socioeconomic segregation in Spain’s primary schools. In particular, the analysis is based on data from Canary Islands, a Spanish region with low level of academic performance and high level of students enrolled in fully public schools. The approach used to study school segregation deepens on the contribution of the type of school funding to the overall school segregation, which is addressed using the Hutchens Index. Results suggest that differences between fully state-funded schools and private schools account for 20–30% of the total level of segregation.

Assessing the impact of Pupil Premium funding on primary school segregation and attainment

ABSTRACT Pupil Premium funding has been provided to schools in England since 2011, to reduce socio-economic segregation, and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. There is little evidence it works. Some stakeholders are now considering whether funding should cease, or have a new objective. Evaluating the impact of such a funding policy is not easy because the relevant outcomes are sensitive to demographic, economic and other concurrent policy changes. These issues are addressed using the National Pupil Database, comparing the poverty gap in primary schools from 2006 to 2019, focusing on pupils who would have attracted Pupil Premium funding, if it existed, in any year and under any economic conditions. After 2010, the segregation of long-term disadvantaged pupils and their peers reduced in Years 1 and 6, and their attainment improved relative to their peers at a ges 7 and 11. However, assessments changed after 2014 and this complicates the pattern. A regression model suggests that relative attainment for poor pupils improved markedly in the Pupil Premium era, even in regions like the North of England which have faced criticism for apparently “failing“ their poor pupils. We argue for retaining the Pupil Premium policy.

‘Notorious Schools’ in ‘Notorious Places’? Exploring the Connectedness of Urban and Educational Segregation

While the statistical link between residential and school segregation is well-demonstrated, in-depth knowledge of the processes or mediating mechanisms which affect the interconnectedness of the two phenomena is still limited. By focusing on well-functioning schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, our article seeks to scrutinise whether reputation can be one of the key mediators of the connection between residential and school segregation. Our study combines qualitative ethnographic interviews from four (pre-)primary schools with quantitative segregation measures in four urban neighbourhoods in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki to understand the connections between lived experiences and socio-spatial segregation. The results show that there appears to be a clear link between neighbourhood and school reputation, as schools in disadvantaged neighbourhoods are strongly viewed through the perceptions attached to the place. Despite the case schools’ excellent institutional quality and high overall performance in educational outcomes, there is a consistent pattern of the schools struggling with negative views about the neighbourhoods, which seep into the schools’ reputation. Since school reputation is one of the central drivers of school choices and is also linked to residential choices, the close connection between neighbourhood and school reputation may feed into vicious circles of segregation operating through schools. The results highlight the need for integrated urban policies that are sensitive to issues concerning school reputation and support the confidence and identity of pupils, reaching beyond simply ensuring the institutional quality of schools.

Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever? Racial and Economic Isolation and Dissimilarity in Rural Black Belt Schools in Alabama*

AbstractSchool racial and economic segregation trends in the United States have increased since the high point of school integration in the 1980s. Current scholarship rarely examines segregation trends in rural areas, especially in the rural Black Belt region of the southern United States. The Black Belt was the location of the leading events of the Civil Rights Movement and where white residents exhibited overt and violent resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. This landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case prohibited legally mandated racial segregation in schools. Our study examines patterns of racial and economic isolation and dissimilarity in the Alabama Black Belt to determine the contemporary nature of school and neighborhood segregation in the region. We use a Critical Race Spatial Analysis framework to conceptualize the study, and we show that segregation patterns have continued and, in some cases, worsened in the last three decades. The forces driving these patterns are different from in the past, stemming from student population changes rather than students' distribution within school districts. Based on these findings, we explain solutions that include implementing school enrollment policy changes alongside policies that incentivize population growth and economic development.

Is America coming apart? Socioeconomic segregation in neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and social networks, 1970–2020

AbstractAs income inequality in the United States has reached an all‐time high, commentators from across the political spectrum warn about the social implications of these economic changes. America, they fear, is “coming apart” as the gap between the rich and poor grows into a fault line. This paper provides a comprehensive review of empirical scholarship in sociology, education, demography, and economics in order to address the question: How have five decades of growing economic inequality shaped America's social landscape? We find that growing levels of income inequality have been accompanied by increasing socioeconomic segregation across (1) friendship networks and romantic partners, (2) residential neighborhoods, (3) K‐12 and university education, and (4) workplaces and the labor market. The trends documented in this review give substance to commentators' concerns: compared to the 1970s, rich and poor Americans today are less likely to know one another and to share the same social spaces. The United States is a nation divided.

Classroom Predictors of National Belonging: The Role of Interethnic Contact and Teachers\u2019 and Classmates\u2019 Diversity Norms

Schools can be important for the development of national belonging in students with immigrant backgrounds. Following Contact Theory and prior research on diversity norms, this cross-sectional survey study examined if intergroup contact and perceived diversity norms of teachers and classmates predicted national belonging in ethnic minority (i.e., Turkish [n = 95], Moroccan [n = 73], and Surinamese [n = 15]) versus majority students (n = 213) living in the Netherlands (Mage = 10.53 years; 50.3% female). Minority students reported less national belonging than their ethnic Dutch classmates. Multilevel analyses indicated that their national belonging was affected by the presence of ethnic Dutch classmates and the relationship with their teacher. These results indicate that minority students’ national belonging could be promoted by reducing school segregation and stimulating positive teacher-student relationships.

Preference heterogeneity and school segregation

This paper examines heterogeneity of school preferences between ethnic and social groups and quantifies the importance of this heterogeneity for school segregation. We use rich data from the secondary-school match in Amsterdam. Our key findings are that heterogeneity of preferences for schools is substantial and that 40% of school segregation by ethnicity and close to 25% of school segregation by household income, can be attributed to it. Ability tracking is the other main determinant of school segregation. Results from policy simulations indicate that minority quotas reduce segregation within ability tracks considerably, but this comes at the cost of many students receiving less-preferred assignments and a higher share of unassigned students.

Segregated Neighborhoods, Segregated Schools: Do Charters Break a Stubborn Link?

Residential and school segregation have historically mirrored each other, with school segregation seen as simply reflecting residential patterns given neighborhood-based school assignment policy. We argue that the relationship is circular, such that school options also influence residential outcomes. We hypothesize that the expansion of charter schools could simultaneously lead to an increase in school segregation and a decrease in residential segregation. We examine what happens when neighborhood and school options are decoupled via public school choice in the form of charter schools using data from the census and the Common Core of Data on a national sample of more than 1,500 metropolitan districts. We find that Black-White school segregation increased and residential segregation declined in response to increases in the charter enrollment share from 2000 to 2010. In districts with charter schools, the average increase in the charter enrollment share corresponded to a 12% increase in school segregation and 2% decline in residential segregation. We find no relationship between charter school expansion and school segregation between White and Hispanic students, perhaps because Hispanic students attend more racially diverse charters than White or Black students. White-Hispanic residential segregation declined as charter enrollment increased. Our results demonstrate that educational policy is consequential for both school and neighborhood population processes. When these two contexts are decoupled via public school choice, school and neighborhood segregation patterns move in opposite directions, rather than mirroring each other. Our findings also provide a cautionary lesson for unfettered expansion of choice without integration imperatives.

Hope, trust and segregation in schools: An analysis of contextual effects on violent and general offending

Abstract Influenced by the theoretical concepts of ‘Relative deprivation’ and ‘Social cohesion’, this study adds to the relatively limited literature of socio-structural approaches to the school–crime relationship. Multilevel analysis was conducted to explore the independent and interactive effects of three distinct features of the school setting—concentrated (dis)advantage, the proportion of students with poor future prospects and teacher-rated social cohesion—in relation to self-reported offending. Using information from three data sources on 4,608 students and 1,056 teachers from 77 lower secondary schools in Stockholm, the results showed that school concentrated (dis)advantage and school-level future prospects were directly related to offending. In addition, cross-level interactions indicate that the association between student performance and offending differs depending on school type.