School assignment policies are a key lever to increase access to high performing schools and to promote racial and socioeconomic integration. For over 50 years, the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) has bussed students of color from Boston, Massachusetts to relatively wealthier and predominantly White suburbs. Using a…

Part of the monthly Saturday Review supplement, "Education in America, sponsored by the Charles R. Kettering Foundation.

General (Statewide) school desegregation trends, as well as specific data from various Massachusetts school districts are presented in this report. The first section compares State support of desegregation efforts in Massachusetts with that of other northern States, outlines areas for which State funding is disbursed, and describes the relation…

AN EXPANDED VERSION OF TESTIMONY GIVEN ON MARCH 21, 1964, BEFORE THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE ADVISORY COMMISSION TO THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS IS GIVEN. THE EFFECTS OF SCHOOL SEGREGATION AND DESEGREGATION UPON BOTH NEGRO AND WHITE CHILDREN ARE DISCUSSED. THE AIMS OF EDUCATION INCLUDE THE ACQUISITION OF ACADEMIC SKILLS, THE DEVELOPMENT OF A…

This paper provides background information on school desegregation in Springfield, Massachusetts, and describes a study that compared the academic achievement of two groups of black elementary school students: one group who was mandatorily bused to a previously white school, and the other who walked to their neighborhood school which was…

Reports the results of a study of the attitudes towards busing of white secondary school students in suburban Boston, who participate in the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity busing program. (JM)

A rebuttal of a negative evaluation of busing programs published by David Armor, which focuses on the methodological shortcomings of an investigation of a voluntary busing program in metropolitan Boston called METCO done by Armor. (JM)

Describes the use of sociograms and computer analysis of sociometric data in order to evaluate the progress of Springfield, Massachusetts, public schools toward racial integration. Also shows how these techniques can be used to encourage racial integration at the classroom level. (GC)

Attempting to reconcile theory with facts, this booklet explores equity and quality issues involved with parental choice in Massachusetts. Following an overview and summary, chapters 2 and 3 examine the theory and practice of intradistrict public school choice. Chapter 2 examines the controlled choice plans adopted by cities, arguing that racial…

David Armor's "The Evidence on Busing" presented a distorted and incomplete review of this politically charged topic. We respect Armor's right to publish his views against "mandatory busing." But we challenge his claim that these views are supported by scientific evidence. A full discussion of our reading of the relevant…

Thomas Pettigrew and his associates have missed the essential point of my study. The essential requirement for sound reasoning on this matter is observance of the distinction among the findings of science, the results of policy, and the dictates of law or morality. I studied the results of existing policies of induced school integration (all of…

One Massachusetts elementary school, desegregated and rebuilt with a complete system of state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure, has shown how technology can influence school restructuring and student achievement. School's technology is integrated into the whole curriculum. Garfield School's experience shows that computers can benefit both…

Sixteen essays dealing with issues surrounding school desegregation and racial integration comprise this book: (1) "School Integration Today: The Case for New Definitions," by Murray Friedman; (2) "Defining Brown's Integration Remedy for Urban School Systems," by Derrick A. Bell, Jr.; (3) "School Desegregation Can Succeed:…

Early one morning, September 8, 1965, Operation Exodus unfolded. Poor black parents, with much community support, initiated a school busing program whereby several hundred black children of all ages between five and 14 were to be bused from nearly all-black schools in the black community to predominantly or all-white schools in surrounding…

Given a successful instance of public school desegration, this study examines some of the factors that may have contributed to the integration effort. The initial section provides an examination of the historical and socio-political milieu building a context by which various change agents such as pupil mobility, prior experience in limited or…