Suburban inequality is the focus of this double issue of "RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences." This introduction addresses the limited related scholarship, describes how inequality unfolds differently in suburban communities than in urban and rural communities, and draws attention to urgent issues related to…

Suburban school districts in the United States (U.S.) have experienced major demographic shifts in recent decades and vary substantially in their student populations. More than half of Asian, black, and Latinx students in large metropolitan areas attend suburban schools, and the suburbs are commonly the first destination for new U.S. immigrants.…

The purpose of this research is to examine the prevalence of racially diverse high schools in order to understand the conditions that create or inhibit the existence of diverse and equitable schools. We analyzed Texas state demographic data for schools in order to understand the scarcity of racially diverse campuses. We then utilized mapping and…

The purpose of this "Equity by Design" brief is to provide information to parents, community members, and school district leaders and teachers about the relationship between housing policy and school policy. Specifically, this brief provides a succinct history of U.S. housing policy, discusses some current educational policies that…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program develops geographic data to help policymakers, program administrators, and the public understand relationships between educational institutions and the communities they serve. One of the commonly used geographic data items is the NCES…

Purpose: Suburban school districts have undergone significant demographic shifts over the past several decades. The research literature to date, however, has yet to explore how suburban district leaders are responding to such changes, or examine the factors that shape response. In this article, we apply a "zone of mediation" framework to…

This research examines the debate surrounding the site selection of several New Jersey community colleges. It takes into account the 1960s time period in which they were founded. The process to establish a community college commenced with each county establishing a committee to assess whether or not there was a need to institute a county college…

The demography of public school enrollment continues to change dramatically, with students of color comprising an increasing proportion of the whole. As such, suburbia, with both White and non-White students, is a place in which integration is more possible in the beginning of the 21st century. Due to the intertwined nature of how these factors…

As the charter school sector expands rapidly with federal support amid on-going diversification and growing segregation among traditional public school students, this article examines existing patterns of segregation in charter schools. Prior research has demonstrated that charter schools are substantially more segregated than our already…

This article reviews the impacts of the civil rights policies framed in the 1960s and the anti-civil rights political and legal movements that reversed them. It documents rising segregation by race and poverty. The policy reversals and transformation of U.S. demography require a new civil rights strategy. Vast immigrations, the sinking White…

This study examines urban/suburban differences in educational outcomes in light of Tilly's conception of "opportunity hoarding." Data from the U.S. Census reveal the changing circumstances of 17-year-olds in central city and suburban settings across the post-World War II period. Focusing on the metropolitan Northeast and Eastern Midwest,…

This report marks the inaugural edition of a regular summary report in Brookings' "State of Metropolitan America" series. It focuses on the major demographic forces transforming the nation and large metropolitan areas in the 2000s. In this sense, it previews what people will learn from the results of the 2010 census, as well as supplements those…

In a comprehensive study of two-hundred fifty homeschooling families in urban, rural and suburban areas of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the researcher examined all aspects of the instruction, materials and curricula employed by the families in a ten-year longitudinal study from 1998 through 2008. The researcher conducted interviews and…

Describes some common integration maintenance techniques, explores arguments that have been used to support or oppose them, and makes a preliminary assessment of the impact of integration maintenance on Oak Park, a Chicago suburb. (LHW)

Consisting of a set of closely related studies of urban spatial structure, this monograph focuses on the decentralization of metropolitan areas. Foremost is the belief that decentralization, or suburbanization, lies at the root of most of the social problems that plague urban areas. Therefore, an understanding of the process is basic to policies…