For over a century after the 1896 "Plessy v. Ferguson" decision, researchers have been grappling with how to effectively implement educational reform policies to provide students with an equal education in American schools. This literature review examines previous school desegregation cases and school desegregation plans to investigate…

Southern California is facing a demographic transformation that will become characteristic of the nation as a whole in coming decades. In this research, we present a historical review of the region's attempt to address school inequity, recent enrollment and segregation trends, and an investigation of whether segregation still matters. Our results…

A case study of the events precipitating a black student boycott in 1969 in Gainesville, Flordia, when school board manuevering to avoid school integration led to the threatened closing of Lincoln High School, a reputable black community school. Also described are the subsequent transformations of Lincoln into a vocational-technical school and…

Using three case studies, identifies important variables affecting desegregation design and implementation: (1) in interactions and exchanges between the school system, the courts, and the city (process variables); and (2) in the remedy plan itself and the implementation process (outcome variables). (RDN)

Data on desegregation plans implemented in 49 large school districts indicate that voluntary plans have been less effective than mandatory plans in reducing levels of racial isolation and improving racial balance within districts. The data do not support arguments that voluntary plans result in less of a decline in White enrollment. (Author/MJL)

Examines pre-integration conditions in a metropolitan, multiple district school desegregation situation. This case study presents background information, analyzes the politics of desegregation and bussing independent of metropolitan and interdistrict considerations, analyzes the interdistrict and metropolitan aspects of the case, and, analyzes…

Black students from St. Louis (Missouri) voluntarily attend White suburban schools. Their rate of suspension is double the rate for White students. Strategies for lowering this rate are offered in the following five categories: (1) communicating standards; (2) instruction and classroom management; (3) human relations and staff development; (4)…

Discusses the background and implications of a court decision resulting in the resegregation of public schools in metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee, because of declining enrollment. Speculates whether the events indicate a trend back to the concept of neighborhood schools and an end to busing to achieve desegregation. (AOS)

Explores the most-effective type of desegregation plan for the reduction of segregation in public schools by using a choice-assignment continuum for 20 plans to account for variation in desegregation orders. Plans the rely on assignment reduce the level of desegregation more than do choice plans. (SLD)

This study of the financial and political dialogue affecting programs introduced as part of desegregation efforts in the St. Louis (Missouri) schools is not as optimistic as some previous studies. The value of programs has been overstated, and showcase integrated schools have been promoted, while many schools remain segregated. (SLD)