Extant research has shown that students do better academically and socially when they are in schooling environments that are racially and socioeconomically diverse (Coleman, 1966). To date, there is very limited research which has examined the development of adolescents' racial, ethnic, and social identities within the contemporary contexts of…

This article is a version of a lecture given by the author at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2012. He reviews his book, "Bad Teacher!: How Blaming Teachers Distorts the Bigger Picture." He examines the issues within the school reform movement in American public education--focusing on what he calls the "bifurcation of…

The purpose of this study is to expand the definition of adequacy by adding soft skills as a measure of school productivity. The singular focus on academic standards inherent in education policy has prevented scholars from seeing the concept of adequacy through myriad perspectives and has contributed to a resegregation of schools. Education policy…

Describes the historical efforts of economically, politically, and socially oppressed black communities across the segregated U.S. south to give their children a quality education, highlighting rural Prince Edward County, Virginia. In an attempt to circumvent Brown v. Board of Education (1954), white leaders closed every public school in the…

The history of the twenty-five year period since the Brown v. Board of Education decision can be divided into three phases. The first phase was from '54 to '64, during which the Court applied its rule of "all deliberate speed." The focus was on desegregating the dual systems of the South, the products of de jure segregation, and all…

This paper first analyzes the situation of special needs education in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and then reports on qualitative research on three inclusive education initiatives in the province involving children with Down Syndrome at the primary school level. Current developments in the province include the continued existence…

Most state legislatures have either passed or taken under consideration for passage some minimum competency testing program. However, it is not clear that these legislative efforts will result in implementation programs that fulfill legislative intent. Throughout the United States legal challenges from students adversely affected by testing…

Since 1835 when a state constitutional convention denied them the right to attend school, the Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina have established a strong educational system. Although another constitutional convention in 1868 mandated public school terms for all children, the county had few schools until 1885 and no schools…