There is a large and growing number of non-degree credential offerings between a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree, as well as degree programs beyond a bachelor's degree. Nevertheless, research on the financial returns to non-degree credentials and degree-granting programs is often narrow and siloed. To fill this gap, we leverage a…

The 1974 "Boston Busing Crisis" would lead to a dramatic shift in the racial makeup of Boston Public School's for generations to come. In June of 1974, Judge Wendell Arthur Garrity ruled in favor of Tallulah Morgan, along with other African American parents, that the Boston School Committee "knowingly carried out a systematic…

This study leverages six years of public prekindergarten (PreK) and kindergarten data (N = 22,469) from the Boston Public Schools (BPS) to examine enrollment in BPS PreK from 2012-2017 for students from different racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and linguistic groups. The largest differences in enrollment emerged with respect to race and…

A growing body of research shows that students benefit when they demographically match their teachers. However, little is known about how matching affects social-emotional development. We use student-fixed effects to exploit changes over time in the proportion of teachers within a school grade who demographically match a student to estimate…

School assignment in Boston and New York City came to national attention in the 1970s as courts across the country tried to integrate schools. Today, district-wide choice allows Boston and New York students to enroll far from home. Although 1970s desegregation efforts likely benefited minority students, urban school transportation is increasingly…

This is the policy brief for the discussion paper, "Still Worth the Trip? School Busing Effects in Boston and New York." While choice systems offer students in segregated neighborhoods access to schools that may be more integrated and of higher quality, does busing lead to improved academic performance as measured by higher test scores…

"The United States today is a suburban nation that thinks of race as an urban issue, and often assumes that it has been largely solved," write the editors of this groundbreaking and passionately argued book. They show that the locus of racial and ethnic transformation is now clearly suburban and illustrate patterns of demographic change…

Boston Public Schools (BPS) commissioned companion studies as part of its efforts to address achievement gaps for Black and Latino males. The first study revealed the increasing diversity of Black and Latino males and stark opportunity gaps throughout the system that contribute in large part to wide attainment gaps for these students. We…

Boston Public Schools (BPS) commissioned companion studies as part of its efforts to address achievement gaps for Black and Latino males. The first study revealed the increasing diversity of Black and Latino males and stark opportunity gaps throughout the system that contribute in large part to wide attainment gaps for these students. We…

This paper analyzes three theories of racial discrimination by arguing that a dual housing market, a strong white taste for segregation, and pure racial price discrimination are all operative in the Boston urbanized area. Research dealing with discrimination and price differentials in housing for blacks is reviewed. It is pointed out that there…

This paper describes the role of religious institutions in reducing youth violence in the inner city. The paper focuses on the Ten-Point Coalition, a group of ministers in Boston who have contributed in specific ways to reducing youth violence in that city. It analyzes the effectiveness of the police in reducing violence, pointing to the…

Discusses how racial and social conflict are manifested in the struggle for adequate housing and describes the failure of conventional programs to address poverty and neighborhood deterioration in Boston, Massachusetts. Outlines possible solutions for the future. (Author/GC)

This study examined cognitive and affective development among children in ten preschool (Head Start) programs in the Boston area that varied in socioeconomic class, racial composition, and cultural emphasis. Data, collected over a two-year period, were compared in an effort to ascertain the effects of socioeconomic status and racism on the…