In a newly desegregated school, sixth graders with varying degrees of previous interracial contact were asked to rate their classmates as preferred work or play partners. Results indicated that: (1) there were no differences in cross-race ratings made by students with a great deal of prior interracial contact and those with little prior…

This study of seating patterns in a middle school shows that race is an extremely important grouping criterion even for children who have chosen to attend a desegregated school. Sex was found to be an even stronger grouping criterion. (Author/AM)

Interracial interaction patterns were observed in a school whose sixth and seventh grades came close to meeting Allport's conditions conducive to improved intergroup relations. As predicted, compared to students who entered the school's eighth grade the previous year from largely segregated schools, these students interacted more across racial…

In order to examine whether different results are obtained from two sociometric techniques for determining children's peer preferences in desegregated schools, two studies were conducted. The techniques compared were (1) the traditional peer nomination method, in which children list a few classmates whom they consider friends; and (2) the roster…

This study examined peer interaction in four racially mixed eighth grade classrooms. Observational data were gathered on the interactions of 69 white children and 32 black children during the course of one semester. The study found considerably more cross-race peer interaction than have previous studies conducted in non-academic settings in…

School desegregation has been one of the most controversial issues on the American political scene during the last quarter century and has sparked considerable controversy among researchers as well as among the general public. Although there has been very real disagreement among researchers on a number of specific issues, virtually all recent…

The 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" decision laid the basis for dismantling "de jure" racial segregation of schools. "Brown" represented a significant shift in the national attitude toward blacks and was an important advance in intergroup relations. However, in the last decade the proportion of black students…

The amount and type of peer interaction occuring in four racially mixed eighth grade classrooms were explored. Analysis of the interactions suggested that cross-race interactions of all groups were more task-related than within-race interactions. In turn, within-race interactions were more social than cross-race interactions. (Author/PN)

The 1954 "Brown v. Board of Education" decision laid the basis for dismantling de jure racial segregation of schools and resulted in a 50 percent reduction in the number of schools in which black students composed 90 to 100 percent of the enrollment between 1968 and 1980. "Brown" represented a significant shift in the national…

The study on which this book is based examined the development of social relationships among black and white students in a new, desegregated urban middle school. In the initial phase, information was gathered from classroom observation, interviews, and a wide variety of supplementary sources over a three-year period beginning with summer…

This report focuses on the relations which have developed between black and white students in a new interracial middle school. In addition to describing these relations, it analyzes why and how they have developed. A review of the literature on desegregation and intergroup relations is used to set the context of the study. A description of the…

An intensive study of one desegregated school, located in a large northeastern industrial city, specifically sought to investigate peer interactions among sixth- and seventh-grade students in a racially mixed school. The basic data-gathering strategy involved observations conducted in classrooms, hallways, playgrounds, and the cafeteria. Observers…