Oftentimes, policymakers discuss school reform only in terms of its benefits to students. In this brief, researcher Bartley R. Danielsen identifies how more multifaceted reforms can not only improve educational outcomes for students but also revitalize communities by encouraging wealthy families to remain in lower-income areas, thereby raising…

It is difficult to overstate the importance of segregation for race- and ethnicity-based school funding disparities in the United States. In many respects, unequal educational opportunity depends existentially on segregation. Racial and ethnic disparities in wealth accumulation are perpetuated over generations, ensuring persistent segregation even…

Large disparities in educational quality exist between cities and surrounding suburban school districts and are increasing between suburban districts--a trend that emerged over the past several decades and shows signs of growing. Using in-depth interviews, this study examines how children are sorted into different school districts across a…

"The Integration Anomaly" explores a "puzzling divergence" between changes in metropolitan residential and school segregation. Based on a review of existing literature, it argues that the best way to address rising school segregation is to decouple school assignment from neighborhoods through universal school choice. The report…

This policy brief provides a review of the social science evidence on the housing-school nexus, highlighting the problem of reoccurring racial segregation and inequality absent strong, proactive federal or state integration policies. Three areas of research are covered: (a) the nature of the housing-school nexus; (b) the impact of school…

Background/Context: The United States is becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, and increasingly racially isolated across race-ethnic boundaries. Researchers have argued that both diversity and racial isolation serve to undermine the social cohesion needed to bind American citizens to one another and to society at large. Focus of…

Background/Context: The educational fate of the children of low-wage immigrants is a salient issue in all the economically developed societies that have received major immigration flows since the 1950s. The article considers the way in which educational systems in the two countries structure the educational experiences and shape the opportunities…

Discusses the factors influencing the recent increase in school segregation based on findings of recent study by The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. Resegregation factors include changes in residential patterns, public-school choice, and Supreme Court decisions such as "Freeman v Pitts" (1992) and "Missouri v…

Explored trends in segregation by race/ethnicity and income class from 1970-00. Declines in racial segregation and increases in income class segregation were found until the 1990s, when income segregation declined. Poor families experienced greater segregation from others than families in other income groups did from each other. Blacks experienced…

Analyzes changes in relative decentralization for Blacks in 40 metropolitan statistical areas during the 1970s. Although there is substantial suburbanization among Blacks, measured conventionally, evidence implies that Blacks will gain little if job growth, high-quality education, and superior environments follow Whites as they move further into…

In social studies classes, there is a longstanding interest in how societies evolve and change over time. However, as stories of the past unfold, it is often difficult to identify a direct link between causes and effects, so students are forced to accept at face value the interpretations of economists, political scientists, historians,…

Two kinds of research, quantitative investigations and qualitative studies, are needed to assist policy makers in understanding the White flight/school desegregation relationship. At the least, a pluralistic model of research strategies and many more case studies should be undertaken before and after public policy intervention. (Author/KR)

Foster children face many obstacles to academic achievement. In addition to low educational achievement, they may have high rates of school mobility and experience long delays when transferring schools. Sources of these transfers and delays include numerous residential movements and lack of coordination between child welfare and school…

In Seattle, Washington, schools residential distribution of the student population is analyzed through a process known as "geoprocessing." This information enabled the district to close schools and design and operate a residence-based desegregation plan. Geoprocessing is also used for enrollment projections, transportation planning,…

This paper exploits a natural experiment created by public housing closings in Chicago to examine the impact of residential relocation on educational outcomes. During the 1990s, the Chicago Housing Authority closed over 7,400 units of public housing as part of redevelopment and consolidation efforts. Households affected by the closures were…