Little research examines the experiences and perspectives of Asian American parents who participate in K-12 desegregation efforts, such as magnet schools. Conceptually framed by research on Asian American racialization, this qualitative case study investigates 10 Asian American parents in metropolitan Hartford, Connecticut; and the motivations…

Over sixty years following Brown vs. Board of Education, racial and socioeconomic segregation and lack of equal access to educational opportunities persist. Across the country, voluntary desegregation busing programs aim to ameliorate these imbalances and disparities. A longstanding Massachusetts program, METCO, buses K-12 students of color from…

Background: Magnet schools emerged during the 1960s as part of an effort to desegregate schools across the United States. Their primary purpose is to provide appealing educational settings to induce voluntary desegregation through parental choices (George & Darling-Hammond, 2021). Some of these magnet schools operate at a regional level to…

The decades-long resistance to federally imposed school desegregation entered a new phase at the turn of the new century, when federal courts stopped pushing racial balance as a remedy for past segregation, adopting in its place a color-blind approach in judging local school districts' assignment plans. Using data that span 1998 to 2016 from North…

Since the Supreme Court's 2007 "Parents Involved" decision, school districts have been pursuing integration in more legally and politically charged environments. The retreat of the federal government in the racial integration of schools is well documented, but less understood is what local school districts are doing to fill that void.…

The decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1" (2007) has forced school districts to begin thinking of new ways to integrate their schools without relying on race as the single factor in their assignment plans. While some school districts already have begun…

This study analyzes public perceptions of Boston's magnet school program. Typically evaluated in terms of their impact on racial integration, magnet schools also were designed to improve the tarnished image of the Boston school system. While promoting voluntary integration at a handful of schools, the magnet program struggled to change the…

This study reports the findings of a questionnaire survey developed to gather information on the general characteristics of magnet programs and to determine the use of magnet schools in overall district integration plans. Thirty-eight of 98 districts responding to the survey reported utilizing magnet schools for integration purposes. Forty-one…

Describes a voluntary desegregation program implemented in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Presents results of a study designed to relate program compliance with parent racial/ethnic group perceptions regarding accomplishments of specific program objectives, including racial balance, provision of remedial services, basic skills centers, and provision…

A study was conducted to investigate: (1) how successful has the magnet school been in attracting a student body that is representative of the students in the school district? and (2) according to the perceptions of parents of pupils at a senior high magnet school, what are the important program and non-program factors affecting the…

Describes a study that evaluated the impact of a voluntary busing program begun in Chicago for the purpose of school desegregation. Discusses student academic achievement, student affect, classroom interaction, and parent attitudes. Concludes that, though the program was not detrimental to students in desegregated schools, parent discontent seemed…

Background/Context: Unlike the situation nationally where desegregation progress is faltering, the school district in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has recently undertaken measures to increase balance in pupil assignment despite considerable local opposition to these measures and the absence of a court order requiring the district to do so. Moreover,…

Compares the effectiveness of magnet schools in increasing interracial contact in two contexts: (1) districts using magnet schools as the alternative to forced busing; and (2) districts using magnet schools as a component of a mandatory desegregation plan. (Author/BE)

The desegregation effectiveness of voluntary plans with magnet schools was compared to that of mandatory reassignment plans with magnet schools using a sample of 20 school districts. Results show that a voluntary magnet plan will provide more long-term interracial exposure than a mandatory plan with magnet components. (SLD)

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the effect of termination of funding on a magnet-school program. The federally funded program was implemented in Forrest City, Arkansas, to eliminate racial imbalance in the elementary schools. The program was based on the assumption that with enough time and financial assistance, racial…