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…

In recent years, the responsibility for the desegregation of American public schools has transitioned from federal court mandates to school board programs and policies. There is widespread belief that this has resulted in the resegregation of schools across the country. One popular policy that is purported to provide the opportunity for voluntary…

This article presents research on the school choice processes and practices in a large urban district on the West Coast. It shares the stories of three mothers' experiences with public school choice and tells how, through the process of choosing schools for their children, they became participants in the inequities and inequalities of the…

Two papers by B. C. Clewell and M. F. Joy and one paper by the Educational Commission of the States discuss the frequently debated questions of parental choice of the public schools their children attend. The first paper, "Montclair--A Model Magnet," describes the experience of the Montclair (New Jersey) school system in using a…

Contemporary desegregation planning has been dominated by the use of magnet schools and the controlled choice process. This paper includes an examination of the organizing principles of magnet schools. Following the description of the architecture of the magnet schools themselves is a review of the organizing principles involved in the controlled…

Explores the most-effective type of desegregation plan for the reduction of segregation in public schools by using a choice-assignment continuum for 20 plans to account for variation in desegregation orders. Plans the rely on assignment reduce the level of desegregation more than do choice plans. (SLD)

The success of the mandated school desegregation efforts of the Jefferson County (Kentucky) public schools demonstrates the potential of a countywide interdistrict plan relying largely on coercive desegregation techniques. The example contradicts the common assumption that mandated plans result in significant white enrollment losses. (SLD)

This book presents the findings of a study of school desegregation strategies conducted in order to examine which of the various approaches to school desegregation most effectively reduce the level of segregation in public schools. The first two chapters look at school desegregation since the 1950s and mandatory versus voluntary desegregation…

Recent reports on educational reform tend to encourage a return to enforced uniformity in American public schools. If public education is to compete successfully with private education, however, increasing numbers of magnet schools should be established to provide diversity and genuine choice among public schools. (JBM)

This paper summarizes events leading to the interdistrict settlement of the St. Louis (Missouri) school desegregation case. Remarks are focused on four points: (1) an overview of the settlement process and rationale, (2) an explanation of the principal provisions, (3) a brief analysis of the implementation process, and (4) a discussion of the…

An interpretive overview of Georgia's response to the 1954 school desegregation decision is presented. The study, approached historically, concludes that massive resistance to desegregation crumbled in the state in large part due to forces within the state. It is argued that the public's commitment to public education was stronger than its support…

This study shows where school segregation is concentrated and where schools remain highly integrated. It offers the first national comparison of segregation by community size and reveals that segregation remains high in big cities and serious in mid-size central cities. Many African-American and Latino students also attend segregated schools in…

This examination of parent choice among public schools in Massachusetts begins with an expanded version of remarks made by C. L. Glenn to the Board of the National Education Association describing the parent choice options available in Massachusetts and the ways in which they have developed. Approximately four of five minority students in…

The Education Mobility Assistance Program (EMAP) was created in Ohio in 1979 to provide funds to school districts that volunteered to racially desegregate their schools by transferring students. This report evaluates the impact of EMAP funds in reducing the number of racially isolated schools and in providing equal educational opportunities for…