This study offers a comparative examination of desegregation policy reforms in Belgium, Chile, and the Netherlands, addressing equity reforms to universal school choice systems. Through an analysis of the reform trajectories, we explore the evolution of policies, the causal mechanisms of change, efforts to institutionalize policies, and the…

The desegregation of American public school systems in the wake of "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) was a vast, protracted, and, in many cases, frustrated historical project that impacted individual communities in a multitude of ways. Drawing upon official school board records, court documents, oral histories, newspaper accounts,…

This paper cites some of the contributions that sociology has made to desegregation policy. The major contribution, made by public opinion research, is establishing the level of support or opposition to busing policy. A second contribution to desegregation policy has been made by those sociologists and social psychologists who have studied the…

Suggests that given the fact that there is no way to prevent further expansion of the ghettos, spreading school and housing segregation are virtually inevitable in the absence of a powerful policy to alter the normal self-fulfilling prophecies of neighborhood transition. (Author/AM)

Critically examines James S. Coleman's stated views on public school desegregation and public policy, asserting that the use of empirical research on the effects of desegregation to form policy on the pursuance of integration overlooks the rights blacks have as citizens to integrated public facilities, including schools. (JM)

Concludes that school desegregation has such an incredible ideological momentum that objective and rational assessment of its true effects often seems unattainable. Until there is solid evidence that educational and social benefits of desegregation outweigh its harmful effects, it should not be imposed upon an unwilling public. (Author/JM)

Argues that the legal and political effort to open up the suburbs to the poor and black, which has become perhaps the most important thrust in the policy area, is not necessary, for integration of blacks is occurring, while a major public policy for the integration of the poor would be impossible to implement. (Author/JM)

Coleman's message has been misunderstood, it is argued, because the scholar has been engaging in a perilous exercise that is not uncommon among social scientists. He has been mixing rhetoric and research in many recent pronouncements, and few people know which is which. The scientist and advocate hats must be clearly labeled. (Author/JM)

Reports the results of a national survey conducted for the Commission on Civil Rights, which found that the public does not know much about the school busing to which it is supposedly so vehemently opposed, and that that lack of knowledge affects where it stands on the issue. (Author/JM)

Presents an overview of the federal role in the development of school desegregation policy, emphasizing the interactive nature of judicial, legislative, and executive involvement. Reviews the six articles in the theme issue. (FMW)

Examines several obstacles to the effective use of social science research in school desegregation controversies and discusses the needs of judges, administrators, and elected officials who must make decisions concerning desegregation plans. Available from Duke University Press, Box 6697 College Station, Durham, NC 27708. (Author/IRT)

Argues that the data show that black parents will opt for integration if given the chance, and white parents can be drawn to integrated schools with attractive curricula: Open Enrollment can reasonably be expected to produce significant integration without the political and moral costs of coercion. (Author/JM)

This paper, which consists of two parts, suggests criteria for the consideration of Washington State school superintendents engaged in creating racially integrated schools. Part I identifies components of an integrated school district, focusing on: access to schools, classes, and programs; staffing; facilities; curriculum; parental involvement;…

This report is based on a case study which examined the efforts of community organizations in Columbus, Ohio to strengthen citizen participation (through the use of networking strategies) in the implementation phase of school desegregation. The report describes interorganizational networks as a function of exchange relations. Specialization,…

This document includes statements of the position of the Chicago Urban Leugue (CUL) on eight issues pertaining to the desegregation of the Chicago Public Schools. In the introduction, "The General Purposes and Goals for a Desegregation Plan," the CUL states its support for the racial integration of students, including some mandatory…