This policy study reviews American school desegregation plans in general and in four cities (Atlanta, Boston, Milwaukee, and Seattle) in particular. Chapter 1 focuses on relevant court decisions from 1954 to the present. Chapter 2 encapsulates the interaction of States, communities, and courts and presents the study's criteria for plan effectiveness. Chapter 3 discusses the study's scope and data collection, and compares the social history of each subject city. (Of the four, only Seattle's plan was initiated without a court order, but each plan is considered relatively successful). Chapters 4-5 discuss State and local planning at a general level. Chapters 6-9 (by Robert A. Dentler, David A. Bennett, William Maynard, and Alonzo A. Crim and Nancy J. Emmons, respectively) are detailed evaluative statements authored by participants in development and implementation of plans in each city. They present the plan models of each city. These models are then evaluated in the following three chapters: Chapter 10 (co-authored by Charles V. Willie and Michael Fultz) argues that mandatory desegregation is unrelated to white flight. Chapters 11 and 12 analyze, respectively, community organization in Seattle and black leadership in Atlanta. The concluding chapter (13) provides a comparative analysis of model school desegregation plans (by Willie and Fultz). The Appendix contains the essay outline prepared by the main author and used by field consultants. (KH)