In 2000, an Idea Brief asserted that the best way to improve education would be to give every schoolchild the opportunity to attend a middle class public school (economic school integration). This brief reviews recent research and policy developments regarding economic school integration, noting that school segregation based on socioeconomic status is increasing. Many communities are turning to economic integration as a way to preserve successful racial integration programs without running afoul of constitutional prohibitions against race in student assignment. Economic integration generally produces considerable racial integration as a byproduct. This brief presents a sample of communities that are using socioeconomic integration. The number of students attending public schools with economic integration plans has jumped from 20,000 in 1999 to more than 400,000 in 2002. Early results suggest that economic school integration can be very successful. Research shows that test scores are rising and dropout rates are declining, despite a relatively high poverty rate in the districts. Some studies indicate that low-income students will do better in majority middle-class schools than they will in high-poverty schools. This is mainly due to the influence of peers, more active and influential parents, and the best qualified teachers. (Contains 33 endnotes.) (SM)