The case for race-conscious education policy In our unequal society, families of color fully share the dream of college but their children often attend schools that do not prepare them, and the higher education system gives the best opportunities to the most privileged. Students of color hope for college but often face a dead end. For many young people, racial inequality puts them at a disadvantage from early childhood. The Walls around Opportunity argues that colorblind policies have made college inaccessible to a large share of students of color, and reveals how policies that acknowledge racial inequalities and set racial equality goals can succeed where colorblindness has failed. Gary Orfield paints a troubling portrait of American higher education, explaining how profound racial gaps imbedded in virtually every stage of our children's lives pose a major threat to communities of color and the nation. He describes how the 1960s and early 1970s was the only period in history to witness sustained efforts at racial equity in higher education, and how the Reagan era ushered in today's colorblind policies, which ignore the realities of color inequality. Orfield shows how this misguided policy has resegregated public schools, exacerbated inequalities in college preparation, denied needed financial aid to families, and led to huge price increases over decades that have seen little real gain in income for most Americans. Drawing on a wealth of new data and featuring commentaries by Stella Flores and James Anderson, this timely and urgent book shows how colorblind policies serve only to raise the walls of segregation higher, and proposes real solutions that can make higher education available to all.

This authoritative book examines the long-standing campaign that resulted in today's school voucher policies. Advocates of private school vouchers promulgated a vision of service to low-income families, students of color, and other marginalized student populations. Vouchers were sold as a way to advance civil rights. But as voucher policies grew in size and became an element of Republican orthodoxy, they evolved into subsidies for a broad swath of advantaged families, with minimal antidiscrimination protections. The approach also transmuted into forms like education savings account programs and vouchers funded through tax-credited donations. In this book, scholars and national experts untangle this complex story to show how law and policy have aligned to dramatically alter the likely future of American schooling. They offer recommendations for modifying current policies with the goal of capturing more of the originally stated vision of voucher programs—equitable access to quality schooling, protection of all students' civil rights, and advancement of the wider societal goals of a democratic educational system. Book Features: Shows how a fast-growing policy is transforming education in the United States in ways that are very different from how that policy was sold to the public. Sets the stage with a discussion of the history and legal dimensions of voucher battles, as well as the politics of policy change. Examines the basic structure of contemporary private schooling, the Southern history of vouchers, and the key federal court decisions that have opened the door to an explosion of state legislation. Offers profiles of voucher policies in two states that have made the largest efforts to support vouchers, as well as the only nationally funded program in the nation's capital. Edited by three scholars with extensive experience in the study of school choice, with chapters by national experts who have produced seminal work in the field.

Many parents search for a "good" school to enroll their children. They look at the school's standardized test scores and check out demographic statistics, but fail to investigate the strengths of these schools that have a vibrant mix of races and cultures. Eileen Gale Kugler offers a unique perspective on what every educator, parent, and community leader should know about reaping the rich harvest of our diverse schools. This book provides guidance on how we can all work together to dispel the myths and nurture the opportunities that these schools offer such as academic challenge and social advantages. Anecdotes from Kugler's personal experience are included as well as information from 80 interviews with key educators, parents, and students. This book stands alone as a resource that pulls all of this information together. Will be of interest to anyone who cares about education. See Wendy Burt-Thomas's interview with author Eileen Kugler at http: //askwendy.wordpress.com/?s=kugle

In Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education, leading scholars address the unforeseen impact of accountability standards on students of color and the institutions that disproportionately serve them. The book describes how federal policies can worsen existing racial inequalities in higher education and offers alternative solutions aimed to protect and advance civil rights for low-income and minority students and their colleges. This volume begins with a chapter putting higher education accountability in historical perspective and connecting it to the increasing importance of postsecondary education for upward mobility, coupled with rising barriers to minority student access and success. Based on a series of studies using cutting-edge research methodologies, the contributors suggest new ways to design and evaluate accountability policies that avoid predictable negative consequences. Written against a backdrop of unequal opportunity and racial inequality in preparation for and access to higher education, Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education arrives at a pivotal time in American education.

The first major battle over school choice came out of struggles over equalizing and integrating schools in the civil rights era, when it became apparent that choice could be either a serious barrier or a significant tool for reaching these goals. The second large and continuing movement for choice was part of the very different anti-government, individualistic, market-based movement of a more conservative period in which many of the lessons of that earlier period were forgotten, though choice was once again presented as the answer to racial inequality. This book brings civil rights back into the center of the debate and tries to move from doctrine to empirical research in exploring the many forms of choice and their very different consequences for equity in U.S. schools. Leading researchers conclude that although helping minority children remains a central justification for choice proponents, ignoring the essential civil rights dimensions of choice plans risks compounding rather than remedying racial inequality.

"The United States today is a suburban nation that thinks of race as an urban issue, and often assumes that it has been largely solved," write the editors of this groundbreaking and passionately argued book. They show that the locus of racial and ethnic transformation is now clearly suburban and illustrate patterns of demographic change in the suburbs with a series of rich case studies. The book concludes by considering what kinds of strategies school officials and community leaders can pursue at all levels to improve opportunities for suburban low-income students and students of colour, and what ways address the challenges associated with demographic change.

Public education at the crossroads Confronting a reality that many policy makers would prefer to ignore, contributors to this volume offer the latest information on the trend toward the racial and socioeconomic resegregation of southern schools. In the region that has achieved more widespread public school integration than any other since 1970, resegregation, combined with resource inequities and the current ""accountability movement,"" is now bringing public education in the South to a critical crossroads. In thirteen essays, leading thinkers in the field of race and public education present not only the latest data and statistics on the trend toward resegregation but also the legal and policy analysis of why these trends are accelerating, how they are harmful, and what can be done to counter them. What's at stake is the quality of education available to both white and nonwhite students, they argue. This volume will help educators, policy makers, and concerned citizens begin a much-needed dialogue about how America can best educate its increasingly multiethnic student population in the twenty-first century.

This authoritative book examines the long-standing campaign that resulted in today's school voucher policies. Advocates of private school vouchers promulgated a vision of service to low-income families, students of color, and other marginalized student populations. Vouchers were sold as a way to advance civil rights. But as voucher policies grew in size and became an element of Republican orthodoxy, they evolved into subsidies for a broad swath of advantaged families, with minimal antidiscrimination protections. The approach also transmuted into forms like education savings account programs and vouchers funded through tax-credited donations. In this book, scholars and national experts untangle this complex story to show how law and policy have aligned to dramatically alter the likely future of American schooling. They offer recommendations for modifying current policies with the goal of capturing more of the originally stated vision of voucher programs—equitable access to quality schooling, protection of all students' civil rights, and advancement of the wider societal goals of a democratic educational system. Book Features: Shows how a fast-growing policy is transforming education in the United States in ways that are very different from how that policy was sold to the public. Sets the stage with a discussion of the history and legal dimensions of voucher battles, as well as the politics of policy change. Examines the basic structure of contemporary private schooling, the Southern history of vouchers, and the key federal court decisions that have opened the door to an explosion of state legislation. Offers profiles of voucher policies in two states that have made the largest efforts to support vouchers, as well as the only nationally funded program in the nation's capital. Edited by three scholars with extensive experience in the study of school choice, with chapters by national experts who have produced seminal work in the field.

The first major battle over school choice came out of struggles over equalizing and integrating schools in the civil rights era, when it became apparent that choice could be either a serious barrier or a significant tool for reaching these goals. The second large and continuing movement for choice was part of the very different anti-government, individualistic, market-based movement of a more conservative period in which many of the lessons of that earlier period were forgotten, though choice was once again presented as the answer to racial inequality. This book brings civil rights back into the center of the debate and tries to move from doctrine to empirical research in exploring the many forms of choice and their very different consequences for equity in U.S. schools. Leading researchers conclude that although helping minority children remains a central justification for choice proponents, ignoring the essential civil rights dimensions of choice plans risks compounding rather than remedying racial inequality.

The book is divided into two major sections: (1) "Reclaiming Integration"; (2) "Reclaiming the Language of Race." Both sections are located in the context of the "post-racial" era and analyzed by nationally renowned scholars in various dimensions. The purpose of this organization is to link structural efforts to encourage voluntary integration with discursive efforts to broaden our social understanding of race in ways that advance the project of American democracy. It is our firm belief that we cannot achieve meaningful advances against enduring racial inequalities without linking structural impacts of racialization (e.g., racial inequalities in economics, education, healthcare, etc.) to the social discourse of race, specifically in terms of the rejection of post-racial politics that are based on the false idea that racism and discrimination are no longer obstacles to opportunity in the United States.

The book is divided into two major sections: (1) "Reclaiming Integration"; (2) "Reclaiming the Language of Race." Both sections are located in the context of the "post-racial" era and analyzed by nationally renowned scholars in various dimensions. The purpose of this organization is to link structural efforts to encourage voluntary integration with discursive efforts to broaden our social understanding of race in ways that advance the project of American democracy. It is our firm belief that we cannot achieve meaningful advances against enduring racial inequalities without linking structural impacts of racialization (e.g., racial inequalities in economics, education, healthcare, etc.) to the social discourse of race, specifically in terms of the rejection of post-racial politics that are based on the false idea that racism and discrimination are no longer obstacles to opportunity in the United States.

Many parents search for a 'good' school to enroll their children. They look at the school's standardized test scores and check out demographic statistics, but fail to investigate the strengths of these schools that have a vibrant mix of races and cultures. Eileen Gale Kugler offers a unique perspective on what every educator, parent, and community leader should know about reaping the rich harvest of our diverse schools. This book provides guidance on how we can all work together to dispel the myths and nurture the opportunities that these schools offer such as academic challenge and social advantages. Anecdotes from Kugler's personal experience are included as well as information from 80 interviews with key educators, parents, and students. This book stands alone as a resource that pulls all of this information together. Will be of interest to anyone who cares about education. See Wendy Burt-Thomas's interview with author Eileen Kugler at http: //askwendy.wordpress.com/?s=kugle

Desegregation has been one of the only legally enforceable routes of access and opportunity for millions of school children. Yet even as the nation celebrated the 40th anniversary of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, Gary Orfield, Director of the Harvard Project on School Desegregation, began to attract national attention by identifying and documenting the insidious trend toward the resegregation of our public schools.

Civil Rights and Federal Higher Education offers a renewed vision for higher education policy making, presenting an incisive analysis of the connections between educational politics and educational inequality. With a view toward the future, the editors assert that the thoughtful application of evidence-based solutions to complex policy problems can help establish a more just and equitable system of higher education. Edited by Nicholas Hillman and Gary Orfield, the volume focuses on federal policy debates that have significant racial and socioeconomic implications, linking civil rights reforms to contemporary higher education policy issues. Through a mix of history and current events, the chapters highlight how policy has strayed from the Higher Education Act’s intended trajectory of promoting and protecting civil rights. This drift, the editors show, has created far-reaching consequences for students of color, low-income students, and incarcerated students, in addition to the colleges that serve them. Deftly identifying the social justice dimensions of today’s federal policies, the editors reveal how certain political influences have preserved the interests of powerful and historically advantaged stakeholders—often at the expense of those who are less powerful and most disadvantaged. With great insight, the book’s contributors explore higher education issues such as enrollment at Minority Serving Institutions, for-profit college outcomes, and legal and academic perspectives on affirmative action. Perhaps more importantly, Civil Rights and Federal Higher Education provides guidance on what can be done to course correct. The book offers short- and long-term policy prescriptions and policy alternatives to help legislative staffers, policy analysts, and researchers plot a way forward.

In Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education, leading scholars address the unforeseen impact of accountability standards on students of color and the institutions that disproportionately serve them. The book describes how federal policies can worsen existing racial inequalities in higher education and offers alternative solutions aimed to protect and advance civil rights for low-income and minority students and their colleges. This volume begins with a chapter putting higher education accountability in historical perspective and connecting it to the increasing importance of postsecondary education for upward mobility, coupled with rising barriers to minority student access and success. Based on a series of studies using cutting-edge research methodologies, the contributors suggest new ways to design and evaluate accountability policies that avoid predictable negative consequences. Written against a backdrop of unequal opportunity and racial inequality in preparation for and access to higher education, Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education arrives at a pivotal time in American education.

Only half of our nation's minority students graduate from high school along with their peers. For many groups-Latino, black, or Native American males-graduation rates are even lower. As states hasten to institute higher standards and high-stakes tests in the effort to raise student achievement, this situation is likely to worsen, particularly among minority students. Yet this educational and civil rights crisis remains largely hidden from public view. The dropout problem is far worse than statistics indicate. Many states and districts simply do not count those students who fail to receive diplomas as dropouts. Even the hardest-hit urban districts report dropout rates of only 5-10 percent. In Dropouts in America, The Civil Rights Project reveals the scope of this hidden crisis, reviewing the most recent and accurate data on graduation and dropout rates, exploring the reasons that young people drop out of school, and presenting the most promising models for helping high school students graduate with their peers. Dropouts in America is a call to action for educators, advocates, and policymakers alike, and an invaluable resource for those concerned with equal rights and the quality of American education.

In the courts and in referenda campaigns, affirmative action in college admissions is under full-scale attack. Though it was designed to help resolve a variety of serious racial problems, affirmative action's survival may turn on just one question--whether or not the educational value of diversity is sufficiently compelling to justify consideration of race as a factor in deciding whom to admit to colleges and universities. Diversity Challenged is designed to address that question. This book explores what is known about how increasing minority enrollment changes and enriches the educational process. In chapter after chapter, researchers and policymakers discuss substantial developing evidence showing that diversity of students can and usually does produce a broader educational experience, both in traditional learning and in preparing for jobs, professions, and effective citizenship in a multiracial democracy. The evidence also suggests that such benefits can be significantly increased by appropriate leadership and support on campus. Diversity may be challenged on college campuses today, but the research and evidence in this book shows how diversity works. -From the Introduction by Gary Orfield

This book examines the Buffalo Public Schools and their admissions process following a civil rights complaint filed by parents and community leaders. The authors offer research-based recommendations for reducing barriers to enrollment and for creating competitive admissions choice systems that will allow all students access to important educational opportunities.

This book examines the Buffalo Public Schools and their admissions process following a civil rights complaint filed by parents and community leaders. The authors offer research-based recommendations for reducing barriers to enrollment and for creating competitive admissions choice systems that will allow all students access to important educational opportunities.

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision upholding affirmative action, this comprehensive and timely book outlines the agenda for achieving racial justice in higher education in the next generation. Weaving together current research and a discussion of overarching demographic, legal, and political issues, the book focuses on the racial transformation of higher education and the structural barriers that perpetuate racial stratification at the postsecondary level. Higher Education and the Color Line includes chapters that outline the demographic changes in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary school enrollment; the evolving role of law and policy; the barriers faced by minority college students; and the kinds of programs that best serve them. Topics addressed include financial aid; the role of community colleges; nontraditional paths to postsecondary education; and the role of higher education in social and economic mobility. In addition to providing a thorough and up-to-date assessment of the state of racial integration in higher education, the book goes beyond the usual black-and-white analysis to provide a multiethnic perspective supported by extensive new data. Taken together, these discussions examine the role of higher education in opening up equal opportunity for mobility in American society--or in reinforcing the segregation between white and nonwhite America. It provides insight for how institutions, states, and the country should be thinking about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's hope that affirmative action will no longer be needed in 25 years.

The dream of public higher education in America is to provide opportunity for many and to offer transformative help to American communities and the economy.