Brief No. 7
September, 2011
Updated
October, 2011
The National Coalition on School Diversity
Research Brief
The Reciprocal Relationship Between
Housing and School Integration
By Roslyn Arlin Mickelson
G
iven the common practice of assigning students to neighborhood schools, any serious
hope of integrating America’s public education system requires us to consider not only educational
policies and practices, but also the demography of
neighborhoods and the housing policies that contribute to residential integration or segregation.
Most American students live in communities that
are dominated by families from one race and
socioeconomic status. Public schools typically
reflect their neighborhood demographics because
most students are assigned to schools based on
their residence.1 These straightforward dynamics
underlie the relationship between the integration
or segregation of schools and their feeder
neighborhoods.
The links between integration or segregation of
schools and neighborhoods are also reciprocal.
This essay summarizes the social science evidence
on the reciprocal relationship between integrated
schooling and integrated housing. The synergistic
nature of this relationship unfolds across the life
course. The model in Figure 1 illustrates the connections between housing and school integration
and the intergenerational and reciprocal nature of
their relationship.
Model of Dynamics of Integrated Housing, Integrated Education, and Short- and
Long-term Outcomes in Multiethnic Democratic Societies
Integrated
Education
Short-term
Outcomes
for K-12
Students
Long-term
Outcomes
for Adults
Integrated
Housing
’ Greater achievement across the
curriculum
’ Reduction in prejudice and
cross-racial fears
’ Increase in mutual trust, respect,
and acceptance
’ Increase in cross-racial friendships
’ Greater capacity for multicultural
navigation
’ Greater educational
and occupational
attainment
’ Workplace readiness
for the global
economy
’ Cross-racial friendships,
mutual trust, respect,
and acceptance
’ Living in integrated
neighborhoods
’ Democratic values
and attitudes
’ Greater civic
participation
’ Avoidance of criminal
justice system
Research Brief No. 7
National Coalition on School Diversity
Segregated schools are highly effective delivery
systems for unequal educational opportunities.
Conversely, a substantial body of high quality social
science research indicates integrated education has
a positive role in a number of desirable short- and
long- term school outcomes. Racially and socioeconomically diverse schools make a significant difference for K-12 achievement across the curriculum:
Students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds
who attend diverse schools are more likely to have
higher test scores and better grades compared to
those who attend schools with high concentrations
of low-income and disadvantaged minority youth.
They also are more likely to graduate from high
school, to attend integrated colleges,2 and to graduate from college.3
Diverse schools also promote other positive outcomes that are integral components of the adult
life-course trajectory. Interracial contact fosters
reductions in prejudice and fear while it increases
the likelihood of cross-racial friendships initially
among students and later among adults.4 Together
these short-and long-term educational outcomes
facilitate racial diversity across other institutional
contexts, including the workplace, throughout the
life-course.5 The social science research on this
relationship indicates that those who lived in integrated neighborhoods and attended diverse schools
as children are more likely to choose to live in integrated neighborhoods as adults, where they then
send their own children to integrated schools.
This cycle interrupts the intergenerational perpetuation of racial fears and prejudice that racial segregation reinforces.6
2
socioeconomic composition of the schools. While
there is not a one-to-one relationship between the
two because of private school enrollments and
other factors, at any given point in time, integrated
neighborhoods are more likely to produce diverse
schools than segregated residential communities.
There is another direct connection between diverse
schooling and integrated housing. Perceived
“school quality” influences housing choices. School
demographic composition serves as signal of
“school quality” to many homebuyers of all races
and SES backgrounds. Research indicates that
prior experiences with integrated schooling shapes
adult housing preferences for diverse neighborhoods that will likely have integrated schools. Just
as integrated neighborhoods are socially constructed as good places to live compared to racially
isolated high poverty areas, racially isolated schools
are widely considered as undesirable by families
that have options.7
Indirect Links
There are a number of indirect connections
between integrated schools and diverse neighborhoods. The crux of these connections is the significantly superior opportunities to learn that
integrated schools offer compared to racially isolated, high poverty schools. Armed with strong
educational credentials and intercultural navigation
skills, graduates of integrated schools are better
candidates for jobs in the increasingly diverse and
globalizing labor market than their counterparts
who attend segregated schools.
Direct Links
Diverse Coworkers
There are several direct connections between
diverse schooling and integrated housing. Let’s
begin with the obvious: if students are assigned to
schools based on their residence, which increasingly is the norm, the demographic composition of
neighborhoods will largely shape the racial and
The reciprocal and intergenerational nature of the
links between housing and school integration has
been well documented by researchers. Adults who
attend integrated K-12 schools are more likely to
have higher academic achievement and attainment,
to attend and graduate from an integrated college,
National Coalition on School Diversity
and to work in a diverse setting. They will exhibit
greater workforce readiness for occupations that
require interacting with customers and coworkers
from all racial background, and functioning in an
increasingly global economy. Adults who attended
diverse secondary schools are more likely to prefer
working in diverse settings as adults,8 although this
relationship appears stronger among Blacks than
Whites.9 They are less likely to be involved with
the criminal justice system and there is some evidence that they will earn more income than those
who attend segregated schools. Adults who
attended diverse schools are more likely to have
cross-racial friendships and exhibit mutual trust,
respect, and acceptance of those who are racially,
ethnically, and socioeconomically different from
themselves.10
Diverse Neighbors
Childhood experiences with integrated neighborhoods and diverse schools increase the likelihood of
adults choosing to live in an integrated neighborhood as an adult.11 The experience of attending
segregated schools has intergenerational consequences for adults’ choices of same or different race
neighbors. Students who attended more racially
isolated elementary, middle, and high schools are
more likely as adults to prefer same race neighbors
compared to adults who have attended integrated
schools. This connection holds even though neighborhood racial isolation during childhood remains
strongly associated with young adults’ preferences
for same race neighbors. Racial isolation in schools
plays a more significant role in diminishing social
cohesion among young adults from all racial and
ethnic groups. These findings support a key tenet
of perpetuation theory, which suggests that school
segregation leads to segregation across the lifecourse and across institutional contexts.12
Research Brief No. 7
The Reciprocal Nature of School
and Housing Integration Across
the Generations
In a nutshell, the preponderance of social science
indicates that integrated schools foster better academic outcomes for all students. Students with better K-12 academic outcomes are more likely to
have higher educational and occupational attainment, greater income, and greater opportunities to
choose good neighborhoods in which to live and
raise their families. They are more likely to choose
to live in an integrated neighborhood, in part,
because their interracial contact experiences in
integrated K-12 schools and colleges broke the
intergenerational transmission of racial prejudice
and fear. People who develop multicultural navigation skills in integrated schools are more likely to
purchase homes or rent apartments in diverse
neighborhoods where their own children will
enroll in an integrated school. For them, racially
and socioeconomically diverse schools signal that
the schools most likely are good ones. In these
ways, integrated schools and neighborhoods are
likely to foster a mutually reinforcing intergenerational cycle across the life-course that advances
social cohesion in a multiethnic democratic society
and promotes racial equality.
Policy Considerations
The residential basis of most pupil assignment
plans means that housing policies have become de
facto education policies. Thus, there are enduring
public consequences of private housing choices for
the racial, ethnic, and SES composition of K-12
schools. The reciprocal nature of the housing/education linkage is clear: the quality of local schools is
one of the key features by which buyers make decisions about housing purchases. Racially integrated,
low poverty schools are signals to prospective
homebuyers and renters that the local schools are
desirable for their children.
3
Research Brief No. 7
National Coalition on School Diversity
Given that the short- and long-term outcomes of
integrated education are critical for advancing
social cohesion in multiethnic democratic societies,
it is becoming increasingly important to develop
policies that build upon the reciprocal relationship
between integrated education and integrated housing. Doing so is especially important because of
federal and state courts’ retrenchment with respect
to court ordered desegregation, the reluctance of
policy makers’ at all governmental levels to voluntarily design integrated pupil assignment plans, and
the growing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic
diversity of the K-12 student populations.
and local housing and education policies will foster
greater residential and educational diversity and
assist in breaking the intergenerational transmission of racial and socioeconomic disadvantages that
segregated schools and segregated housing both
reflect and perpetuate.
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Ph.D., is a Professor of
Sociology, Public Policy, Women and Gender Studies,
and Information Technology at the University of
North Carolina at Charlotte. This research brief was
Research and experience demonstrate the benefits
of integrated education and the harms of racially
isolated, concentrated poverty schools. Attempting
to create education policy for integrated schools
without developing housing policies for integrated
neighborhoods is akin to cleaning the air on one
side of a screen door.13 Coordinating federal, state,
4
adapted from the author’s chapter in the report,
Finding Common Ground: Coordinating Housing and
Education Policy to Promote Integration (PRRAC and
the National Coalition on School Diversity, September
2011).
National Coalition on School Diversity
Endnotes
1
Simon Burgess & Adam Briggs, School
Assignment, School Choice, and Mobility, 29 ECON.
EDUC. REV. 639 (2010); Deenesh Sohoni &
Salvador Saporito, Mapping School Segregation:
Using GIS to Explore Racial Segregation Between
Schools and Their Corresponding Attendance Areas,
115 AM. J. EDUC. 569 (2009).
2
Donnell Butler, Ethnic Racial Composition and
College Preference: Revisiting the Perpetuation of
Segregation Hypothesis, 627 ANNALS AM.
ACAD. POL. & SOC. SCI. 26 (2010).
3
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Twenty-First Century
Social Science Research on School Diversity and
Educational Outcomes, 69 OHIO ST. L. J. 1173
(2008); Roslyn Arlin Mickelson & Martha Bottia,
Integrated Education and Mathematics Outcomes: A
Synthesis of Social Science Research, 87 N. C. L.
REV. 993 (2010); Jacob L. Vigdor & Jens
Ludwig, Segregation and the Test Score Gap, in
Steady Gains And Stalled Progress: Inequality And
The Black-White Test Score Gap 181 (Katherine
Magnuson & Jane Waldfogel eds., 2008); Kevin
G. Welner, K-12 Race Conscious Student
Assignment Policies: Law, Social Science and
Diversity, 76(3) REV. RES. EDUC. 349 (2006);
National Academy Of Education, Race Conscious
Policies For Assigning Students To Schools: Social
Science Research And Supreme Court Cases (Robert
Linn & Kevin G. Welner eds., 2007).,
4
Thomas. F. Pettigrew & Linda. R. Tropp, A
Meta-Analytic Test of Intergroup Contact Theory,
90(5) J. PERSONALITY & SOC. PSYCHOL.
751 (2006); William Trent, Outcomes of School
Desegregation: Findings from Longitudinal Research,
66(3) J. NEGRO EDUC. 255 (1997); Linda R.
Tropp & Mary Prenovost, The Role of Intergroup
Contact in Predicting Children's Interethnic Attitudes:
Evidence from Meta-Analytic and Field Studies, in
Intergroup Attitudes And Relations In Childhood
Through Adulthood 236 (Sheri R. Levy & Melanie
Killen eds., 2008).
Research Brief No. 7
5
The findings summarized here are archived in a
searchable database at: http://sociology.uncc.edu/
people/rmicklsn/spivackFrameset.html. This
research is supported by grants from the
American Sociological Association, the National
Science Foundation, and the Poverty & Race
Research Action Council.
6
Prudence Carter, Keepin' It Real: School Success
Beyond Black and White (2005); Jomills Henry
Braddock III & Amaryllis Del Carmen Gonzales,
Social Isolation and Social Cohesion: The Effects of K12 Neighborhood and School Segregation on
Intergroup Orientations, 12(6) TCHRS C. REC.
1631 (2010); Michal Kurlaender & John Yun,
Fifty Years After Brown: New Evidence of the Impact
of School Racial Composition on Student Outcomes,
6(1) INT'L J. EDUC. RES. POL'Y & PRAC. 51
(2005); Michal Kurlaender & John Yun, Is
Diversity a Compelling Educational Interest?
Evidence from Louisville, in Diversity Challenged:
Evidence on the Impact of Affirmative Action 111
(Gary Orfield ed., 2001); Michal Kurlaender &
John Yun, Measuring School Racial Composition and
Student Outcomes in a Multiracial Society, 113 AM.
J. EDUC. 213 (2007); Jordan Rickles et al., Social
Integration and Residential Segregation in California:
Challenges for Racial Equality, in UCACCORD
Public Policy Series (PB-002-0504, June 2004);
Elizabeth Stearns, Long-Term Correlates of High
School Racial Composition: Perpetuation Theory
Reexamined, 112(6) TCHRS. C. REC. 1654
(2010).
7
Amy S. Wells et al., Both Sides Now: The Story of
School Desegregation’s Graduates (2009); James
Ainsworth, Why Does It Take a Village? The
Mediation of Neighborhood Effects on Educational
Achievement, 81 SOC. FORCES 117 (2002);
Jennifer Jellison Holme, Buying Homes, Buying
Schools: School Choice and the Social Construction of
School Quality, 72 HARV. EDUC. REV. 117
(2002).
5
Research Brief No. 7
8
Kurlaender &Yun, Fifty Years After Brown,
SUPRA note 8; Kurlaender &Yun, Is Diversity a
Compelling Educational Interest?, SUPRA note 8;
Kurlaender &Yun, Measuring School Racial
Composition, SUPRA note 8..
9
Kurlaender &Yun, Fifty Years After Brown,
SUPRA note 8; Kurlaender &Yun, Is Diversity a
Compelling Educational Interest?, SUPRA note 8;
Kurlaender &Yun, Measuring School Racial
Composition, SUPRA note 8.
10 Stearns, SUPRA note 8.
6
National Coalition on School Diversity
11 Roslyn Arlin Mickelson & Mokubung Nkomo,
Integrated Schooling, Life Course Outcomes, and
Social Cohesion in Multiethnic Democratic Societies,
36 REV. RES. EDUC. (forthcoming 2012).
12 Braddock & Gonzales, SUPRA note 8.
13 Id.; Butler, SUPRA note 4.
14 Here I adapt Jean Anyon’s metaphor about school
reform to the synergistic nature of housing and
education diversity. See Jean Anyon, GHETTO
SCHOOLING 168 (1997).
National Coalition on School Diversity
Research Brief No. 7
Other research briefs from the National Coalition on School Diversity
.1
Brief No
ity
ool Divers
ion on Sch
al Coalit
The Nation
Brief
Research Economic Composition
cial and
vement
School Ra d Science Achie
an
& Math
By Susan
Eaton
briefs
research
series of threenewest and
first in a
efrom the
his is the
l and socio
g findings
d to racia
summarizin
rch relate
studies on
ous resea
schools. The
tly in
most rigor
in public
shed recen
diversity
were publi
al,
conomic
journ
based
is
wed
brief
revie
n
which this
the peerssors Rosly
al issues of
d by Profe
edite
three speci
d,
h
ge Recor
of Nort
University
Teachers Colle
an of the
elson of the
ryn Borm
and Kath
Arlin Mick
at Charlotte
Carolina
Florida.
of South
nUniversity
studies demo
ls
from these
nce
poverty schoo
ht of evide
ed, highThe weig
ce
and scien
racially isolat
ence math
strates that
meastively influ
vement as
tend to nega patterns and achie
ing
course-tak
T
conr certain
while, unde
do
schools that an
scores. Mean
ured by test poverty schools and
of Afric
r
te shares
ditions, lowe y disproportiona
tend to be
highl
o students
not enroll
and/or Latin math and science
rican
Ame
with
associated
positively
nt.
achieveme
about
suggests al and
research
raci
What this ship between of schools/
the relation ic composition ment:
eve
nom
socioeco and MATH achi
ms
30
classroo
more than
n
scores over
l segregatio
of math test
eases in schoo in the black A study
that “incr
ases
ol
years finds
ficant incre
gaps.” Scho
d to signi
correspon
ite test score achieveLatino-wh
on
white and
influence
ences that
n’s negative
influ
ive
gatio
posit
segre
eigh[s]” the in racial minority
ment “outw
ents
nt
improvem
family back
is Importa
and other
come from
Research
ll income 1
body
ps’ overa
extensive
Why This
dy
grou
cteristics.
ents an alrea
similar
rch augm
ground chara
reached
t to
This resea
which has
this
in the exten
in this area,
published
schools vary and Latino stuof work
the work
from
lly diverse
rican
s. However,
It draws
Racia
Ame
ous.
usion
an
rigor
concl
Afric
advanced
gis particularly
oys cuttin
which their
ties to take
math
and empl
year in TCR
opportuni
a study of
sive colg data bases
dents have
math. In
comprehen
several stron
courses in
point averods. This
to
placement
tical meth
attention
rns and grade ls where
edge statis
ing patte
ls,
meticulous
course-tak
that in schoo d” in
studies pays
ns that schoo
lection of
rchers find
sente
te contributio
ages, resea
“overrepre
selves make
the discre
the
nts them
Asians are
separating
classes, both
mes,
and stude
whites and
families
an
omore math
ational outco
Afric
soph
of
educ
teachers,
urge
rtant
averages
high-level
rates. We
4-year
ty of impo
r grade point
to a varie
and their
graduation
rs, edsenior-yea
o students
2
scores and
rights lawye
and Latin
lower.
such as test
education
a
American
tend to be
makers,
work as
ing rates
this new
courts, policy
divers to use
college-go
and other
related to
cacy
ucators
and advo
decisions
rtunity.
guide in
equal oppo
ling and
sity, schoo
Brief No. 2
The National Coalition on School Diversity
Research Brief
How the Racial and Socioeconomic Composition
of Schools and Classrooms Contributes to
Literacy, Behavioral Climate, Instructional
Organization and High School Graduation Rates
By Susan Eaton
T
his is the second in a series of three briefs summarizing findings from the newest and most rigorous research related to racial and socioeconomic
diversity in public schools. The studies on which this
brief is based were published recently in three special
issues of the peer-reviewed journal, Teachers College
Record, edited by Professors Roslyn Arlin Mickelson
of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and
Kathryn Borman of the University of South Florida.
This brief considers the relationship between the
racial and socioeconomic composition of a school
and/or classroom and a variety of important educational measures.
Why This Research is Important
This research augments an already extensive body
of work in this area, which has reached similar
conclusions. However, the work published this
What Does the Research Tell Us About
the Relationship Between Racial and
Socioeconomic Composition and . . .
READING AND VERBAL
ACHIEVEMENT?
A study by Geoffrey Borman of the University
of Wisconsin-Madison and Maritza Dowling of
the Wisconsin Center for Educational
Research reanalyzes James Coleman’s 1966
report, “The Equality of Educational
Opportunity.” The “Coleman Report” is
widely considered to be one of the most influential studies ever conducted on education. Its
fundamental finding is that a student’s own
family background has far more influence upon
student achievement than do school characteristics. However, Borman and Dowling’s
reanalysis shows something quite different.
Borman and Dowling find that attending a
high-poverty or highly segregated African
American school has a “profound” negative
effect on a student’s verbal achievement, “above
and beyond” the effects of a student’s own
poverty level or racial group.1
year in TCR is particularly rigorous. It draws from
several strong data bases and employs cuttingedge statistical methods. This comprehensive collection of studies pays meticulous attention to
separating the discrete contributions that schools,
teachers, families and students themselves make
to a variety of important educational outcomes,
More specifically, the racial/ethnic composition
and social class composition of a student’s
school are 1¾ times more important than a student’s social class or race in explaining verbal
achievement in the 9th grade. School racial and
such as test scores and graduation rates. We urge
courts, policymakers, education rights lawyers, educators and others to use this new work as a
guide in decisions and advocacy related to diversity, schooling and equal opportunity.
No.1 – School Racial and
Economic Composition
& Math and Science
Achievement
By Susan Eaton
No. 2 – How the Racial
and Socioeconomic
Composition of Schools
and Classrooms
Contributes to Literacy,
Behavioral Climate,
Instructional Organization and High School
Graduation Rates
No. 4 – What we know
about school integration,
college attendance, and
the reduction of poverty
By Philip Tegeler,
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson
and Martha Bottia
Brief No
.4
By Roslyn Arlin Mickelson
Roslyn Arlin
Mickelson
he goals of
, & Mart
promoting
ha Bottia
racial isolat
integratio
n and avoid
ion in K-12
reaffirme
ing
education
d as comp
What does
were recen
elling gove
five Justic
this resea
tly
rnment inter
es of the
rch tell us
effects of
U.S. Supr
ests by
Involved in
specificall
K-12 schoo
eme Cour
y about the
Community
l integratio
dance rates
t in Paren
District #1
Schools v.
n
, college
ts
Seattle Schoo
(2007). That
graduation on college attentiona
l
perpe
l
specific elem
, and inter
decis
tuation of
generaents of volun ion did strike down
additional
poverty?
Louisville
We recog
research
tary plans
; however,
nize that
is still need
questions,
in Seattle
a majority
cated supp
ed on these
but here
of the Cour and
ort for a
are some
specific
wide range
things that
t indimeasures
of race-consc
to promote
we know
Attending
:
school integ
assign indiv
ious
integrated
idual stude
ration that
K-12 schoo
likel
ihoo
nts based
do
d of
ls increases
on their race. not
youth from attending college 8
the
The impo
, particular
underrepr
rtance of
ties. Integ
esented mino
ly for
avoiding
segregatio
rated educ
rity comm
racial and
n in schoo
ation work
attendanc
unieconomic
ls is impo
own sake,
s to foste
e in
rtant not
r college
but becau
expectation several clear ways
just for its
se of the
to students
. The educ
s and perfo
document
that flow
ation
atten
rman
ed
al
d
ce
benefits
integrated
from more
integrated 1
of
schools surpa students who
racia
, lower pove
dents from
ence evide
sses those
rty schoo 2 lly
segregated
nce
ls . The socia
of stuattend integ
settings 9.
ues to grow on the benefits of
l sciStud
rated schoo
integ
–
math, scien
ls perform ents who
recent resea especially in the more ration contince, langu
better on
rch (1990
age,
higher-lev
tests in
s to the prese comprehensive
data from
el math and social studies; they
nationally
nt) that inclu
take
hold highe
science cours
representa
state-wide
r education
de
tive
population
erwise comp
al aspiration es, and they
s, valid and samples or
of key conc
s
arabl
than
e
their
peers
reliable meas
epts, advan
lated mino
othto analyze
ced statis
ures
rity schoo 10 who attend racia
tical mod
the data,
lly
ls . Racia
have lowe
eling used
and often
longitudin
lly integrated isor levels of
, studies empl
al data 3.
viole
than segre
schools
oying
gated settin 11nce and social disor
gs
have
der
.
They are
stable staffs
These studi
more likely
composed
es over the
teachers 12
to
of highl
demonstra
past twen
—the singl
ty years have
ted
e most impo y qualified
academic
only to achie that integrated educ
achieveme
rtant resou
nt, and to
ation leads
vement gains
climates 13
rce for
African Ame
have
not
(acad
in math and
better schoo
emically
rican and
out rates,
reading for
l
increased
Latino child
more paren oriented peers, lowe
occupatio
ren 4, but
ts
than racia
r drop
nal attain
ment with
also to
lly isolated with higher expec
ment 5,
the
tations)
schools 14
.
greater tende criminal justice syste less involve6
m , and a
Attending
schools later ncy for graduates
desegregat
of integrated
ity
in life to
ed K-12
likelihoo
ersschoo
Div
live
hoods, have
d of grad
ooluatin
ls increases
Sch
friends from in integrated neigh
of the
onsame
g
the
groups, and
many races
reasons that from college for
Coalition
to be empl
alborter prepares
many
and
integrated
ion
ethni
oyedThe
Nat
c
students
education
in diver
for
youth who
se workplace 7
betattend integ entering college.
s.
Minority
likely to be
rated K-12
involved
in the crim schools are less
inal justic
e system
T
.3
Brief No
Brief
ls
Research
se Schoo
lly Diver
t of Racia
The Impaccratic Society
in a Demo
Gina
Eaton and
no
Chirichig
rtant
are impo
that these
educaut saying
leaders and
It goes witho ever, civil rights
ion and diver
How
fits to
ed desegregat
measures.
always pursu of its potential bene
se
that
tors have
part becau
and still is,
sity in large
r hope was,
ibute to
large. Thei iences would contr socil
society at
exper
equa
ling
more
diverse schoo of a more cohesive, for democracy.
n
ent
sity
foundatio
developm
diver
ger
hoped
a stron
ety and build regation’s advocates dice by
deseg
ral preju
or culSimilarly,
and cultu
ent racial
ce racial
would redu g people from differ
youn
bringing
together.
grounds
tural back
rms
confi
ined here
l
rch exam
that racia
the resea
es finding
Generally,
social
earlier studi
long-term
findings from
ood,
does carry
neighborh
in schools
diversity
de reduced
r levels of
These inclu segregation, highe racial
benefits.
hood for
workplace
e
ced likeli
college and
cular natur
and a redu
parti
sion
the
nt
the
social cohe
too, that
whether
is Importa
It appears,
example,
prejudice.
Research
ent – for
l participasive body
l environm
Why This
and equa
dy exten
of a schoo
inclusion
graduates
ents an alrea
similar
or not its
a model of
rch augm
reached
whether
school is
ort in
This resea
which has
this
determine ate and find comf
in this area,
published
tion – helps
to navig
of work
the work
skills
from
ver,
s
life.
s. Howe
It draw
later in
develop the
rigorous.
conclusion
se settings
gis particularly
oys cuttin
racially diver
een
and empl
year in TCR
By Susan
abriefs summ
series of three most rigorthird in a
st and
his is the
the newe
economic
ngs from
l and socio
rizing findi
which
d to racia
studies on
rch relate
ous resea
schools. The recently in three
in public
ers
published
diversity
Teach
al,
were
journ
is based
reviewed
this brief
Roslyn Arlin
s of the peerspecial issue edited by Professors h Carolina at
d,
Nort
College Recor the University of
University
of
an of the
Mickelson
ryn Borm
and Kath
Charlotte
Florida.
l
of South
ss of schoo
the succe
decades,
ly by the
than two
judged main either
For more
s,
ion has been
fits individual
ility.
desegregat
which it bene vement or social mob
degree to
achie
academic
through
T
By Susan Eaton
., University
elson, Ph.D
n Arlin Mick
in all
By Rosly
students
accrue to
and
in middle
ent benefits
Achievem most markedly those
grades, but
ls.
nds
backgrou
high schoo
l and SES
ing
racia
all
nclud
ents from
se schools—i
e
Stud
fit from diver though low-incom
can bene
ss whites—al fit the most from
middle-cla
bene
ged youth
ls.2
disadvanta
and
, but
diverse schoo
curricula,
that inteattending
ties to learn l organizance
Teachers,
rtuni
no evide
socia
ts of oppo
nt group.
ly, there is
s to
ones. The
componen
Important
s any stude
contribute
important
harm
also
only
s
ling
oom
not the
ther a
grated schoo
ls and classr
iences. Whe )
r other
tion of schoo educational exper
(SES
schools foste
of
the
omically
for
diverse K-12 integral links in
the quality
socioecon
al difference
are
Moreover,
racially and
to
mes that
school is
makes a critic
Students
addition
positive outco trajectory. In
mes
segregated s the curriculum:
se
ourse
diverse or
-term outco
ally diver
adult life-c the positive short
vement acros
economic
scores
K-12 achie
nt,
and socio
de:
higher test
achieveme
d racially
ling inclu
l,
to achieve
who atten
schoo
schoo
likely
K-12
high
fears.
more
of
from
dice and
schools are
to graduate college compared
ction in preju
dships.
r grades,
redu
frien
from
A
and
who
ate
and bette
rts
al trust
d and gradu arable counterpa
.
in cross-raci
and to atten
of lowral navigation
wise comp
increases
tions
icultu
other
entra
mult
conc
.
ity for
with their
rity youth
ls with high
nced capac
term
enha
attend schoo r disadvantaged mino social science
able longty
and
r highly desir
income and/o rance of high quali
1980s is clear l
benefits foste such as:
onde
e
late
prep
Thes
the
The
since
school racia
for adults
published
effects of
pational
outcomes
research
al outding these
al and occu
ation
regar
educ
ation
er educ
consistent
n on K-12
great
compositio findings include:
.
omy.
and SES
attainment
global econ
r specific
1
achieveness for the
comes. Othe
promotes
place readi
se school
age and
work
ding a diver
ce, langu
Atten
ematics, scien
/ rmickelson/
c.edu/people
ation,
ment in math
sociology.unc Sociological Associ
can
se at: http://
reading.
the Ameri
able databa
ol diversity rm
K-12 scho
refo
How do support school
initiatives ute to increasing t?
trib
achievemen
and con
tial
academic
are essen
student
pedagogy
they are
1
sive colg data bases
comprehen
several stron
ods. This
to
tical meth
attention
edge statis
ls,
meticulous
studies pays
ns that schoo
lection of
te contributio
selves make
the discre
nts them
separating
mes,
and stude
families
ational outco
teachers,
rtant educ
. We urge
ty of impo
ation rates
to a varie
gradu
rs, edscores and
rights lawye
such as test
rs, education
as a
make
work
new
courts, policy
use this
d to diver
others to
cacy relate
ucators and
and advo
decisions
rtunity.
guide in
equal oppo
ling and
sity, schoo
Betw
tionship ols or
the Rela
of Scho
What is
lt
position
and Adu
ic
Racial Com Neighborhoods
al & Ethn
Childhood
Other Raci
s About
Del
Attitude
, Amaryllis
i,
his colleague
Groups?
No. 3 – The Impact of
Racially Diverse Schools
in a Democratic Society
No. 6 – Magnet School
Student Outcomes:
What the Research Says
By Genevieve Siegel-Hawley
and Erica Frankenberg
By Susan Eaton and
Gina Chirichigno
of Miam
dock and
Jomills Brad zalez of the University and schoolood
Gon
Carmen
of neighborh preferences for
le’s
the effects
consider
s on peop
gation level
level segre
Brief
Research and K-12 Educationlal
egration
s of Socia
School Int A Quick Synthesi
s:
Outcome
idence
Charlotte
Science Ev
Carolinaof North
2
ity
ool Divers
ion on Sch
al Coalit
The Nation
What we
kno
attendance w about school inte
, and the
reduction gration, college
of povert
y
Tegeler,
By Philip
.5
Brief No
No. 5 – School
Integration and K-12
Educational Outcomes:
A Quick Synthesis of
Social Science Evidence
The Nation
al Coalit
ion on Sch
ool Divers
ity
Research
Brief
ation,
in a search
l with
Science Found
archived
ing schoo
National
here are
from the
presented
t from attend
re survey
r to benefi
rted by grants
who appea
of the literatu research is suppo
students
This
The results
Council.
immigrant
eset.html.
ch Action
and Latino
spivackFram y and Race Resear
st for Asian
ts is weake
and the Povert
ge issues.
mic benefi
of langua
ce of acade
because
The eviden
most likely
ics,
their coethn
Brief No
.6
The Nation
al Coalit
ion on Sch
ool Divers
ity
Research
Brief
Magnet
Sch
What the ool Student Ou
tcomes:
Research
Says
T
By Gene
vieve Siege
l-Hawley
and
Erica Fran
his research
kenberg
brief outli
magnet schoo
nes six majo
r studies
l student
schools are
of
outcomes.
programs
Magnet
A note abo
with speci
emphases
al themes
designed
to attract
or
ment and ut magnet scho
of different
families from
ol enr
backgrou
segregatio
nds. They
a variety
establishe
n trends3 ollBefore delvi
d to prom
were origi
ote volun
ng into the
nally
in urban
tary racia
quick
districts.
research,
ly review
l integratio
however,
the curre
n
we
of magnet
schools. Enront demographic break
The follo
the National
wing
down
llment data
Center for
broader body studies are locat
collected
able and
ed within
by
Educ
of
ation
resea
wide
a much
Statistics,
-ranging
rch that docu
fits of atten
2008-09,
federal datas
a reliding
ments the
more
et, show
diverse schoo racially and socio
benemagnet schoo than 2.5 million
that, in
economic
ls. Some
students
ally
ls across
literature
of what we
enrolled
two milli
on the bene
know from
in
on students the nation, up from
fits of racia
that stude
the
just over
five years
grams enro
nts
l diversity
earlier. Mag
lled more
indicates
have highe of all races who atten
net prothan twice
dents serve
r levels of
d
diver
the number
d by chart
se schools
critical think
adopt mult
er schools,
the large
of
iple persp
ing, an abilit
st sector
making magn stuectiv
for accep
y to
of choice
tance of stere es; diminished
ets
schools.
likelihood
achieveme
otypes, highe
Compared
nt,
r academic
to regular
ness to atten more cross-racial
public schoo
and magn
frien
d diverse
et programs
ls, both chart
colleges and dships, willingneighborh
black and
enrolled
oods, acces
live in diver
a larger share er
Latino stude
s to
networks,
se
centration
nts (main
of
higher feelin more privileged
ly due to
of
social
responsibi
gs of civic
the conurban local magnet and chart
lity, highe
er schools
es). Magnet
r college-go and communal
prestigiou
in more
likely than
students
s jobs. 1
ing rates,
were sligh
charter schoo
more
tly less
intensely
l students
segregated
to attend
The resea
minority
100% of
rch discu
schools, wher
students
ssed here
older studi
were nonw
is relatively
e 90less likely
es suggest
hite, and
to enroll
recent, but
that magn
ciated with
also
in
sligh
inten
schoo
et schools
tly
incre
sely segre
ls (0-10%
are assolevels of stude ased student achie
gated white
nonwhite
two extre
students).
vement, highe
me ends
Beyond these
school, highe nt motivation and
of the
r
enrollmen
satisfactio
t, large differ spectrum of white
n with
morale, and r levels of teacher
student
of magnet
ences emer
motivatio
higher level
and chart
n and
ged in the
the schoo 2
s of paren
er students
nonwhite
shares
l.
t satisfactio
attending
(more racia
n with
majority
lly diverse)
(less diver
se) schoo
and majo
ls. Forty
rity white
dents atten
percent of
d majority
magnet
nonwhite
compared
school settin stuto just 23
percent of
Conversel
charter stude gs,
y, almost
35 percent
attended
nts.
of charter
majority
white
stude
percent of
magnet stude settings, compared nts
to 20
nts. In term
s of schoo
l
Available at www.school-diversity.org
7
Research Brief No. 7
National Coalition on School Diversity
For more information on the National Coalition on School Diversity, go to
www.school-diversity.org