School desegregation after Parents Involved: The complications of pursuing diversity in a high-stakes accountability era

《School desegregation after Parents Involved: The complications of pursuing diversity in a high-stakes accountability era》

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作者单位: [Frankenberg, Erica] Penn State Univ, Educ & Demog, University Pk, PA 16802 USA. [Frankenberg, Erica] Penn State Univ, Ctr Educ & Civil Rights, University Pk, PA 16802 USA. [Diem, Sarah] Univ Missouri, Educ Policy, Columbia, MO 65211 USA. [Cleary, Colleen] Univ Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 USA. Diem, S (reprint author), Univ Missouri, Dept Educ Leadership & Policy Anal, 202 Hill Hall, Columbia, MO 65211 USA. E-Mail: diems@missouri.edu

摘要: Academic disparities among racial groups persist, which may be due in part to persisting school segregation. This study focuses on how student achievement affects diversity efforts within two urban-suburban school districts in the South experiencing demographic changes with a history of voluntary integration efforts: Jefferson County Public Schools (Louisville, KY) and the Wake County Public School System (Raleigh, NC). We found that diversity and accountability intersected in different ways: in both districts there is a belief that diversity does matter, but with a divergence of opinion in its relative importance the details of how to accomplish diversity are contested. Our case studies are a cautionary tale of how the increased focus on achievement and accountability complicates efforts to pursue other long-held district goals. Instead of seeing diversity and improving student outcomes as separate, policymakers should re-evaluate how existing policies may unintentionally cause districts to end beneficial policies like desegregation.