Law & Courts Collection

Brown v. Board at 60: New Diversity, Familiar Disparities

Even with ground-shifting demographic changes, many public schools continue to be highly segregated 60 years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the principle of “separate but equal” education. But those shifts have also created opportunities to approach diversifying schools and classrooms in new ways.

Commentary

In five essays and a series of charts on enrollment and race in public schools today, Education Week Commentary explores the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, including how questions concerning race continue to play out in K-12 education. In Education Week’s roundtable OpEducation blog, four researchers respond to data and offer their impressions on race and diversity in public schools today.

Equity & Diversity Opinion Why Integration Matters in Schools
Integration has a positive effect on almost every aspect of education that matters, and segregation the inverse, writes Derek Black.
Derek W. Black, May 13, 2014
5 min read
Equity & Diversity Opinion Hispanics Are Forgotten in Civil Rights History
High school senior Nicholas Dauphine writes that U.S. history has all but erased the struggles of Hispanics against racism.
Nicholas Dauphine, May 13, 2014
3 min read
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Law & Courts Opinion Integration: New Concepts for a New Era
School desegregation remains a goal worth pursuing, but by different, more nuanced means than schools used to employ, Leonard Stevens writes.
Leonard B. Stevens, May 13, 2014
7 min read
Law & Courts Opinion K-12 Education: Still Separate, Still Unequal
Sixty years after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, racial disparities in schools should be a call to action.
Leticia Smith-Evans, May 13, 2014
4 min read
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School & District Management Opinion I, Too, Am America: Making All Students Feel Like They Belong
Pierce Gordon writes about words and actions that make some minority students feel unwelcome in school programs and on college campuses.
Pierce Gordon, May 13, 2014
5 min read
Law & Courts In a Small Mississippi City, a Half-Century of Legal Battles
Cleveland, Miss., appears far from getting out from under federal court supervision decades after a desegregation case was filed.
Mark Walsh, May 13, 2014
4 min read
A pair of 4th graders mind the exit doors last month at Wilt Elementary School, a diverse schools in Louisville, Ky.
A pair of 4th graders mind the exit doors last month at Wilt Elementary School, a diverse schools in Louisville, Ky.
Swikar Patel/Education Week
Equity & Diversity Ky. District 'Keeps Faith' on School Desegregation
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down its race-based student-assignment plan, Jefferson County is maintaining diverse schools and improving achievement.
Lesli A. Maxwell, May 13, 2014
8 min read
President Barack Obama honors Sylvia Mendez with the 2010 Medal of Freedom at the White House on Feb. 15, 2011. As a child, Ms. Mendez was a key figure in a seminal school desegregation case.
President Barack Obama honors Sylvia Mendez with the 2010 Medal of Freedom at the White House on Feb. 15, 2011. As a child, Ms. Mendez was a key figure in a seminal school desegregation case.
Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT-File
Law & Courts Federal Enforcement Is Key to Brown Legacy
The Civil Rights Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act continue to offer tools for compliance, amid a shifting legal landscape.
Mark Walsh, May 13, 2014
8 min read
Central High School students, including Hazel Bryan, left, shout insults at Elizabeth Eckford as she marches down to a line of National Guardsmen, who blocked the main entrance and would not let her enter school in Little Rock on Sept. 4, 1957.
Central High School students, including Hazel Bryan, left, shout insults at Elizabeth Eckford as she marches down to a line of National Guardsmen, who blocked the main entrance and would not let her enter school in Little Rock on Sept. 4, 1957.
Will Count/Arkansas Democrat Gazette/AP-File
Equity & Diversity 60 Years After Brown, School Diversity More Complex Than Ever
Dramatic demographic changes, shifting court opinions, and housing segregation make school integration a major challenge.
Lesli A. Maxwell, May 13, 2014
11 min read
Equity & Diversity Data: Race and Ethnicity in U.S. Schools Today
Statistics point to changed racial and ethnic enrollment patterns in public schools, 60 years after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed race-based segregation.
May 13, 2014
Equity & Diversity School Desegregation Plans: A National Census
In the 2011-12 school year, more than 1,200 local educational agencies—including school districts and charter schools—in every state except Hawaii and Nevada, reported to the U.S. Department of Education that they were under a federal desegregation plan that was either ordered by a court or entered into with the Office for Civil Rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
May 13, 2014
Assessment Timeline: Landmark Desegregation Cases
Legal rulings breaking down the walls of segregation have reshaped the makeup of America's public schools in ways that continue to change.
May 13, 2014

Vol. 33, Issue 31