STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN SCHOOLS DESEGREGATED BY COURT ORDER (TESTS, READING).

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether, in public education, separate is inherently unequal and concomitantly, whether desegregation confers educational benefits upon all groups of students. The study investigated student achievement in schools which were placed under a court order to desegregate beginning in 1978. A mixed design, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to investigate whether significant differences existed among various groups within the fifth-grade cohort of 212 subjects assigned to three desegregated schools. Conducted as an ex post facto investigation, the study utilized reading test scores of 1977, 1981 and 1983 extracted from the district's computerized data base. There are cautions and limitations inherent in any ex post facto research, as well as in reliance upon standardized test results as the solitary measure of student achievement, which should be kept in mind in accepting conclusions of this study. Significant differences were found among (1) racial/ethnic groups, (2) schools, (3) desegregation durations, (4) local and extended neighborhood students (LNS, ENS) and (5) school test profiles. Specific findings are that: (1) Slightly higher gains were recorded for minority students. (2) Phase III students showed significantly higher gains. (3) Highest performance was recorded for Phase I students and was attributed to the benefits of longer desegregation treatment. (4) Overall, LNS performed lower than ENS, yet in Phase III, LNS had nearly twice the gains of ENS. (5) The individual school's test profile showed a decrease during the first years of desegregation, then increased to a level which was comparable or higher than pre-desegregation levels. Keeping the aforementioned cautions in mind, the study concluded that desegregation conferred educational benefits upon all groups of students and continued to support the premise of Brown (1954) that, in public education, separate education is inherently unequal education.