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The Shifting Landscape of School Desegregation:
Practical and Policy Implications For Educators, Students,
and School District Leaders
Thursday, April 22, 9:45 – 11:45 a.m.
In their Multicultural Featured Session, Claire Smrekar and Ellen Goldring of Vanderbilt University will examine recent developments pertaining to desegregation in American public education and how social and academic priorities drive new district policies on racial and socioeconomic desegregation and student assignment.
Claire Smrekar: “This session was developed at the request of Program Chairs Lynn and Doug Fuchs. They emphasized the importance and centrality of diversity issues to the CEC membership and the depth, scope, and timeliness of our work in this area. Nationally, we have reached a pivotal point in racial diversity policies across urban school districts. This session is designed to answer an array of pertinent and probing questions, including: What priorities shape new district student assignment plans and diversity policies? Why these? What are the consequences of single-race and high-poverty schools, when districts prioritize proximity and neighborhood schooling? Does racial diversity matter? Does socio-economic diversity matter? To whom? The significance of this discussion rests with the implications of new diversity policies on the allocation of resources, the demographic composition of schools, and the learning opportunities of children. ”
Ellen Goldring: “Student assignment policies are among the most important decisions school districts make. Student assignment policies intersect with other highly contested policies around school choice, neighborhood schools, and closing the achievement gap. This session will present a set of questions and issues to explore three simultaneous trends that are at the nexus of school assignment policies—the end of court-ordered busing, the expansion of neighborhood schools, and the increase in school choice options—and present findings about the implications of these trends.”
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