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Popular understandings of segregation often emphasize the Jim Crow South before the 1954 Brown decision and, in many instances, explain continued segregation in schooling as the result of segregated housing patterns. The case of Flint, Michigan, complicates these views, at once illustrating the depth of governmental commitment to segregation in a northern community and showing how segregated schools and neighborhoods helped construct one another. The Flint case also reveals new modes of segregationist thought. Throughout much of the twentieth century, Flint’s city leaders thought of segregation as splitting, and they sought to divide their city along racial lines. But they thought of segregation as joining as well. Drawing on various strands of progressive reform and educational thought, Flint’s educational, business, and philanthropic leaders believed community bonds would be stronger in segregated neighborhoods anchored by their schools. Flint’s “community schools” program worked toward this end, exemplifying the paired embrace of segregation as joining and splitting, and becoming a model for educators in hundreds of cities nationwide.

This research sought to extend the historical record of advocacy for Black education by exploring the role of Black educators in the decades before the Brown v. Board of Education decision. It addressed (a) the ways the educators were involved in advocating for Black schools and (b) the relationship of the activities to the more visible accounts of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Answers to the research questions relied on historical ethnography as a methodological tool to analyze the records of the Georgia Teachers and Education Association and the NAACP. Each of these collections was also supplemented by other archival sources and interviews. Results indicate three identifiable periods of advocacy in the years before Brown. In each period, Black educators through their organizations were locally and nationally visible in advocating for education. The results reveal a co-dependent relationship with the NAACP and amplify the importance of a “connector” in establishing congruent national and local advocacy.

Guinier traces the shortcomings of racial liberalism and calls for a new paradigm of racial literacy. In the case of Brown v. Board of Education, racial liberalism triumphed by perpetuating the false belief that integration was possible without significant redistribution of resources and power. Its individualistic, psychological, and prejudice-centered view of the obstacles to equality failed to anticipate the resistance of whites, north and south, who experienced integration as a loss of status.

Would public meetings incite more civic engagement if they were structured in ways that are simply more engaging? I addressed this question by conducting an original survey with an oversample of racial and ethnic minorities and individuals from low-income households. The survey featured a randomized experiment in which each study participant was shown a short clip of an actual school board meeting that was (1) a standard meeting with no public participation, (2) a meeting with public participation, or (3) a meeting with deliberation (public participation followed by a reasoned response from the school board). The experience of viewing the more participatory and deliberative school board meetings led to increased trust in local officials and a stronger willingness to attend school board meetings in the future. This study has significant implications for civic engagement, local politics, and public school governance.

Canada—and Ontario, in particular—is proud to be characterized as one of the most equitable education systems in the world. However, diversity poses unique challenges for Canadian education systems. This study presents findings from an environmental scan of equity policies across the 72 school boards in Ontario, which yielded 785 equity policies for analysis. Data extraction focused on five dimensions of knowledge mobilization: structures, brokering, co-production, dissemination, and exchange. Findings show that many topics remain under-represented in school board policy coverage, including religious accommodation, antiracism and ethno-cultural discrimination, anti-discrimination procedures for LGBTQ2+ students, gender identity, and socio-economic status. Le Canada—et particulièrement l’Ontario—est fier d’être décrit comme l’un des systèmes d’éducation les plus équitables du monde. Néanmoins, la diversité présente des défis particuliers pour les systèmes d’éducation canadiens. Cette étude présente des constats découlant d’une analyse des politiques en matière d’équité de 72 conseils scolaires d’Ontario, ce qui a mené à l’examen de 785 politiques concernant l’équité. Pour l’extraction des données, nous nous sommes concentrés sur cinq dimensions de la mobilisation du savoir : les structures, la transmission, la coproduction, la dissémination, et l’échange. Les observations démontrent que de nombreux sujets demeurent sous-représentés dans ce qui est couvert par les politiques des conseils scolaires, notamment en ce qui concerne les accommodations religieuses, l’antiracisme et la discrimination ethnoculturelle, les procédures antidiscriminatoires pour les étudiants GLBTTQ2, l’identité de genre et le statut socioéconomique.

News about violence and dysfunction at school board meetings may shape the impressions most people have of the public school governing body. While school boards have their flaws, Kappan columnist Jonathan E. Collins argues that they are worth preserving. School boards offer localized decision making and a way for a community to choose their representatives. School board meetings by law are open to the public and allow children under the age of 18 to speak and participate. Importantly, school boards are able to address student needs on a systemwide scale.

Despite growing international interest in the use of data to improve education, few studies examining the effects on student achievement are yet available. In the present study, the effects of a two-year data-based decision-making intervention on student achievement growth were investigated. Fifty-three primary schools participated in the project, and student achievement data were collected over the two years before and two years during the intervention. Linear mixed models were used to analyze the differential effect of data use on student achievement. A positive mean intervention effect was estimated, with an average effect of approximately one extra month of schooling. Furthermore, the results suggest that the intervention especially significantly improved the performances of students in low socioeconomic status schools.

Political scientists have largely overlooked the democratic challenges inherent in the governance of U.S. public education—despite profound implications for educational delivery and, ultimately, social mobility and economic growth. In this study, we consider whether the interests of adult voters who elect local school boards are likely to be aligned with the needs of the students their districts educate. Specifically, we compare voters and students in four states on several policy-relevant dimensions. Using official voter turnout records and rich microtargeting data, we document considerable demographic differences between voters who participate in school board elections and the students attending the schools that boards oversee. These gaps are most pronounced in majority nonwhite jurisdictions and school districts with the largest racial achievement gaps. Our novel analysis provides important context for understanding the political pressures facing school boards and their likely role in perpetuating educational and, ultimately, societal inequality.

Ideas and norms about disability shaped the experiences and careers of every teacher and prospective teacher in the Los Angeles public schools between 1930 and 1970. Medical doctors created and conducted the extensive medical examinations that teaching candidates and practicing teachers needed to pass to enter or remain in the classroom. The Los Angeles City Board of Education capitalized on existing disability-related retirement policies, targeting educators with age-related disabilities and enacting a compulsory retirement age for all teachers. Teachers accused of disability-related incompetence could only retain their positions if they could disprove their diagnoses. By adding this discussion of teachers’ bodies and disability to the historiography of teachers, we can better understand teachers’ experiences and the ways in which school leaders attempted to define and enforce standards of normality.