An investigation of school desegregation and its effects on black student achievement

Appendix

Mention should be made of the long sections of the papers of both Miller and Stephan dealing with aspects of desegregation other than academic achievement. Miller, remarking that "much past theorizing has not withstood the test of data," observed that the theory that segregation lowered the self-esteem of black children--the theory accepted by the Supreme Court in Brown--"has not withstood empirical analysis." Furthermore, he cautioned that desegregation's effect on race relations is problematical since "resegregation is common in desegregated classrooms." With regard to the same two issues, Stephan concluded that "it appears that the social scientists who participated in Brown used an invalid assumption as a basis for their argument that desegregation would increase the self-esteem of Black students" and that "desegregation rarely occurs under conditions that would lead to improvements in race relations."

COPYRIGHT 1984 U.S. Government Printing Office
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