Organizational Context for Student Achievement: The Case of Student Racial Compositions

  • Student SES most powerful factor in explaining math and reading achievement
  • Self-concept scores of African American students are the highest in racially isolated schools
  • Schools with higher minority enrollment have lower the student achievement
  • Achievement does not begin to decline until the minority exceeds 20%.
  • School desegregation appears to help African American students without harming White students.
  • When controlling for other variables, school racial composition has an independent effect on reading and mathematics achievement. However, this effect is curvilinear for White students suggesting that desegregation can contribute to the achievement of African-American students without harming White students.