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2005 - Precarious Space: Majority Black Suburbs and Their Public Schools

Attribution: Ascher, Carol, & Branch-Smith, Edwina
Researchers: Carol AscherEdwina Branch-Smith
University Affiliation: Brooklyn College
Email: ebranchsmith@brooklyn.cuny.edu
Research Question:
Understand student achievement in public schools in majority black suburbs
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Teacher College Record
Journal Entry: Vol. 107, No. 9, pp. 1956-1973
Year: 2005
Findings:
  • This study examines public education in predominantly black suburbs. Segregation in suburbia is another form of separate and unequal public education.
  • The study uses the cases of Prince George’s County and Plainfield, NJ to show that three factors in predominantly Black suburban public school systems negatively influence African American student achievement:
  • lower property values and a lower tax base result in less funding for schools, relative to white districts
  • school governance conflicts distract from teaching and learning
  • students are considered “urban” & dysfunctional. Low expectations of students.
Keywords: Academic AchievementFundingResidential SegregationSegregationTrackingRegions: NationalMethodologies: QualitativeResearch Designs: Case StudiesAnalysis Methods: Qualitative Techniques Sampling Frame:Black Suburbs
Sampling Types: NonrandomAnalysis Units: Geographical AreaData Types: Qualitative-Cross Sectional
Data Description:
  • The data are from five sources:
    • Review of the quantitative studies of suburban demographics
    • Literature on Black suburbs
    • Case study of Prince George’s County, MD by Johnson (2002)
    • The author’s qualitative research of public school system in Plainfield, NJ in 2002 and 2003
    • Information from a 2004 meeting of superintendents from 10 predominantly Black suburban school systems
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts
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