Clotfelter, Charles T., Ladd, Helen, & Vigdor, Jacob
Researchers: Charles T. ClotfelterHelen LaddJacob Vigdor
University Affiliation: Duke University
Email: charles.clotfelter@duke.edu
Research Question:
Measure segregation in terms of uneveness in racial enrollment patterns both between schools and within schools.
Published: 0
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy
Journal Entry: Working Papers Series SAN 08-02
Year: 2008
Findings:
- Classroom segregation generally increased between 2000/01 and 2005/06, continuing, albeit at a slightly slower rate, the trend of increases observed over the preceding siz years.
- Segregation increased sharply in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, which introduced a new choice plan in 2002. Over the same period, racial and economic disparities in teacher quality widenened in that district.
- The biggest change in trends of segregation occurred in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, where the index increased sharply, from 0.20 to 0.33. Thus the district’s choice plan introduced in 2002 appears to have markedly increased segregation. No other large district or district group experienced a change as dramatic as Charlotte’s.
- Charlotte’s rise in segregation manifested in a big jump in the proportion of minority students who attended racially isolated, all-or mostly- non-White schools.
- In a world where schools attended by White and middle class students tend to have better resources and more qualified teachers than schools populated by low-income and disadvantaged students, segregation leads directly to resources disparities.
- Now that neighborhood schools appear to be the default basis for student assignment, authors would expect: a) in the long run, heighten the importance of school racial composition in families’ choices about where to live. B) tend to lead to more residential segregation if White and middle class parents seek to avoid schools with significant numbers of non-White students, as has been the pattern in the past.