Study Reveals that All Students Learn More in Integrated Schools

In "Lost Learning, Forgotten Promises," Douglas Harris found that:

1. Minority students learn more in integrated schools.
2. Racial integration improves the equity of learning outcomes in general as well as in the Louisville and Seattle districts that are the subjects of the Supreme Court case.

More specifically, Harris found that:

• African Americans and Hispanics learn more in integrated schools. Minorities attending integrated schools also perform better in college attendance and employment.
• Controlled choice and other forms of desegregation benefit minority students.
• Racial integration is a rare case where an educational policy appears to improve educational equity at little financial cost.

This report is especially noteworthy because of its exhaustive analysis. Harris explained that, "Using test score information required by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the study analyzes the effects of segregation in more than 22,000 schools across the country that enroll more than 18 million students. Most previous studies on the subject have included no more than a few thousand students, making this study arguably the largest ever conducted on the effects of segregation."

While the link to the full report is above, you can find a summary here.