60th Since Brown. . .50th Since the Civil Rights Act. . .A Symposium and Discussion Forum

Session Type: Invited Session

Abstract

The forthcoming AERA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia takes place in a landmark anniversary year. It is the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These two significant markers of social reform—one judicial and one legislative—were directed to ending segregation and discrimination and fostering a more equal society, in particular for persons of color. Looking back and looking ahead, what progress is observable, and, equally as important, what embedded social and social structural conditions continue to create barriers for attaining equal opportunity and access. This Presidential symposium brings scholars who have studied our social history, patterns of stability and change, and the mechanisms that impede or promote meaningful transformations in educational practice and policy. In the quest for a just society, no challenge has been more formidable or subject to study than the nature of societal change and the fault lines that can perpetuate inequality.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Charles M. Payne, University of Chicago

Presenters

• James D. Anderson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Kenji Hakuta, Stanford University

• Marta Tienda, Princeton University