Exploring the Relationship Between School Racial Composition and the Democratic Outcomes of Schooling

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Examining School Programs, School Composition, Portable Use, and Teacher Pedagogy From an Equity Perspective (Table 38)

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between school racial composition and four established educational outcomes: student interest in living, working, and engaging civically in a diverse democracy, student academic aspirations, and student perceptions of teacher support. Data were collected in five high schools with different levels of racial diversity in one county in the South.
My findings indicate that (a) students who attend Majority White schools are significantly less interested in living, working, and engaging civically in a diverse society than students who attend Integrated and/or Majority Black schools, and (b) students who attend a Majority Black school have the highest academic aspirations, however, Black students are the least likely to enroll in AP courses

Authors

• Barbara Anne Saurer

• Michael A. Lawson, University of Alabama