Community Perspectives on School Desegregation and Integration: School Choice, Housing Mobility, and Community Engagement

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel explores the evolving landscape of school desegregation and integration from a “bottom-up,” community-grounded perspective. Bringing together three distinct yet interconnected papers, this panel will examine the role of school choice, housing mobility, and district-led community engagement in fostering or hindering school desegregation and integration. The first paper presents analysis of longitudinal data (2000-2010) on the racial composition of nearly 3,000 schools and their neighborhoods to understand how the availability of charter and private schools shapes the dynamics between school choice and racial segregation levels in neighborhoods and schools. The second paper presents on the development of a toolkit designed for housing mobility programs to provide families with high-quality information about local school districts, empowering them to access better-resourced schools while promoting educational equity. The third paper presents on a project taking a community-centered and participatory research approach to creating resources and tools that aim to help school districts productively and authentically engage their communities in school integration efforts. Together, these papers underscore the role of community voice, agency, and empowerment in the implementation of sustainable school desegregation and integration practices and policies.

Policy Area

• Social Equity and Race

Secondary Policy Area

• Education

Chair

• Terris Raiford Ross, American Institutes for Research

Discussant

• Ellie Klein, American Institutes for Research (AIR)

Individual Presentations

• How the Availability of School Choice Shapes School and Neighborhood Demographic Change - Presenting Author: Elly M Field, Brown University

• Developing a Research-Based Framework for School Integration and Improved K-12 Student Experiences in Housing Mobility Programs - Non-Presenting Co-Author: Alexandra Curley, AMC Research and Consulting, LLC; Presenting Author: Thomas Samuel Silverstein, Poverty & Race Research Action Council

• The Equitable Collaboration Playbook: Using Participatory Research to Support Community Engagement Efforts toward School Integration - Presenting Author: Paula Dias, American Institutes for Research

• The Ties That Revitalize: Community-Based Organizations and Their Impact on Subjective Well-Being - Presenting Author: David Okereke, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Organizer

• Christopher Paek, American Institutes for Research