School Choice and Diversity

This collection of essays will help readers disentangle the complex relationship between school choice and student diversity in the post- Brown era. Presenting the views of the most prominent researchers of school choice reforms in the United States, this book argues that the contexts under which school choice plans are adopted are actually responsible for shaping student diversity within schools. Using sociological, economic, and political analysis, the authors present studies of controlled and voluntary choice plans, charter schools, private school selection, and their interaction with race, social class, gender, and student disability.

Features:

• A diverse group of well-known scholars that present empirical evidence and fresh viewpoints on school choice and its impact on student diversity.
• Discussion of various school choice options, including magnet schools, charter schools, single-gender schools, and private schools.
• An examination of choice’s effects on other reforms and policies, such as desegregation and school improvement.
• Advice for policymakers and school officials who are interested in increasing parental choices while also protecting equal access to public schooling.

Janelle T. Scott is an Assistant Professor at New York University, Steinhardt School of Education, Department of Administrative Leadership and Technology.

“An immensely valuable work which captures the many dimensions of the issues and controversies as well as buttressing them with data.”
— From the Foreword by Henry M. Levin, William Heard Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

“The deep tensions between unrestricted choice, integration, and equity are explored from a variety of perspectives in this book. Anyone who thinks choice is a simple and unambiguous good badly needs to read these studies.”
Gary Orfield, Professor of Education & Social Policy and Director, Civil Rights Project, Harvard University