Course Description
This course analyzes the role of race in U.S. education. A variety of perspectives will be explored, including historical, sociological, economic, and political to analyze how race fuels the public debate and how racial attitudes and beliefs interact with access and equity issues. From these theoretical considerations, students will examine how racial issues shaped federal, state and local policies. Although the primary substantive focus of the course is on black-white relations and public policy, we are sensitive to and encourage the study of other racial and ethnic groups.

The objectives of this course are to: (1) provide an overview of how race contributes to public policy making in the United States, (2) develop an understanding of the public policies associated with race and education, and (3) research, evaluate and design policies aimed to alleviate separate and unequal educational opportunities for students of color.

Required Texts

Denton, Nancy and Massey, Douglass (1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Edsall, Thomas with Edsall, Mary (1991). Chain reaction. New York: W.W. Norton, Company.

Orfield, Gary and Ashkinaze, Carole. (1991). Closing door: Conservative policy and black opportunity. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wilson, William Julius. (1987). The truly disadvantaged. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Course Requirements

Assignments and Group presentations

Case-Study: In research groups of 4 or 5 , students will choose a city from a list of selected cities in which to critically analyze how race impacts Fair Housing, employment opportunities, poverty, and the implications for educational equity and access. The case-study method will allow students to reconstruct the historical, sociological, economic and political interpretation of racial issues and show the relationship to educational access and equity issues in the selected city. The groups will receive in-class time for planning their case-study assignments.

Papers: Each research group is responsible for submitting four 15-20 page papers. Three out of the four papers should focus specifically on Housing, Employment, Poverty and the relationship to educational policy making. The fourth paper should integrate the policy research presented in the other three papers and show the connection to educational equity and access issues. The paper topics should be developed from selected readings and data pertaining to Fair Housing, Employment, Poverty, and Education policies. Each paper should: (1) analyze the policy historically, within its social and political context, then trace its implementation and how the policy is inextricably connected to equity and access issues, (2) rotate the order of authorship and (3) include summaries related to the readings, brief comments, criticisms, issues/questions for discussion, policy recommendations and implementation issues. Note: The research groups should allocate an equitable division of labor for the various aspects of the assignments and group presentations. Papers are due the week after your class presentation except for the final paper (See schedule below).

Due Dates for Papers

May 11 Fair Housing & Education
May 25 Employment & Education
June 8 Poverty & Education
Final Week June 10-16 (exact date to be determined) Race & Education paper & presentation due the same day.

Presentations: Each research group is responsible for four-half-hour presentations. The presentations are considered an example of your work in progress and it is also a time to receive feedback in order to further developed the four required papers. To facilitate the presentation, the group should present geographic and demographic data for the city that compare and contrast racial groups. This data should be extracted from Census Bureau data.

Evaluation: Coursework involves active participation in on-going classroom discussions. Student evaluation is broken down as follows:

Participation in weekly discussions-20%
Group presentations, individual effort, and papers:
first-author & leads presentation-40%
second-,third or fourth author-40%
*Note: These three papers are averaged to determine the final grade.

Required Readings and Course Schedule:

Week 1. April 6 Introduction and Overview of Course

Discussion of Topics and Group Assignments. Introduction to and information on the libraries and resources available in the African American Studies Center, American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, and Chicano Studies Center.

Week 2. April 13 Race in America

Note: On this day there will be a class trip to URL and the Maps & Government Information office. The class will meet in the lobby of URL at 5:00 p.m.

Topics: Race, Racism & Education in America
Social construction of race
Theories of race
Race-specific policies
Primary Readings :

Wilson, Chapter 5
Edsall w/ Edsall, Chapters 1-2

Secondary Readings:

Blauner, Bob (1992). Talking past each other: black and white languages of race. In Fred L. Pincus and Howard J. Ehrlich (Eds.), Race and Ethnic conflict: Contending Views on Prejudice, Discrimination, and Ethnoviolence (Chapter 3).

Fordham, Signithia. (February 1988). Racelessness as a factor in black studentsŐ school success: Pragmatic strategy or pyrrhic victory. Harvard Educational Review, 58, 1, 54-84.

Week 2. April 13 Race in America

Secondary Readings cont.:

Frantz, Fanon. (1967). Black skin, white masks. (Chapter 4-5).

Omi, Michael & Winent, Howard (1986). Racial formation in the u.s. from the 1960s to the 1980s (Chapters 1-3, pp. 14-54).

West, Cornell (1993). Race matters. Boston: Beacon Press (Chapter 1).

Wilson, William J. (1980). The declining significance of race (Chapters 7 & 8). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Week 3. April 20 AERA Annual Meeting -- class cancelled

Primary Readings

Edsall w/ Edsall, Chapters 3 & 4

Week 4. April 27 Fair Housing Policies & Education

Topics: Federal Housing Policy
Residential Segregation
Creation of the Urban Ghetto
White Suburbanization

Primary Readings

Massey & Denton, Chapters 1, 4 & 5
Orfield & Ashkinaze, Chapter 4
Secondary Readings

Farley, Reynolds and Frey, William H. (February, 1994) "Changes in the segregation of whites from black during the 1980s: Small steps toward a more integrated society." American Sociological Review. 59 (23-45).

Hirsch, Arnold R. (1993) "With or without jim crow: Black residential segregation in the united states." in H.R. Hirsch and R.A. Mohl (Eds.) Urban Policy in Twentieth-Century America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (65-99).

Orfield, Gary (1980) "School segregation and residential segregation" A social science statement. In W. G. Stephan and J. R. Feagin (Eds.)School Desegregation: Past, Present, and Future NY: Plenum Press.

St. John, Craig and Bates, Nancy A. (1990) "Racial Composition and Neighborhood Evaluation" Social Science Research 19, 47-61.

Week 4. April 27 Fair Housing Policies & Education

Secondary Readings cont.

Sussman, Michael H. (November, 1990) "Nondiscrimination in housing and education: Toward a coordinated federal policy" Education and Urban Society 23, (1) 50-60.

Wells, Amy Stuart, Crain, Robert L. & Uchetelle, Susan (forthcoming) Stepping Over the Color Line: Black Inner-City Students in Suburban Schools.. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Week 5 May 4 Presentations Fair Housing Policies & Education

Primary Readings
Edsall w/ Edsall, Chapters 5 & 6
Massey & Denton, Chapters 2 & 3

Week 6. May 11 Employment, Economic Restructuring & Education Note: Fair Housing & Education paper due

Topics: Workforce 2000

Economic restructuring

School-to-Work Transition Opportunities Act, 1994

Primary Readings

Orfield & Ashkinaze, Chapters 1,2, & 3
Drucker, Peter (November 1994). The age of social transformation. The Atlantic Monthly.
Berryman, Sue & Bailey, Thomas. (1992). The double helix of education & the economy. The Institute on Education and the Economy. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Secondary Readings

Aronowitz, Stanley & DiFazio, William (1994). The jobless future: Sci-Tech and the dogma of work (Chapters 1 and 11). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Week 7. May 18 Presentations Employment, Economic Restructuring & Education

Primary Readings
Orfield & Ashkinaze, Chapters 5, 6, & 7

Week 8 May 25 Poverty & Education

Note: Employment & Education paper due

Topics: Culture of Poverty
War on Poverty
Cycles of deprivation and the underclass debate
Civil Rights Act, 1964
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 1965

Primary Readings
Wilson, Chapters 1, 2, 3, & 4
Massey & Denton, Chapter 6

Secondary Readings

Connell, R.W. (Summer, 1994). Poverty and education. Harvard Educational Review, 64, 2 125-149.

Steele, Claude M. (April 1992). Race and the schooling of black americans. Atlantic Monthly 68-78.

Glazer, Nathan (1986) Education and training programs and poverty. In S.H. Danziger & D. H. Weinberg (Eds.), Fighting Poverty: What Works and What DoesnŐt (pp. 152-173). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Week 9. June 1 Presentations Poverty and Education

Primary Readings
Wilson, Chapters 5 & 6
Edsall & Edsall, Chapters 11 &12
Week 10. June 8 - Putting it All Together/Current issues in Race and Education

Note: Poverty & Education paper due

Topics: Affirmative Act
Afro-centric Schools
Multicultural education
School Desegragation
Primary Readings

Wilson, Chapter 7

Orfield & Ashkinaze, Chapter 8

Massey & Denton, Chapters 7 & 8

Englert, Richard, M. (1993). Understanding the urban context and conditions of practice of school administration. In P.B. Forsyth & M. Tallerico (Eds.), City Schools: Leading the Way (pp 1-63). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Secondary Readings

Meier, Kenneth, J, Stewart, Joseph, Jr., & England, Robert, E. (1989). Race, class and education: The politics of second-generation discrimination (pp. 9 - 57). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.

Kantor, Harvey, & Brenzel, Barbara (1993). Urban education and the Ňtruly disadvantagedÓ: The historical roots of the contemporary crisis, 1945-1990. In M.B. Katz (Ed.), The Underclass Debate: Views from History (pp. 366-402). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

McGeary, Michael, G. H. (1990) Ghetto Poverty and Federal Policies and Programs. In L.E. Lynn, Jr. & M.G.H McGeary (Eds.), Inner-city Poverty in the United States ( pp 223-247). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Weir, Margaret. (1988). The federal government and unemployment: The frustration of policy innovation from the new deal to the great society. In M.Weir, A.S. Orloff, & T. Skocpol (Eds.), The Politics of Social Policy in the United States (pp. 149-190). New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

June 10-16 Final Week. (Date to be announced) - Putting it All Together/Current issues in Race and Education --Presentation and Race & Education paper due

Course Logistics

Cities for Case Study Assignments
I. Northeast region
Philadelphia, PA
Boston, MA
Wilmington, DE
II. Southern region
San Antonio, TX
Jackson, MS
Louisville, KY
Charlotte, NC
III. Midwest region
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Indianapolis, IN
IV. Western region
San Francisco, CA
San Jose, CA
Seattle, WA
Criteria for group assignments
Policy experience
Worked w/ Detracking Study
Year in the program
Taken 272 Case-Study Research in Education Policy and Practice

jab, 19may95

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