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E-mail Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2009 > January > 14 > Entry
The lasting impact of attending diverse schools
Over at This Week in Education, Alexander Russo writes about a new book looking at students from the class of 1980 and their attitudes about race today. The book finds students who attended integrated schools are more concerned about equality and more appreciative of black culture.
These finding agree with studies by a local professor that I have written about in the past showing students in diverse schools exhibit less racial bias.
This is why it is a shame that districts don’t pay more attention to the racial makeup of schools. There are subtle strategies outside of busing that could encourage more integration in schools (such as building new schools in locations that will draw more diverse enrollments). The evidence appears to suggest this would be better for society in the long run.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Urban School Issues
Comments
By steve
January 22, 2009 8:41 AM | Link to this
Amen great Idea…I was part of the great social experiment of the mid 70’s that was desegregation and seeing as how my family wasn’t steeped in a segregist attitude I never had a problem with intergration I did see though that even in the 70’s there was many poverty level kids, single parent kids, that were behind on the learning curve. It is unfortunate that this exist for the state appears to spend more money in the social services sector as opposed to the business of educating our kids. education
By davidss2
January 21, 2009 9:39 AM | Link to this
The tenet held here is that white folk don’t understand blacks. But what about the converse where blacks don’t understand white culture of our country. I posted this after I watched the continuing bashing of the past president by the blacks attending/watching the inauguration yesterday. The ones disrespectfully chanting against Bush when he was announced to come to the stage. They were so proud of themselves and that they were on camera for NBC, who has been totally anti-Republican throughout the election. On a related topic, there seems to be a newspaper, video media, etc., idea that somehow yesterday improved all life for all blacks because now they can become what they want to become; couldn’t that have happened 5 years ago, last year, and today? Those blacks who wish to become an attorney could have gone to college after working to learn in high school? Indeed many scholarships are available that are kept from whites in the same situation so that blacks can attend college. The real barriers are the mental attitude that something should be given to someone. If Barack is the solution, all the student has to do is get someone (so far unknow person in Barck’s case) to pay for a Harvard education, have support of a rich controller of the Democrat party, and college $650 million after reneging on accepting federal election money to buy an election machine with some help from Acorn. What changed yesterday that wasn’t in place a year ago whether it’s in Dayton Public School on the streets of DC. Are there NO successful black students in DPS? In Beavercreek? In Miamisburg schools? Why are they successful while the complainers aren’t? Think about it.
By Rick
January 20, 2009 5:57 PM | Link to this
Scott, you are misguided. The purpose of schools is not to create attitudes, i.e., more concerned about equality. To liberals, equality means equal results even if the the people did not work the same. I for one do not want any students to be appreciative of the current black culture, misogynist, violent, not valuing education, hip hop. The black culture of the 1940s and 1950s was vastly superior to what it is today. Students, and education, should be focused on improving knowledge and skills, not attitudes and feelings.
By Eli Hurwitz
January 18, 2009 3:23 PM | Link to this
It might not be necessary to “…building new schools in locations that will draw more diverse enrollments.” Instead we could, based on lower enrollment numbers, build a single middle school that all of Dayton’s middle school students could go to. This would give the city one school to get behind. This could be a feeder school to the variety of high schools we have in the city. It could be broken into smaller learning communities and it could centralize all the resources needed to meet this age group’s needs. This would be a great idea for high school as well, but we have already spent plenty building the city’s high schools. At the middle school level we still have Wilbur Wright to be re-built and it is right now the only 7-8 school in the district. All the rest are k-8 or Stivers’ 7-12. Like the previous comment says, location does not matter as much as the problems of poverty and social class. Putting all the students in one spot allows only going to one spot with the solutions (or what we hope are the solutions) to these problems.
By Great idea, but
January 15, 2009 5:08 PM | Link to this
Scott, I agree with you, but what do you mean by “…building new schools in locations that will draw more diverse enrollments.” Where do you have in mind? I think we are beyond this discussion. I’d argue that for most KIDS today in metro areas like Dayton, skin color is not a factor. The real issue is poverty and social class. These are REAL barriers to educational success.