Social Science and School Desegregation: Did We Mislead the Supreme Court?

Abstract

During the deliberations prior to its school desegregation decision in 1954 the Supreme Court had before it a Social Science Statement on the effects of segregation and desegregation. This article reassesses the quality of that Statement 25 years later. Key points in the Statement are compared to the results of subsequent research. Some points, e.g., no negative effect on the school achievement of white students, have been supported. Others, e.g., improvement in black self-esteem, are difficult to evaluate due to inconsistent and uninterpretable research findings. Still others, e.g., more favorable racial attitudes, cannot be compared to the research findings because desegregation was not carried out in accord with conditions that were specified as conducive to the outcomes predicted in the Statement. Much research effort has been wasted in the study of school desegregation conducted under conditions unknown to the investigator. In order to avoid such waste in the future it is suggested that investigators concentrate on innovative methods of facilitating constructive classroom desegregation. Illustrations are provided from recent research developments.