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David Armor's "The Evidence on Busing" presented a distorted and incomplete review of this politically charged topic. We respect Armor's right to publish his views against "mandatory busing." But we challenge his claim that these views are supported by scientific evidence. A full discussion of our reading of the relevant research would be too lengthy and technical for the non-specialist. We must limit ourselves to outlining and discussing briefly our principal disagreements with Armor, which center on four major points. First, his article begins by establishing unrealistically high standards by which to judge the success of school desegregation. Second, the article presents selected findings from selected studies as "the evidence on busing." The bias is twofold. The few studies mentioned constitute an incomplete list and are selectively negative in results. Only cursory descriptions are provided of the few investigations that are reviewed. Third, the paper's anti-busing conclusions rest primarily on the findings from one short-term study conducted by Armor himself: an evaluation of a voluntary busing program in metropolitan Boston. This study is probably the weakest reported in the paper. Fourth, objections must be raised to the basic assumptions about racial change that undergird the entire article. The whole national context of individual and institutional racism is conveniently ignored. [For David Armor's reply, see UD 013 499.] (Author/JM)

Dr. David Armor introduced his paper on "busing" of pupils as busing became the political battleground of American race relations. The paper includes brief descriptions of studies of school desegregation programs in the states of Connecticut, New York, Michigan, and California, together with a more extensive coverage of his own research on a voluntary desegregation program in metropolitan Boston called METCO. He reports few positive effects, and concludes that "massive mandatory busing for purposes of improving student achievement and interracial harmony is not effective and should not be adopted at this time." This critique of Armor's paper makes such points as: Unrealistic standards for judging the effects of "busing" were used. The selection of studies was biased and incomplete. The critical distinction between desegregation was ignored. Biased and incomplete descriptions were provided of the few studies discussed. The use of white control groups was inadequate and often misleading. The METCO research had serious weaknesses. The achievement effects of "busing" were more complex and positive than reported. Shifts in aspiration and "academic self-image" during desegregation are positive in meaning. Shifts in racial attitudes during desegregation were exaggerated and interpreted too narrowly. (Author/JM)

Research shows that social class is a more important variable in determining educational achievement than race. Schools which provide a middle class milieu, therefore, will offer the best opportunities for achievement for Negro students. Consequently, the movement toward decentralization, which may effectively curtail integration, may further handicap Negroes by perpetuating social class segregation. The author feels strongly that integration must begin immediately and that dispersal plans must be started to break down the massive black ghettos in the cities. (NH)

The research presented in this study focuses on the hypothesis that there are consistent patterns of school desegregation and racial attitudes in the South and urban North which can be empirically derived and mathematically described through the simultaneous use of ecological and opinion data. Findings relating to the public school desegregation process in Texas, attitudes of white and Negro Texas toward racial desegregation, racial voting and attitudes in the urban North, and attitudes toward parental control of public schools are considered as supporting the hypothesis. The findings led to the tentative formulation of two middle-range theories. The first, on the operation of attitude climates in the desegregation process, was explicitly sought; and the second, on the attitude effects of dramatic events, was held to be an unexpected dividend of the project's research approach. New research methods utilized in the study included: a method of simulating attitude climates for areas smaller than the original sampling frames of the surveys used; establishment of a 200-survey library of race survey data; adaptation of a number of aggregate analysis techniques to study racial voting across urban precincts; and, two new uses of established methods for contextual models of school desegregation. Policy implications for public education encompass racial desegregation in the South, basis of white resistance in the North, and parental control of public schools. (RJ)

ONLY SCHOOL INTEGRATION CAN PROVIDE NEGRO STUDENTS WITH EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY. AS CONFIRMED BY DATA FROM SUCH STUDIES AS THE COLEMAN REPORT AND THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REPORT, "RACIAL ISOLATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS," THE SOCIAL CLASS AND RACIAL COMPOSITION OF A SCHOOL STRONGLY INFLUENCES STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT AND ASPIRATIONS. NEGRO STUDENTS IN CLASSROOMS WHICH ARE MORE THAN HALF WHITE, AND ESPECIALLY STUDENTS IN CLASSROOMS WHERE THERE IS COMPLETE INTERRACIAL ACCEPTANCE, ACHIEVE AT A SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER LEVEL THAN NEGRO STUDENTS IN SEGREGATED CLASSROOMS. HOWEVER WHITE PUPILS IN PREDOMINANTLY NEGRO CLASSROOMS PERFORM BELOW THE LEVEL OF WHITE STUDENTS IN ALL-WHITE SCHOOLS. INTERRACIAL EDUCATION BENEFITS BOTH WHITE AND NEGRO STUDENTS BY OFFERING THEM CONTACTS WHICH HELP TO PREPARE THEM FOR INTERRACIAL LIVING AS ADULTS. NEGRO STUDENTS IN INTEGRATED CLASSROOMS TEND TO HAVE A GREATER, MORE INTERNALIZED SENSE OF CONTROL OVER THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS AND ALSO TEND TO EVALUATE THEMSELVES ACCORDING TO MORE MIDDLE-CLASS, AND THUS HIGHER, STANDARDS OF ACHIEVEMENT AND ASPIRATION. NEGRO STUDENTS WHO HAVE CLOSE WHITE FRIENDS IN THEIR PEER GROUP MAKE THE MOST USE OF THIS CROSS-RACIAL SELF-EVALUATION, AND THUS ARE THE MOST STRONGLY AFFECTED BY THEIR INTERRACIAL SCHOOL EXPERIENCE. THIS PAPER WAS PRESENTED AT A SYMPOSIUM ON IMPLICATIONS OF COLEMAN REPORT ON EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY, WASHINGTON, D.C., SEPTEMBER 3, 1967. (LB)

TO EXAMINE THE CONSEQUENCES OF SCHOOL RACIAL ISOLATION, THIS PAPER REVIEWS THE FINDINGS OF TWO RECENT FEDERAL SURVEYS OF PUBLIC SCHOOL SEGREGATION, "RACIAL ISOLATION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS" AND "EQUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY," AS WELL AS DATA FROM SEVERAL OTHER STUDIES. THE MATERIAL IS PRESENTED UNDER THE RUBRICS OF (1) THE CHIEF CORRELATES OF NEGRO ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, (2) RACIAL COMPOSITION OF THE CLASSROOM AND NEGRO ACHIEVEMENT, (3) USEFUL DEFINITIONS OF SEGREGATION, DESEGREGATION, AND INTEGRATION, (4) THE NONACADEMIC CONSEQUENCES OF INTERRACIAL EDUCATION, AND (5) THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPENSATORY EDUCATION IN SEGREGATED SCHOOLS AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATED EDUCATION. THE FINDINGS OF THESE STUDIES SHOW THAT SOCIAL CLASS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SCHOOL CORRELATE OF ACHIEVEMENT TEST SCORES. ALSO TEACHER QUALITY IS A MORE SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT THAN SCHOOL FACILITIES, AND THE RACIAL COMPOSITION OF THE SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM HAS AN ACADEMIC AND PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECT ON STUDENTS. INTEGRATED EDUCATION, WHICH OCCURS IN DESEGREGATED SCHOOLS WHERE THERE IS INTERRACIAL ACCEPTANCE, IS MOST BENEFICIAL WHEN BEGUN IN THE EARLIEST PRIMARY GRADES. FINALLY, COMPENSATORY SEGREGATED EDUCATION IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE SUBSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATED SCHOOLS AND DOES NOT RESULT IN LASTING ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT FOR NEGROES. THIS PAPER WAS PREPARED FOR THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EQUAL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA'S CITIES, SPONSORED BY THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS, WASHINGTON, D.C., NOVEMBER 16-18, 1967. (NH)

Authors closely examines sociologist James S. Coleman's research and public statements on the relationship between school desegregation and white school enrollment. (Editor/RK)

Advocates that the structure of American society be changed to reward support for integration, noting that although interracial schooling has advanced to the point where Southern public education is far more desegregated than Northern public education, interracial housing has declined, making school integration in urban areas impossible without considerable transportation of children. (Author/JM)

Concludes that there are serious problems with the "research" on which Coleman based his conclusions about white flight, that there is only a tenuous connection between Coleman's research results and his antibussing political opinions, and that the episode raises difficult problems concerning the influence of social science on public policy. (Author/IRT)

The authors present their own body of evidence in critical opposition to the analyses of David Armor. (DM)

A rebuttal of a negative evaluation of busing programs published by David Armor, which focuses on the methodological shortcomings of an investigation of a voluntary busing program in metropolitan Boston called METCO done by Armor. (JM)

Current trends toward middle-class positivism, subtle discrimination, and less resistance to racial change portend an increase in minority middle-class membership which, in time, will promote more change. (DW)

Opposes the proposed legislative attempts to declare virtually null and void the 14th Amendment as it applies to race and public education; and provides research analysis to support this position. (DM)

Article discussed the peculiar problem of busing in the United States and its possible meaning for future historians. (RK)