Assessment of Current Knowledge about the Effectiveness of School Desegregation Strategies. Volume VII: The Courts and Desegregation Strategies: Ten Key Decisions.

This volume examines ten communities with histories of lengthy desegregation litigation in order to gain insight into the perceived legal adequacy and practical effectiveness of various desegregation strategies from the point of view of the Federal courts. A conceptual model of the judicial review of desegregation plans is given in diagram form with accompanying text. Reviews of each community are included under two major categories: (1) those concerned with pupil or staff desegregation; and (2) those which focus on non-reassignment or ancillary measures to achieve desegregation and remediation of past discrimination. Under each category, a number of specific strategies are identified, defined, and analyzed according to their legal adequacy and effectiveness in the selected communities. A summary of an in-depth analysis of two communities (Boston, Massachusetts, and Denver, Colorado), which is said to provide understanding of the logic used by the courts and to illustrate the interaction among educational benefits, demographic factors, and equity considerations, is provided in the appendix. (Author/ML)