Narrowing the Achievement Gap in a (Re) Segregated Urban School District

A volume in The Achievement Gap Research Practice and PolicyC. Kent McGuire and Vivian W. Ikpa Series EditorsThe interplay between sociopolitical forces and economic agendas becomes apparent when oneexamines the June 28 2007 United States Supreme Court Decision Parents Involved In CommunitySchools v. Seattle School District . In a reversal of the 1954 Brown Decision the UnitedStates Supreme Court ruled that public schools could not use race as a factor when assigning childrento public schools. Given demographic shifts globalization economic instability and ideologicalshifts the reversal was expected. However it is essential that policymakers educatorsand other stakeholders consider the impact of attending segregated schools on the achievementgap that continues to exist between minority groups and European Americans attending resegregatedneighborhood schools.This book will focus on the test score gaps between African American and European American students. The achievement gapsbetween these two groups will be analyzed will be presented and elaborated. Additionally the authors will analyze how changes inschool characteristics such as: racial composition; school composition; school expenditures and socio economic level of neighborhoodsaffect achievement gap trends in the Norfolk School District. An examination of the achievement gap trends in an urbanschool district will serve to better inform public policy and school reform efforts.The specific goals of this book are to describe the achievement gap between minority African-American students and European-Americanstudents in the Norfolk school district and to present strategies utilized by urban districts to narrow the gap. One unique feature ofthis book is that it provides a data-driven research-based analysis of the achievement gap between minority and European-Americanstudents.