Making School Integration Work

Many American schools continue to struggle with segregation. This important book tells the story of how two school districts-one a predominantly White and wealthy suburban community and the other a more diverse and urbanized community-were merged into a single district to work toward a solution for school segregation. The authors focus on the Morris School District in New Jersey as an exemplar to demonstrate what is possible and how it can be accomplished. They document what makes a district like Morris successful and include lessons learned in each chapter. Along with analyzing the legal and educational policy implications of the nearly 50-year history of the merged district, the authors take a mixed methods approach to deepen our knowledge of effective leadership, community–school relations, and classroom practices in the context of a community committed to genuine integration.Book Features:Offers a deep analysis of one of the few districts that is making progress toward true integration. Examines a local story that has wide applicability to those interested in social justice, enlightened leadership, and equitable educational opportunities for all students. Employs qualitative and quantitative research along with GIS mapping to study the legal, educational, political, historical, and sociological dimensions of the case study.Provides a series of lessons learned from the Morris School District that will assist those engaged in building equitable school systems.

"The authors do an especially good job examining the complexities within and between student populations, and it is satisfying to hear from so many students, parents, and teachers directly through extensive interviews and long quotes in the book.... The book makes its mark by amplifying these activist demands through rigorous scholarship, and it is clear the authors believe deeply not only in the equalizing function of school integration but also its essential civic purpose in a democracy."--History of Education Quarterly, " Making School Integration Work is a study of the 'Morris story, ' how one New Jersey public school district focused on integration and diversity by combining two communities into one 'racially and socioeconomically diverse and unified K-12 district' (p. 5). ... The challenges faced by the district as it carried out 'diversity work' without an intentional focus on educational equity and access are illuminated. Ultimately, this is a story of superficially celebrating diversity in one district at the expense of actually providing equity of and access to quality education for the communities it serves."-- Choice

Paul Tractenberg is professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School in Newark. Allison Roda and Ryan Coughlan are both assistant professors of education in Molloy College's Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities Ed.D. program. Deirdre Dougherty is assistant professor of educational studies at Knox College.