Comparing Desegregation Intervention Strategies

The author examines the question of which type of desegregation plan most effectively reduces segregation in American public schools. This study departs from previous research in that the school desegregation plans are not categorized as mandatory and voluntary. Rather, a choice-assignment continuum is created to account for more of the variation between diverse desegregation orders that have been implemented in urban America. By several rigid criteria, desegregation plans relying on assignment techniques reduce the level of segregation to a greater degree than choice techniques.