Equity by Design - Staying the Course for School Desegregation - Leveraging New and Prior Efforts

Oct 15, 2026

Equity by Design addresses how school desegregation research and nearly 70 years after Brown v. Board of Education (1954) remain critical because most public students still attend racially and socioeconomically segregated schools. The brief explains why earlier desegregation efforts, though imperfect, delivered academic and social benefits, and outlines how legal rulings shaped court demands for realistic and timely plans. It then reviews key obstacles from resistance and policy flaws, and concludes by identifying priorities to advance genuine school integration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Brief History of School Desegregation

Progress and Retreat

One Step Forward

Two Steps Backwards

[Image description: Six elementary-aged children of varying ethnic/racial and gender expressions, standing in a circle, looking down at the camera, and smiling.] Equity by Design: Staying the Course for School Desegregation: Leveraging New and Prior Efforts Sarah Diem Brittany Smotherson Staying the Course for School Desegregation: Leveraging New and Prior Efforts Decades of school desegregation research overwhelmingly points to the myriad benefits for all students who attend integrated schools (see e.g. , Mickelson, 2008; Mickelson & Nkomo, 2012; Schneider et al. , 2022; Wells et al. , 2016) . Yet, nearly 70 years post-Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the majority of public school students are attending racially and socioeconomically segregated schools (NCES, 2022; Schaeffer, 2021) . While desegregation efforts have had many flaws and were imperfect in their designs and implementations, which limited their reach, for those who attended desegregated schools the academic and social benefits were many and are why many school districts continue to actively pursue school integration (McDermott et al. , 2015; Potter & Burris, 2020) . As school districts continue to work to create diverse and integrated schools, understanding the legal contribution of school desegregation is critical for staying the course. That is, school districts must not only be knowledgeable about the historical context of school desegregation but also what current efforts are occurring across the U.S. to combat school segregation as they may help guide them in leveraging policy in their own school communities’ school integration endeavors. The purpose of this Equity by Design research brief is to illustrate the importance of continuing to pursue the initial goals of Brown (1954) . We begin the brief by providing a short history of school desegregation and how court rulings made it challenging for desegregation to be fully realized. We then discuss how flaws in policy design and implementation also contributed to unsustainable desegregation efforts and what we can learn from these missteps to create better desegregation policies. We conclude by highlighting what we believe are possibilities and areas where we must concentrate our work to actualize school integration. Brief History of School Desegregation: Progress and Retreat Desegregation has faced resistance since its inception. This resistance, particularly within white communities, and the catering to this resistance, contributed to desegregation not being fully implemented across many communities. Initially, the courts played a significant role in establishing and enforcing desegregation efforts throughout the nation. One Step Forward As a response to a challenge to the“separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Brown v. Board of Education (1954) began the repeal of de jure segregation in school communities. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown that state-sanctioned segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ruling demonstrated that although landmark cases can be decided in favor of desegregation, the courts must also be - 1- more specific in outlining a course of action. Because Brown did not provide a timeline for schools to desegregate, or the role the U.S. government had in ensuring the desegregation took place, Brown v. Board of Education (1955), or Brown II, addressed these areas to a certain extent. Justice Warren’s opinion in the Brown II ruling famously included that schools needed to desegregate “with all deliberate speed,”vague wording left open to multiple interpretations. As many schools remained segregated after Brown II (1955), another significant segregation challenge was presented to the Court. Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968) brought de facto segregation via “freedom of choice” plans before the Court, showing these plans inadequately integrated schools after o

FAQs

What central problem does the brief highlight about school desegregation today?

Despite the long history of desegregation research, most public school students still attend racially and socioeconomically segregated schools.

How did Brown v. Board of Education (1954) change the legal landscape for school segregation?

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state-sanctioned segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment, beginning the repeal of de jure segregation.

Why were later court decisions important for making desegregation timelines and plans more concrete?

Because Brown did not provide a timeline and Brown II used broad language, later cases clarified that delays were not tolerable and that districts must create realistic, timely, and evaluable integration plans.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Riley West