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While residential segregation drives much of the separation, screened admissions practices also intensify racial segregation in public schools, especially in New York City’s widespread reliance on tests. The article argues that “meritocracy” shields these screens from scrutiny through three linked conceptions of merit—individual, systems, and group—each reinforcing racial inequality in K–12 education.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/public-school-admissions-and-the-myth-of-meritocracy-how-and-why-screened-public-school-admissions-promote-segregation/274437/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/public-school-admissions-and-the-myth-of-meritocracy-how-and-why-screened-public-school-admissions-promote-segregation/274437.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Graffin","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-09-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",15,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How do screened public school admissions contribute to racial segregation?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Screened admissions use academic criteria such as standardized tests, grades, and other academic measures to place students into sought-after schools. These screens can produce or reinforce racial segregation, even when residential segregation is not the only factor.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What are the three conceptions of merit that protect screened admissions from scrutiny?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"The article identifies individual merit, systems merit, and group merit. Each view helps justify screens by attributing outcomes to student ability, system preparation, or inherent group differences.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"Why does the article focus on New York City’s admissions practices?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"New York City is described as highly reliant on screened admissions, including standardized tests, making it a prominent example of how such practices persist despite their segregative impact.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},274437,1789477229,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},3573418547284,"https://eur-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMISSIONS AND THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY:  \nHOW AND WHY SCREENED PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMISSIONS PROMOTE SEGREGATION  \n*  \nRICHARD R. BUERY, JR.  \nPublic schools in America remain deeply segregated by race, with devastating effects for Black and Latinx students. While residential segregation is a critical driver of school segregation, the prevalence of screened admissions practices can also play a devastating role in driving racial segregation in public schools. New York City, one of the most segregated school systems in America, is unique in its extensive reliance on screened admissions practices, including the use of standardized tests, to assign students to sought-after public schools. These screens persist despite their segregative impact in part because they appeal to America ’s embrace of the idea of meritocracy. This Article argues that Americans embrace three conceptions of merit which shield these screens from proper scrutiny. The first is individual merit—the idea that students with greater ability or achievement deserve access to better schools. The second is systems merit—the idea that poor student performance on an assessment is a failure of the system that prepared the student for the assessment. The third is group merit—the idea that members of some groups simply possess less ability. Each of these ideas has a pernicious impact on perpetuating racial inequality in public education.  \nINTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 102  \nI. THE APPEAL OF THREE DIMENSIONS OF MERIT .................... 104  \nA. Merit of the Individual.................................................... 104  \nB. Merit of the System ......................................................... 107  \nC. Merit of the Group .......................................................... 109  \nII. THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY IN K12 ADMISSIONS .............. 109  \nA. The Use of Standardized Tests to Admit Students to K12  \nSchools ............................................................................ 109  \nB. Screened Admissions in New York City Public Schools ............................................................................ 110  \nIII. SCREENED ADMISSIONS SYSTEMS AND THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY ....................................................................... 114  \nA. Individual Merit Screens in K12 Mask Inherited Privilege ......................................................................... 114  \nB. High-Stakes Tests Are a Poor Systems Accountability  \n* Copyright © 2020 by Richard R. Buery, Jr., Chief of Policy and Public Affairs, KIPP Foundation; Public Service Fellow, Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, New York University. Gratitude to Deborah Archer for her thoughtful feedback on early drafts. And thankyou to Choyce Miller for your excellent research assistance.  \n102 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW ONLINE [Vol. 95:101  \nTool ................................................................................. 116  \nC. We Must Confront the Racism Behind Some Support for K12 Screened Admissions............................................... 117  \nCONCLUSION ..................................................................................... 117  \nINTRODUCTION  \nIn America, kindergarten through 12th grade public education (“K12 education”) remains deeply segregated, and those on the wrong side are denied opportunity. “On every measure of achievement and attainment, race continues to be a salient factor in defining and dividing the American student population.”1 Children of color in America are more likely to attend under-resourced, struggling schools and have poor educational outcomes, and are less likely to have economic opportunity in adulthood.2  \nSchool segregation is largely a function of residential segregation and the use of political boundaries to sort students on the basis of that segregation.3 Segregated schools then contribute to the segregation of opportunit","cbCaij08k2QNSZo7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaij08k2QNSZo7","pdf",470867,18,"English","# Introduction\n## The appeal of three dimensions of merit\n### Merit of the Individual\n### Merit of the System\n### Merit of the Group\n## The myth of meritocracy in K12 admissions\n### The use of standardized tests to admit students to K12 schools\n### Screened admissions in New York City public schools\n## Screened admissions systems and the myth of meritocracy\n### Individual merit screens in K12 mask inherited privilege\n### High-stakes tests are a poor systems accountability tool\n### We must confront the racism behind some support for K12 screened admissions\n# Conclusion","[{\"question\":\"How do screened public school admissions contribute to racial segregation?\",\"answer\":\"Screened admissions use academic criteria such as standardized tests, grades, and other academic measures to place students into sought-after schools. These screens can produce or reinforce racial segregation, even when residential segregation is not the only factor.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the three conceptions of merit that protect screened admissions from scrutiny?\",\"answer\":\"The article identifies individual merit, systems merit, and group merit. Each view helps justify screens by attributing outcomes to student ability, system preparation, or inherent group differences.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the article focus on New York City’s admissions practices?\",\"answer\":\"New York City is described as highly reliant on screened admissions, including standardized tests, making it a prominent example of how such practices persist despite their segregative impact.\"}]","PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMISSIONS AND THE MYTH OF MERITOCRACY: HOW AND WHY SCREENED PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMISSIONS PROMOTE SEGREGATION | PDF",45]