The Gerrymandering of School Attendance Zones and the Segregation of Public Schools - geospatial analysis

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious

Employing geospatial techniques, the study evaluates how school attendance zone gerrymandering shapes racial and ethnic segregation in public schools. Using a national sample of 15,290 attendance zones across 663 districts, it compares existing zones with counterfactual zones that would occur without gerrymandering. Findings show that gerrymandering generally intensifies segregation, though its impact is weaker for separating Whites from Blacks and Hispanics. Effects are strongest in districts experiencing rapid demographic change, while a minority of districts show segregation reductions, especially where desegregation orders are in place.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages39

Reading Time1 h 38 min

AccessFree to download

Research Focus

Methods and Data

Counterfactual Comparison Approach

Key Findings and Variations

American Educational Research Journal December 2014, Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 1119–1157 DOI: 10.3102/0002831214553652 􀀂 2014 AERA. [http://aerj](http://aerj).[aera.net](aera.net) The Gerrymandering of School Attendance Zones and the Segregation of Public Schools: A Geospatial Analysis Meredith P. Richards Southern Methodist University In this study, I employ geospatial techniques to assess the impact of school attendance zone ‘‘gerrymandering’’ on the racial/ethnic segregation of schools, using a large national sample of 15,290 attendance zones in 663 districts. I estimate the effect of gerrymandering on school diversity and school district segregation by comparing the racial/ethnic characteristics of existing attendance zones to those of counterfactual zones expected in the absence of gerrymandering. Results indicate that the gerrymandering of attendance zones generally exacerbates segregation, although it has a weaker effect on the segregation of Whites from Blacks and Hispanics. Gerrymandering is particularly segregative in districts experiencing rapid racial/ethnic change. However, gerrymandering is associated with reductions in segregation in a substantial minority of districts, notably those under desegregation orders. KEYWORDS: gerrymandering, attendance zones, segregation, geospatial analysis In 1968, the Kerner Commission famously concluded that America was ‘‘moving towards two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal’’(U.S. National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, 1968) . In the decades following the Kerner report, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and other achievements of the civil rights era ushered in substantial improvements in residential segregation by race and ethnicity (Charles, 2003; Clark, 2002; Iceland, Weinberg, & Steinmetz, 2002; Logan, Stults, & Farley, 2004; Timberlake & Iceland, 2007) . Despite the strong association between where students live and where they attend school, segregation trends for public schools have been much less promising than residential trends MEREDITH P. RICHARDS is an assistant professor of education policy and leadership at Southern Methodist University, 3101 University Blvd., Dallas, TX 75205; e-mail: [mprichards@smu.edu](mprichards@smu.edu. Her)[. Her](mprichards@smu.edu. Her) research focuses on exploring the effects of educational policies on equity and stratification in schools and situating policies in their metropolitan and geographic contexts. Richards (Fiel, 2013; Frankenberg, Lee, & Orfield, 2003; Frankenberg & Orfield, 2012; G. Orfield, Kucsera, & Siegel-Hawley, 2012; Reardon & Owens, in press; Reardon, Yun, & Eitle, 2000; Stroub & Richards, 2013) . As a result of these trends, in the decades following Brown, schools were consistently less segregated than the neighborhoods in which they were situated, suggesting that schools played an important role in ameliorating social inequities by mitigating the association between patterns of residence and school attendance (Reardon & Yun, 2001) . However, as residential segregation has continued to decline despite increases or, at best, plateaus in school segregation, schools are now often as segregated as the neighborhoods in which they are situated (Ong & Rickles, 2004), or even more segregated than their neighborhoods (M. Orfield, 2002; Reardon & Yun, 2001; Saporito & Sohoni, 2006, 2007; Sohoni & Saporito, 2009) . This suggests that schools, which served as mechanisms of racial integration after Brown, now are not only reproducing existing patterns of residential segregation, but may also be actively facilitating segregation beyond residential patterns. This shift in the role of schools from an instrument of integration toa mechanism for segregation underscores the importance of understanding the causal mechanisms by which public schools perpetuate stratification by race and ethnicity. Accounts of changes in public school segregation generally fall into two camps. First, a large body of

FAQs

What question does the study address?

It assesses how gerrymandering of school attendance zones affects the racial and ethnic segregation of public schools.

How are effects of gerrymandering estimated in the study?

By comparing the racial/ethnic composition of actual attendance zones to counterfactual zones expected if gerrymandering were absent.

What are the main results of the analysis?

Attendance-zone gerrymandering generally exacerbates school segregation, particularly in districts undergoing rapid racial/ethnic change, while its impact is weaker for separating Whites from Blacks and Hispanics.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Pentious