Study shows Jim Crow-era segregation persists in Texas schools
A first-of-its-kind study from researchers in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin shows that, in addition to being isolated by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, English language learners in Texas schools also are separated by language, suffering what has been termed "triple segregation."
Education professors Julian Vasquez Heilig and Jennifer Jellison Holme analyzed school-level Texas Education Agency (TEA) data to determine the level of school segregation experienced by the rapidly growing English Language Learner (ELL) population in Texas, which is now the second largest in the nation. They were also interested in the relationship between levels of segregation and the performance of schools on the state accountability system.
Despite a 20-year-old accountability system that was designed to promote equality, the researchers found the majority of Texas ELL students remain in high poverty, high minority schools that are rated as low performing on the state accountability system.
"Our research revealed that schools where students are segregated by race/ethnicity, SES and language are overwhelmingly rated as low-performing," said Heilig, associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration.
Those schools also are staffed with some of the lowest-skilled teachers, and teacher and principal turnover tends to be high, Heilig said.
"So, 50 years after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the data reveals that very little has actually changed when it comes to the segregation of African Americans and Latinos in our schools," said Heilig. "Despite rhetoric to the contrary, demographics are still determining destiny in Texas."
more
http://phys.org/news/2013-08-jim-crow-era-segregation-persists-texas.html#nRlv