Robert E. England

Black Representation and Educational Policy: Are They Related?

This study examines the impact of black school board members on educational policies that affect black students. Using data from 82 of the largest urban school districts in the United States, several measures of second-generation educational discrimination are analyzed. Black membership on the school board is associated with more equitable educational policies; this relationship remains in some cases even with controls for black political and economic resources. The implications of these findings for the study of representation are then discussed.

Hispanic Americans and Educational Policy: Limits to Equal Access

This research examines the relationship between Hispanic representation on school boards and public policy outputs that affect Hispanic students. Using a data set of 35 large urban school districts, several questions are examined. First, the level of Hispanic representation on school boards is measured and related to types of electoral structure. Second, Hispanic representation on school boards is found to be a significant determinant of Hispanic employment as teachers. Third, Hispanic teachers have a major impact on the educational environment of the Hispanic student. Districts with larger percentages of Hispanic teachers also have Hispanic students who are more likely to complete school and more likely to attend college. These findings contribute to the growing literature linking passive representation with active representation.

The Politics of Bureaucratic Discretion: Educational Access as an Urban Service

One prominent finding of the urban services literature is that politics matters very little. Urban services are distributed according to bureaucratic decision rules that result in unpatterned inequalities. This research challenges previous studies arguing that their findings are the function of narrow definitions, a neglect of the political process, unrealistic assumptions about citizen preferences, and failure to consider the nature of bureaucratic discretion. Using empirical evidence from 140 large urban school districts, this study finds that politics is the major means available to minorities to influence policy implementation. Political action can counter the perceived social-class biases of urban bureaucracies.

Black Representation in Urban School Districts: From School Board To Office To Classroom

W H HAT it means for one individual to represent others is a frequent topic of discussion in the political science literature (e.g., Kuklinski 1979). A key distinction in this literature is between passive or descriptive representation and active representation (Pitkin 1967). Passive representation is concerned with the degree to which representatives possess the same demographic characteristics as those they represent. Often such comparisons are made at the aggregate level rather than directly between individual representatives and their constituents (Weissberg 1978). For example, the percentage of legislators who are black might be compared with the percentage of black voters in the population. Studies of the descriptive representativeness of governmental bodies are quite common, especially at the subnational level. Minority representation on city councils seems to be the favorite focus of analysis (Cole 1974; Karnig 1976; MacManus 1978; Robinson and Dye 1978; Taebel 1978; Engstrom and McDonald 1981, 1982). Racial/ethnic representation in city and/or state bureaucracies has also received a great deal of attention (Hall and Saltzstein 1977; Cayer and Sigelman 1980; Dye and Renick 1981; Hutchins and Sigelman 1981; Henderson and Preston 1984). Passive representation of minorities in urban educational systems has received much less attention and for the most part has been limited to analyses of blacks on school boards or on faculties (e.g., Mann 1974; Welch and Karnig 1978; Robinson and England 1981; Meier and England 1984). This research addresses this research gap in two ways. First, the descriptive representation of blacks among three groups of educational policymakersschool board members, school administrators, and teachers--is analyzed. Second, the determinants of black

From Desegregation To Integration: Second Generation School Discrimination as an Institutional Impediment

This article first identifies types of second generation discrimination practices (e.g., ability grouping, tracking, racially biased disciplinary actions) and discusses how these practices may impede desegregation success and produce educational inequities. Second, based on data from 82 large urban school districts, the incidence of second generation school discrimination is measured and the variation among districts is explained. Of the variables included in the regression model to explain second generation discrimination (district socioeconomic status, black resources, federal pressure, black school board representation, and black teachers), two variables were found to be significantly related to lower levels of discrimination-high black median income and a high proportion of black teachers in the school district.

Barriers to Equal Opportunity Educational Practices and Minority Students

This study empirically examines the impact of within-school educational practices on minority students for the period 1968-1982. Findings reveal disparities between black and white and/or Hispanic and white students in ability-grouping placements, disciplinary actions, and graduation ratios. Also, data show substantial differences in minority and white teacher/administrative employment practices. The implications of these findings for understanding equal educational opportunity and attainment are discussed.

White Enrollment Loss The Effects of School Desegregation in Perspective

The effect of school desegregation on white enrollment losses is assessed for 43 large school districts that desegregated between 1968 and 1976. The impact of desegregation is considered within a theoretical framework in which predictor variables are grouped into three basic categories-exit, voice, and loyalty. Several exit-related variables proved to be important contributors to white enrollment decline measured both at the year of desegregation implementation and for an average three-year period thereafter. Desegregation-yearwhite losses were primarily the result of percentage minority in the district, desegregation change, size of district, and predesegregation enrollment decline. The only nonexit variable to reach statistical significance was desegregation resistance. Postdesegregation white student outmigration was affected by substantially similar forces except that predesegregation enrollment change was not important.