The article can be accessed directly at
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v7n1/
An abstract follows:
Ethnic Segregation in Arizona Charter Schools
Casey D. Cobb
University of New Hampshire
Gene V Glass
Arizona State University
[The editorial review and decisions on this article were the
responsibility of Anthony G. Rud Jr. of the Editorial Board.]
Abstract
Among the criticisms of charter schools is their potential to further
stratify schools along ethnic and class lines. This study addressed
whether Arizona charter schools are more ethnically segregated than
traditional public schools. In 1996-97, Arizona had nearly one in
four of all charter schools in the United States. The analysis
involved a series of comparisons between the ethnic compositions of
adjacent charter and public schools in Arizona's most populated region
and its rural towns. This methodology differed from the approach of
many evaluations of charter schools and ethnic stratification in that
it incorporated the use of geographic maps to compare schools' ethnic
make-ups. The ethnic compositions of 55 urban and 57 rural charter
schools were inspected relative to their traditional public school
neighbors.
Nearly half of the charter schools exhibited evidence of substantial
ethnic separation. Arizona charter schools not only contained a
greater proportion of White students, but when comparable nearby
traditional public schools were used for comparison, the charters
were typically 20 percentage points higher in White enrollment than
the other publics. Moreover, the charter schools that had a majority
of ethnic minority students enrolled in them tended to be either
vocational secondary schools that do not lead to college or "schools
of last resort" for students being expelled from the traditional
public schools. The degree of ethnic segregation in Arizona schools
is large enough and consistent enough to warrant concern among
education policymakers.
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