Caldas and Bankston provide a critical, dispassionate analysis of why desegregation in the United States has failed to achieve the goal of providing equal educational opportunities for all students. They offer case histories through dozens of examples of failed desegregation plans from all over the country. The book takes a very broad perspective on race and education, situated in the larger context of the development of individual rights in Western civiliztion.
The book traces the long legal history of first racial segregation, and then racial desegregation in America. The authors explain how rapidly changing demographics and family structure in the United States have greatly complicated the project of top-down government efforts to achieve an ideal racial balance in schools. It describes how social capital―a positive outcome of social interaction between and among parents, children, and teachers―creates strong bonds that lead to high academic achievement.
The authors show how coercive desegregation weakens bonds and hurts not only students and schools, but also entire communities. Examples from all parts of the United States show how parents undermined desegregation plans by seeking better educational alternatives for their children rather than supporting the public schools to which their children were assigned. Most important, this book offers an alternative, more realistic viewpoint on class, race, and education in America.

Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation

Education & Teaching

Caldas, Stephen J.

III, Carl L. Bankston

Schools & Teaching

Praeger

In this provocative volume, the authors argue that public education is a central part of American civil religion and, thus, gives us an unquestioning faith in the capacity of education to solve all of our social, economic, and political problems. The book traces the development of America’s faith in public education from before the Civil War up to the present, exploring recent educational developments such as the No Child Left Behind Act. The authors discuss how this faith in education often makes it difficult for Americans to think realistically about the capacities and limitations of public schooling. Bringing together history, politics, religion, sociology, and educational theory, this in-depth examination: <ul>
<li> Raises fundamental questions about what education can accomplish for the citizens of the United States.</li> <li> Points out that many supposedly opposing viewpoints on public education actually arise from the same root assumptions.</li> <li> Exposes the gaps between our pursuit of equity in schools and what we really accomplish with students.</li> <li> Looks at ways in which education can be organized to serve a diverse population.</li>
</ul>

Public Education―America's Civil Religion: A Social History

History

Bankston, Carl L.

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Teachers' College Press

A Troubled Dream: The Promise and Failure of School Desegregation in Louisiana

Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, the United States still has a long way to go to attain true integration of our educational system. Using extensive interviews and a wealth of statistical information, Bankston and Caldas examine the failed desegregation efforts in Louisiana as a case study to show how desegregation has followed the same unsuccessful pattern across the United States. Strong supporters of the dream of integration, Bankston and Caldas show that the practical difficulty with desegregation is that academic environments are created by all the students in a school from the backgrounds that all the students bring with them.† Unfortunately, the disadvantages that minority children have to overcome affect schools more than schools can help remedy these disadvantages.

Americas

Vanderbilt University Press

Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, the United States still has a long way to go to attain true integration of our educational system. 
Using extensive interviews and a wealth of statistical information, Bankston and Caldas examine the failed desegregation efforts in Louisiana as a case study to show how desegregation has followed the same unsuccessful pattern across the United States. Strong supporters of the dream of integration, Bankston and Caldas show that the practical difficulty with desegregation is that academic environments are created by all the students in a school from the backgrounds that all the students bring with them. Unfortunately, the disadvantages that minority children have to overcome affect schools more than schools can help remedy these disadvantages.

Controls and Choices: The Educational Marketplace and the Failure of School Desegregation

Many activists and writers have ascribed continuing racial segregation in American schools to a failure of will. In this view, forced transfers of students and other aggressive judicially mandated policies would lead to greater equality in education if only legislators and judges had the will to continue trying to make school districts conform to plans for redesigning schools and even American society. Controls and Choices: The Educational Marketplace and the Failure of School Desegregation provides a detailed examination of the nature of the educational marketplace, supported by historical evidence, to argue that school desegregation failed because it involved monopolistic efforts at redistributing opportunities. These efforts were fundamentally at odds with the self-interest of the families who had the greatest ability to make choices in the educational marketplace. The authors use the concept of the educational marketplace to explain how market-based attempts at school reform, notably vouchers and charter schools, have grown out of the failure of desegregation and remain hampered by lack of recognition of how the schools really function as markets. Some additional key features of this book include: 
<ul>
<li>Gives a clear understanding of how schools function as markets</li>
<li>Illustrates the argument with histories of specific school districts</li>
<li>Links the history of school desegregation to school vouchers and charter schools</li>
<li>Includes easy to read and interpret graphs and figures </li>
<li>Includes most up-to-date school population and census information </li>
</ul>

Politics & Social Sciences

Bankston III, Carl L.

Social Sciences

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Forced to Fail traces the long legal history of first racial segregation, and then racial desegregation in America. The authors explain how rapidly changing demographics and family structure in the United States have greatly complicated the project of top-down government efforts to achieve an "ideal" racial balance in schools. It describes how social capital? a positive outcome of social interaction between and among parents, children, and teachers? creates strong bonds that lead to high academic achievement. The authors show how coercive desegregation weakens bonds and hurts not only students and schools, but also entire communities. Examples from all parts of the United States show how parents undermined desegregation plans by seeking better educational alternatives for their children rather than supporting the public schools to which their children were assigned. Most important, this book offers an alternative, more realistic viewpoint on class, race, and education in America.

R&L Education

Still Failing: The Continuing Paradox of School Desegregation

Still Failing: The Continuing Paradox of School Desegregation is a significantly updated and revised version of Caldas and Bankston’s previous book Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation. The book includes an analysis of the most significant Supreme Court cases that have been decided in the ten years since the first edition of the book appeared. The authors consider the important implications of these recent rulings for the future of school desegregation in America’s schools. Social capital theory is used to explain why schools and communities continue to be segregated along racial and ethnic lines. Still Failing also provides the most recent U.S. census and Department of Education statistics documenting the continuing segregation of American schools and districts. The book also continues to track the persistent racial achievement gap, using the newest ACT, SAT, and NAEP testing figures. Finally, the book considers what present segregation trends portend for future efforts to racially and ethnically integrate schools, and close achievement gaps. Additional key features of this book include:Historical antecedents showing how and why American schooling became racially segregatedSocial capital theory to explain school and community segregationThe legal history of all important supreme court cases, congressional laws and presidential executive orders related to school segregation and desegregationEasy-to-read and interpret graphs and figuresThe most up-to-date school population and census information

Still Failing: The Continuing Paradox of School Desegregation is a significantly updated and revised version of Caldas and Bankston’s previous book Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation. The book includes an analysis of the most significant Supreme Court cases that have been decided in the ten years since the first edition of the book appeared. The authors consider the important implications of these recent rulings for the future of school desegregation in America’s schools. Social capital theory is used to explain why schools and communities continue to be segregated along racial and ethnic lines. Still Failing also provides the most recent U.S. census and Department of Education statistics documenting the continuing segregation of American schools and districts. The book also continues to track the persistent racial achievement gap, using the newest ACT, SAT, and NAEP testing figures. Finally, the book considers what present segregation trends portend for future efforts to racially and ethnically integrate schools, and close achievement gaps. Additional key features of this book include: <ul>
<li>Historical antecedents showing how and why American schooling became racially segregated</li>
<li>Social capital theory to explain school and community segregation</li>
<li>The legal history of all important supreme court cases, congressional laws and presidential executive orders related to school segregation and desegregation</li>
<li>Easy-to-read and interpret graphs and figures</li>
<li>The most up-to-date school population and census information </li>
</ul>

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caldas, Stephen J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Caldas, Stephen J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Caldas, Stephen J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation

Public Education―America's Civil Religion: A Social History

Public Education―America's Civil Religion: A Social History

A Troubled Dream: The Promise and Failure of School Desegregation in Louisiana

A Troubled Dream: The Promise and Failure of School Desegregation in Louisiana

Controls and Choices: The Educational Marketplace and the Failure of School Desegregation

Controls and Choices: The Educational Marketplace and the Failure of School Desegregation

Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation

Still Failing: The Continuing Paradox of School Desegregation

Still Failing: The Continuing Paradox of School Desegregation