Equality of Educational opportunity
In 1966, James Coleman published his report called Equality of Educational Opportunity, which is now largely regarded as the most important research on education in the 20th century. This report utilized data on over 600,000 students and teachers nationwide, and the research found that academic achievement was not so much related to the quality of a school as it was related to the social composition of the school, the student's sense of control of his environment and future, the verbal skills of teachers, and the student's family background. Furthermore, there was one prediction made in the report that was focused on more than anything else by the media and policymakers: Black children attending integrated schools would have higher test scores if the majority of their classmates were White. This led to the mass busing of black students to white schools in an attempt to achieve racial balance in the public school system.
However, in 1975 Coleman concluded in a new study that this busing had failed since it prompted "White Flight", which refers to the large-scale migration of White families from racially-mixed cities to more homogeneous suburbs. But as White families moved to suburban areas and placed their children in these schools, it destroyed the chances of achieving any racial balance in schools. In 1981, a third Coleman Report was released where he concluded that after controlling for family background, private and Catholic schools provided better educations than did public schools. Overall, despite the controversiality of many of his findings, Coleman's work continues to be viewed as some of the most important research pertaining to education, as he provided such new and valuable insights into factors that most effect academic achievement. Beyond this, whereas "equality of opportunity" was traditionally regarded as equality as it pertained to schools' resources, Coleman was more focused on how effective schools truly were by examining student performance, as he was the first to study test scores in his research. The Coleman Report, in essence, set the stage for virtually all subsequent educational research.
However, in 1975 Coleman concluded in a new study that this busing had failed since it prompted "White Flight", which refers to the large-scale migration of White families from racially-mixed cities to more homogeneous suburbs. But as White families moved to suburban areas and placed their children in these schools, it destroyed the chances of achieving any racial balance in schools. In 1981, a third Coleman Report was released where he concluded that after controlling for family background, private and Catholic schools provided better educations than did public schools. Overall, despite the controversiality of many of his findings, Coleman's work continues to be viewed as some of the most important research pertaining to education, as he provided such new and valuable insights into factors that most effect academic achievement. Beyond this, whereas "equality of opportunity" was traditionally regarded as equality as it pertained to schools' resources, Coleman was more focused on how effective schools truly were by examining student performance, as he was the first to study test scores in his research. The Coleman Report, in essence, set the stage for virtually all subsequent educational research.