New Tools for Old Problems: Inequality and Educational Opportunity for Ethnic Minority Youth and Parents

Abstract

Fifty years after the Coleman Report delineated deep inequities across race and ethnicity in school contexts and outcomes, American families still navigate largely inequitable educational systems. The Coleman Report—with only slightly veiled surprise—also revealed the deep value African Americans place on education, their strong motivation to succeed, and the high expectations that they have for academic success. This article provides a critical analysis of the policies designed to increase equity in and access to high-quality education. With a special focus on adolescents, we show how these policies are experienced differently by families in ways that sustain inequities across ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic background. We also review research on the experiences of students in schools, arguing that policy attempts to mitigate disparities in educational experiences across race and socioeconomic condition have had little if any effect.