Interracial Friendliness and the Social Organization of Schools

Abstract

How does the social organization of American public high schools influence opportunities for interracial contact and friendship among their students? The author examines the influence of tracking differentiation, the extent to which students are separated into different academic tracks, on the degree of interracial friendliness in public high schools. Multilevel models reveal a negative relation between the degree of tracking differentiation and the probability that students observe interracial friendships. This is particularly so for vocational/technical students.