“To be clear, there’s evidence that socially as well as racially integrated schools benefit all students. When a school reaches a stable level of about 30 percent middle-class students, the lower-income students achieve at higher levels and the privileged students do no worse” …. But here’s the problem: “do no worse” is a TERRIBLE sales pitch. We have to be clear about what GOOD integrated/integrating schools do for kids who might otherwise “do no worse”. A number of studies have looked at how “do no worse” kids actually have better problem solving skills, are more effective in the workplace, are more adaptive thinkers, etc. etc.
But, no, this was not the point of this article. Here the story is whether race or class are better factors for integration… While the two are often related, I think the true benefits of an integrated school comes when kids from very different backgrounds go to school together. When it can get a little messy and complicated and kids learn how to understand difference and find sameness…
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/02/29/466543209/when-integrating-a-school-does-it-matter-if-you-use-class-instead-of-race?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social
(see also! Why Poor Kids Might Actually Be Good for Middle Class Kids http://integratedschools.org/2015/12/02/why-poor-schools-might-actually-be-good-for-middle-class-kids/ )
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