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Research Article
Open Access

Little Boxes All the Same? Racial-Ethnic Segregation and Educational Inequality Across the Urban-Suburban Divide

Ann Owens, Peter Rich
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences February 2023, 9 (2) 26-54; DOI: https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.02
Ann Owens
aProfessor of sociology and, by courtesy, public policy and spatial sciences at the University of Southern California, United States
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Peter Rich
bAssistant professor of sociology and public policy at the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University, United States
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    Figure 1.

    Decomposition Hierarchy for Evaluating Segregation and Inequality Among Urban and Suburban School Districts

    Source: Authors’ diagram.

    Note: We define urban and suburban at the school district level, so C3 represents segregation between all urban districts and all suburban districts.

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    Figure 2.

    Metropolitan Area Formations of Urban and School District Geography

    Source: Authors’ tabulation.

    Note: Largest city place jurisdictions from 2016 are presented in dark grey fill. Overlaying lines depict school district boundaries; dark lines are urban school district boundaries as identified in our schematic (see text for details and justification).

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    Figure 3.

    Decomposition of Urban versus Suburban Metropolitan Segregation in Public Schools and Neighborhoods, by Racial-Ethnic Dyad

    Source: Authors’ tabulation.

    Note: Segregation is measured with Theil’s Information Theory Index (H) on a scale of 0 to 100. Metropolitan area division samples are restricted to those with a single urban school district surrounded by many suburban districts and with fifty fourth grade students from each racial-ethnic dyad enrolled in public schools. Residential counts do not distinguish between Hispanic and non-Hispanic ethnicity for Black and Asian residents age five through nine. See table 3 for values used to generate this figure; table A.1 reports values for additional metropolitan area division types.

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    Figure 4.

    Decomposition of Urban Versus Suburban Metropolitan Inequality in Public School Free-Reduced Lunch Composition, by Racial-Ethnic Dyad

    Source: Authors’ tabulation.

    Note: Inequality between racial-ethnic dyads is measured with Theil’s Index (T). Inequality in public school free or reduced lunch composition corresponds to panel A in table 4; table A.2 reports values for additional metropolitan area division types.

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    Figure 5.

    Decomposition of Urban Versus Suburban Metropolitan Inequality in Public School Test Scores, by Racial-Ethnic Dyad

    Source: Authors’ tabulation.

    Note: Inequality between racial-ethnic dyads is measured with Theil’s Index (T). School test achievement level and growth correspond to panels B and C (respectively) in table 4. Table A.2 reports values for additional metropolitan area division types.

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RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences: 9 (2)
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
Vol. 9, Issue 2
1 Feb 2023
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Little Boxes All the Same? Racial-Ethnic Segregation and Educational Inequality Across the Urban-Suburban Divide
Ann Owens, Peter Rich
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Feb 2023, 9 (2) 26-54; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.02

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Little Boxes All the Same? Racial-Ethnic Segregation and Educational Inequality Across the Urban-Suburban Divide
Ann Owens, Peter Rich
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences Feb 2023, 9 (2) 26-54; DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.2.02
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    • Abstract
    • SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND THE URBAN-SUBURBAN DIVIDE
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Keywords

  • suburbs
  • racial-ethnic segregation
  • racial-ethnic inequality
  • schools

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