Episode 302: Talking School Integration

Talk Policy To Me

Talking School Integration

Was school integration a “failed experiment”? Is the impact of policy limited when it comes to education?

In this episode, Goldman Professor Rucker Johnson debunks the myths around school integration and shares the insights from his new book, Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works. In this second episode of our series on Policy Design and Implementation, Sarah Edwards (MPP ’20) speaks with Professor Johnson about the way well-designed policy can lead to significant outcomes for all children. The conversation covers the impacts of historic desegregation, the dangers of current resegreation, and the best combination of policies to achieve diversity and educational excellence.

As with many of the issues that Talk Policy to Me covers, there is more to the story of integration and race in schools than we could cover in this short episode. Here are a few resources we suggest if you are interested in diving deeper:

1. Check out Children of the Dream, available at your local bookstore

1. Read “It was never about Busing” by Nikole Hannah-Jones

1. Explore the Washington Posts’ map on school district diversity

See show notes and full transcript here: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/news/podcast/episode-302-talking-school-integration