> "Does racial and ethnic islation in public schools
>really adversely affect the quality of middle or high school education?"
I may be just repeating what other people said, since I've come in on the
middle of the thread, but it is clear to me, from listening to lots of
educators from different backgrounds talk about their school experiences,
that the answer is yes, if you consider education as anything broader than
good test scores.
We live in a world with many different people with different cultures, skin
colors, religions, languages. Yet we are one species much more alike,
biologically at least, than we are different. Being in schools with only
people who look like you or think like you is great hindrance to your
understanding the world. You can make up for this, somewhat, by watching
movies or reading books, but there really is no substitute to hearing the
personal stories and viewpoints of people with different life experiences.
How unfortunate that this is not particularly valued by the United States
education system.
Julian Weissglass
Director, Equity in Mathematics Education Leadership Institute
CECIMS/MATH
University of California, Santa Barbara, Ca 93106
Phone: 805-893-7046
Fax: 805-893-2190
email: weissgla@math.ucsb.edu