부산대학교 도서관

Racial and socioeconomic segregation is a problem that continues today in American schools. Whereas charter schools have contributed to the exacerbation of school segregation, strategies exist for establishing schools that are diverse-by-design. This project was an examination of diverse-by-design practices in Missouri charter schools. Its purpose was to engage Missouri public education stakeholders in exploring options for increasing school diversity, and decreasing the racial and socioeconomic isolation of students. In following the problem-based learning model, the project was guided by three questions: What does the literature suggest are strong strategies for charter school leaders to mitigate school segregation? How have charter school leaders in Missouri used these strategies? What was preventing charter schools from implementing additional strategies and techniques? From a review of the literature, thirteen strategies emerged for mitigating segregation and supporting diverse student bodies. Strategies, along with techniques for implementing the strategies, were identified from the literature and embedded into a survey instrument. The team deployed the survey to 37 charter school leaders in Saint Louis, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri and a total of eight respondents participated in this project. Perceptions of strategy implementation varied across respondents. For each strategy, self-reported usage rates spanned from 50% of all respondents to 100% of all respondents. A Technique Usage Index (percentage of techniques used for implementing a given strategy) was calculated for each strategy. Self-reported indices ranged from a low of 17.7% to a high of 81.0%. In addition to providing information on what strategies and techniques were used, respondents provided rationales for not using strategies and/or additional techniques. The top three themes that emerged from respondent rationales were: 1) diversity is not a priority/lower priority; 2) school is diverse without strategy/additional technique; and 3) cost. Findings around the barriers to strategy implementation primarily indicated a de-prioritization of diversity--either overall or as compared to other priorities--and lowered expectations for the effectiveness of additional strategies and techniques in leading specific schools to increase rates of diversity. The project concluded with recommendations that Missouri public education stakeholders may use for mitigating segregation in public charter schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]