Voluntary Transfer and Student Achievement: Does It Help or Hurt?

N

15

Academic Achievement; Black Students; Desegregation Effects; Elementary Education; Free Choice Transfer Programs; Hispanic American Students; Mathematics Achievement; Minority Group Children; Minority Groups; Reading Improvement; School Desegregation; Transfer Students

The scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills taken by 179 Black and Hispanic students who voluntarily transferred from predominantly minority schools to desegregated schools were examined. They reveal that a desegregated education obtained through voluntary transfer has no significant effect on the reading and mathematics achievement levels of minority elementary school students. Although the voluntary transfer students scored higher than their home school counterparts, their scores were lower than those of students in the receiving schools. Another factor still to be examined is whether voluntary transfer programs are guilty of skimming or of retarding the progress of students. A brief list of references is included. (BJV)

1988

ED294937