James Samuel Coleman - Coleman Report

Coleman Report

Coleman is widely cited in the field of sociology of education. In the 1960s, he and several other scholars were commissioned by the US Department of Education to write a report on educational equality in the US. It was one of the largest studies in history, with more than 650,000 students in the sample. The result was a massive report of over 700 pages. That 1966 report — titled "Equality of Educational Opportunity" (or often simply called the "Coleman Report") — fueled debate about "school effects" that has continued since. The report was commonly presented as evidence, or an argument, that school funding has little effect on student achievement. A more precise reading of the Coleman Report is that student background and socioeconomic status are much more important in determining educational outcomes than are measured differences in school resources (i.e. per pupil spending). At the same time, differences in schools, and particularly teachers, have a very significant impact on student outcomes.

Coleman found that, on average, black schools were funded on a nearly equal basis by the 1960s. This research also suggested that socially disadvantaged black students profited from schooling in racially-mixed classrooms (a finding subsequently confirmed by other research). This was a catalyst for the implementation of desegregation busing systems, ferrying black students to integrated schools. Following up on this, in 1975 Coleman published the results of further research, this time into the effects of school busing systems intended to bring lower-class black students into higher-class mixed race schools. His conclusion was that white parents moved their children out of such schools in large numbers; this is known as "white flight". His 1966 article had explained that black students would only benefit from integrated schooling if there was a majority of white students in the classroom; the mass busing system had failed.

Coleman's findings regarding "white flight" were not well received in some quarters, particularly among some members of the American Sociological Association. In response, efforts sprang up during the mid 70s to revoke his ASA membership. Coleman remained a member and ironically twenty years later became the ASA's president.

Yet another controversial finding of the report showed that 15 percent of black students fell within the same range of academic accomplishment as the upper 50 percent of white students. This same group of blacks, however, scored higher than the other 50 percent of whites. Therefore the findings offer little to racist arguments. Additionally, Asian-Americans repeatedly met and exceeded the achievement levels of whites. The tests administered in these schools, however, were not measuring intelligence, but rather an ability to learn and perform in the American environment. The report states:

"These tests do not measure intelligence, nor attitudes, nor qualities of character. Furthermore they are not, nor are they intended, to be 'culture free.' Quite the reverse: they are culture bound. What they measure are the skills which are among the most important in our society for getting a good job and moving to a better one, and for full participation in an increasingly technical world."