Measuring Access to Learning Opportunities (2003) / Chapter Skim
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1. Introduction
1. Introduction
Pages 7-18
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From page 7... ...
have equitable access to learning opportunities. In addition to monitoring complaints from students, parents, and other interested parties, the principal instrument that OCR has used to identify possible inadequacy of learning opportunities and resources is the Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Report, commonly known as the E&S survey.
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THE COMMITTEE AND ITS WORK In 2002, the OCR, with the support of the Office of English Language Acquisition, asked the National Academies to undertake a study to examine how the E&S survey could more effectively measure student access to learning opportunities and how the resulting data might be made more accessible anti useful both to those concerned with the protection of students' civil rights anti to the conduct of research. To this en(l, the National Academies' Center for Education and Committee on National Statistics collaborated in the formation of the Committee on Improving Measures of Access to Equal Educational Opportunity to study the E&S survey anti its uses.
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Selected findings from this analysis are presented in Appendix B; highlights of this material also are ~ N T R O D U C T ~ O N presented in Chapter 2. In addition to commissioning papers and overseeing a basic analysis of the data, the committee carefully examined and discussed the survey and each of the issues it addresses.2 The committee also heard from officials from the OCR concerning technical matters related to survey design, administration, and analysis, as well as the uses of the survey for purposes of enforcement and to inform department policies and procedures.
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Title VI of that act became a powerful tool use(1 by the OCR to MEASU Rl NG ACC ESS TO LEARN I NG OPPORTU N ITI ES
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Commission on Civil Rights, 1969; Orfield, 19691. Title VI states: "No person in the Unite(1 States shall, on the groun(1 of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to (discrimination un(ler any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" SPIN 88-352 Title VI, Section 6011.
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During the 1960s Each recipient shall permit access by the responsible Department official or his designee during normal business hours to such of its books, records, accounts and other sources of information, and its facilities as it may be pertinent to ascertain compliance with this part." Requirements also are incorporated by reference in department regulations implementing Title ~ of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 5 Title VI also led to the creation of an OCR administered survey on the racial and ethnic composition of colleges and universities.
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Bradley substantially ended major desegregation efforts in many of the largest metropolitan areas, except those with countywide districts that primarily were located in the South anti the West, such as Louisville, Kentucky (Orfield, 1996; Rebell, I N T R O D U C T I O N 20021. Then, in 1977, Congress passed an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibited OCR from requiring school districts to use busing as a strategy to desegregate schools; this further reduced OCR's ability to carry out its original mandate to desegregate schools by enforcing Title VI (Halpern, 1995, pp.
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Nichols in 1973, ensuring the education civil rights of language minority students was added to OCR's Title VI enforcement responsibilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that "no otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States .
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Nevertheless, equal access to a high-quality education remains an essential civil right under both federal and state laws (Rebel! , 20021.9 gThe mission statement of the Office for Civil Rights refers to ensuring "equal access to a high quality education" through the enforcement of civil rights laws such as Title VI GAS.
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OCR reports that it uses the survey data, in conjunction with citizen complaints and other information, to decide whether potential problems in specific schools and school districts may require further investigation. As is discussed below, others also use EMS survey data to identify disparities in access to learning opportunities anti resources.
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The emergence of new educational policies and practices and ongoing research on their educational effects and possible civil rights implications periodically have led to the appearance and disappearance of various items on the E&S survey. The E&S survey produces important information about disparities among students of different backgrounds that may suggest unequal access to learning opportunities and resources.
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The EMS survey's capacity to provi(le (lisaggregate(1 MEASURING ACCESS TO LEARNING OPPORTUNIT information about the (listribution of various kinds of disparities for categories of students identified in civil rights laws, and to do so for specific, identifiable schools and districts, is a useful starting point for more comprehensive analyses of the underlying causes of inequality. This information is important not only for civil rights enforcement by OCR, but also for use by parents and other concerned citizens with civil rights concerns or who seek to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for children.
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