Racial imbalance in the rochester public schools [microform] : report to the commissioner of education

A comparative study of schools with the highest percentage of nonwhites was conducted to determine if the quality of education in racially imbalanced schools was equal to the qualtiy of education in other city schools. It was found that the city was making a determined effort to provide a high quality of education to the imbalanced schools by the reduction of class size, appointment of experienced teachers, inservice education, a building program to provide additional facilities in these areas, the use of transportable school units, and allocation of supplies and special services on a mathematical basis. In addition, the city has prepared a major research proposal which seeks to determine the most effective means of educating culturally disadvantaged children to develop new instructional solutions to provide adequately for their education. A program has been devised to weave negro culture and history into the curriculum. Modified first grades have been initiated for those pupils who might require two years to succeed in the first grade. Special attention has been given to reading. New readers designed for potential dropouts, slow learners, and reluctant and retarded readers have been developed. TechnIQues under consideration to achieve racial balance are the redrawing of district boundary lines, the use of various open enrollment plans, the consideration of racial balance as a factor in selecting new school sites, and the implementation of a junior high school plan of organization.