By Anthony Vela

Ed.D. faculty members Dr. Allison Roda's and Dr. Ryan Coughlan's new book, Making School Integration Work, explores how two New Jersey school districts merged to work toward a solution for school segregation. Last month they held a book discussion at the (virtual) Ed.D. Connected Leadership.

Many American schools continue to struggle with segregation. This important book tells the story of how two school districts - one a predominantly white and wealthy suburban community, and the other a more diverse and urbanized community - were merged into a single district to work toward a solution for school segregation. The authors focus on the Morris School District in New Jersey as an exemplar to demonstrate what is possible and how it can be accomplished. They document what makes a district like Morris successful and include lessons learned in each chapter. Along with analyzing the legal and educational policy implications of the nearly 50-year history of the merged district, the authors take a mixed methods approach to deepen our knowledge of effective leadership, community-school relations, and classroom practices in the context of a community committed to genuine integration.

Book Features:

• Offers a deep analysis of one of the few districts that is making progress toward true integration.
• Examines a local story that has wide applicability to those interested in social justice, enlightened leadership, and equitable educational opportunities for all students.
• Employs qualitative and quantitative research along with GIS mapping to study the legal, educational, political, historical, and sociological dimensions of the case study.
• Provides a series of lessons learned from the Morris School District that will assist those engaged in building equitable school systems.