JUSTIFYING DIVERSITY IN SCHOOLS: ARE LAWYERS RELYING ON RESEARCH TO MAKE THE CASE?

Abstract

Dating back to the United States Supreme Court’s inclusion of social science research in the Brown (1954) decision, social science research has been important in advancing racially diverse schools. Since the landmark ruling, a substantial body of literature has established how attending a school with a more diverse student body correlates with positive student outcomes. Despite well-established evidence demonstrating the educational benefits of diversity, schools are increasingly becoming more racially isolated. The current state of addressing resegregation shows there is still a need to continue studying the use of research to demonstrate the educational benefits of diversity. In an effort to understand to what extent, if any, social science research is used when arguing the educational benefits of diversity, I explored the following research questions: (1) How, if at all, are attorneys using social science research in Supreme Court oral arguments that focus on student body diversity issues? (2) How, if at all, have the justices addressed the use of social science research in oral arguments that focus on study body diversity issues? Using a systematic content analysis, the oral arguments of six U.S. Supreme Court cases involving race-conscious student assignment and admission policies were analyzed. Following the four-step process developed by Hall & Wright (2008), each oral argument transcript was reviewed and coded based on pre-established codes. This study will instead bring attention to the role of oral arguments in education policy-related litigation and analyze if and how social science is used during oral argument proceedings.