As part of a project on the status of African-Americans that was initiated by the William Monroe Institute for the Study of Black Culture at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, this volume takes a comprehensive look at the education of African-Americans, specifically early childhood through postsecondary education, and relevant public policy issues since 1940. The list of contributors to the study includes both white and black scholars who are affiliated with primarily urban institutions located in the Northwest, the South, and on the East Coast who are deeply committed to educational research. By focusing on the known status of the education of African-Americans to date and the additional factors which need to be considered in order to develop appropriate educational strategies, these essays evaluate current programs and provide recommendations for public policy improvements.

Each essay addresses some aspect of the history of the education of African-Americans or the effectiveness of pertinent laws and policies enacted within the past fifty years. Trends in the educational advancement of Blacks are clearly defined with particular focus on the forecasting of circumstances that could affect future progress. Topics ranging from counseling and guidance of minority children to the need for more Black teachers and the continuing struggle with racial violence on campus, demonstrate the broad scope of this volume. Suggestions for further reading on a specific topic appear in the list of references at the end of each chapter.

CHARLES V. WILLIE is professor of education and urban studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. His special interests are school desegregation and the recruitment and retention of minorities in higher education. He has published more than 20 books including African-Americans and the Doctoral Experience (1991), Social Goals and Educational Reform (1988), and Five Black Scholars (1986).

ANTOINE M. GARIBALDI is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of education at Xavier University of Louisiana. His areas of interest and expertise include blacks in higher education, minority teacher recruitment and retention, and urban education. His publications include the following books: Teacher Recruitment and Retention (1989), Educating Black Male Youth: A Moral and Civil Imperative (1988), and Black Colleges and Universities: Challenges for the Future (1984).

WORNIE L. REED is director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute and chair of the Department of Black Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. His areas of interest include the hiring and promotion of black faculty and diversity in the curriculum. Reed was the director of the Study on the Assessment of the Status of African-Americans, which resulted in this book as well as the forthcoming book African-Americans: Essential Perspectives.