Equality of Educational Opportunity

The Equality of Educational Opportunity study (EEOS), also known as the Coleman Report, was requested and commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1966. The purpose of the Coleman Report was to assess the availability of equal educational opportunities to students regardless of race, color, religion, or national origin at all levels of public educational institutions in the United States. It addressed four major issues: (1) school segregation, (2) schools and their characteristics, (3) achievement gap, and (4) relation of achievement to school characteristics. Specifically, the Coleman Report examined the school environment as measured by school curriculum and programs and by resources, including facilities, principals and teachers, and student bodies. The Coleman Report concluded that U.S. public education at that time was largely unequal in most regions of the country, particularly in regions where there were significant numbers of African Americans.

Focused on six racial and ethnic groups of U.S. public school students, the Coleman Report found that U.S. public schools in the late 1960s were largely segregated. White students were the most segregated, with 80% of first and 12th graders attending schools that were 90% to 100% White. [Page 344]Among minority groups, African American students were the most segregated, with more than 65% of first graders attending schools that were between 90% and 100% African American. Such segregation ran parallel to the inequities found in school resources and curricula, which were closely related to academic achievement.

Coleman and colleagues found that minority students had less access to physical and human resources that supported curriculum and instructional programs (e.g., physics, chemistry, and language labs). These students also had less access to a more fully developed curricular program (e.g., college preparatory curriculums, accelerated curricula, vocational curriculums, intelligence testing). For example, minority students attended schools with a larger teacher–student ratio than did White students minorities. Compared to White students, African American students, on average, attended a school with a greater percentage of teachers who had attended college fewer years, had less teaching experience, and had lower salaries. In addition, minority students had fewer books in their libraries and fewer textbooks.

Following the administration of achievement tests in reading, writing, calculating, and problem solving at Grades 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12, the Coleman Report indicated that the test results showed that most minority students, and particularly African American students, at Grades 1 to 12 scored lower than White students in verbal and nonverbal skills, with a widening gap as the grade levels increased. The researchers concluded that school factors and nonschool factors (e.g., poverty, community attitudes, and low educational level of parents) may disadvantage minority students. Also, the investigation of student body characteristics revealed African American students most frequently came from a large family with less education. In particular, the EEOS found that African American students were more affected by the quality of their schools and curriculum than were their White peers. Ultimately, Coleman and colleagues suggested that in order to narrow the achievement gap between minority and majority groups, it was imperative to increase the integration of schools, which would enhance the quality of the curriculum and the improvement of schools.

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