WHEN SCHOOL-DESEGREGATION FUELS EDUCATIONAL-REFORM - LESSONS FROM SUBURBAN ST-LOUIS

This article examines the impact of a metropolitan-wide school desegre gation plan on the attitudes and experiences of a handful of suburban school teachers. Instead of resisting the change that came with a sudd en influx of African American students from the inner city into their once all-White suburban schools and classrooms, these educators embrac ed the new racial and ethnic diversity. The findings presented here fo cus on the voices of these reform-minded, or visionary, teachers and d emonstrate ways in which the desegregation plan increased teachers' cr itical awareness of the status quo; that is, the Eurocentric curriculu m, the tracking system, and the ways in which students, particularly B lack students, are treated by teachers in their schools. We also expla in why the presence of racially distinct students into previously all- White schools led these visionary teachers to focus more intently on t he individual needs of all students and why such a change helped them better serve many White students whom they had not reached before.