District Court Order Data

Date: 
September, 2021
Principal Investigator/s: 
Sean Reardon
Contact: 
Demetra Kalogrides at dkalo@stanford.edu

Note: If your software is not compatible with the versions listed, we suggest either using the excel version and importing it into your software program or using a data transfer program.

Data description: 

These data were most recently updated in 2021. The data update involved researching districts that were still under court orders at the time of the prior data release and updating their dismissal status if necessary. Please see the documentation for more details. The original 2011 data were compiled from a variety of sources. First, we began with a dataset compiled by Logan and Oakley (Logan & Oakley, 2004) (hereafter the LO dataset), which was provided to us by John Logan. The LO dataset contains information on the case name, state, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) district identification number, year of the initial case, current status of the plan, and dismissal date when available for 1094 districts. Logan and Oakley created the dataset by compiling information from case dockets and bibliographies for desegregation court orders from the Department of Justice, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as a set of published sources (see also Logan, Oakley, & Stowell, 2008). They then checked each case against legal databases, including Westlaw. The total case inventory includes 358 court cases, which resulted in desegregation plans involving 850 school districts as defendants, plus 207 HEW actions involving 207 school districts since 1978.

Suggested citation: 
Publications and reports using these data should cite it appropriately. The citation should include reference to the following article, which describes the construction of the data in detail:

Reardon, Sean F., Elena Grewal, Demetra Kalogrides and Erica Greenberg. (2012). “Brown Fades: The End of Court Ordered School Desegregation and the Resegregation of American Public Schools.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 31(4): 876-904.