School segregation in Jefferson County and the affiliated Louisville metropolitan area, USA

Abstract

This article explores the spatiotemporal patterns of school segregation between blacks and whites in Jefferson County and its affiliated Louisville metropolitan area. The classical dissimilarity index and the GIS-oriented spatial segregation measure – S index are used to estimate school segregation based on public school enrollment data (1987–2008). Findings call for the significance of measuring school segregation from a metropolitan-wide perspective rather than focusing on the urban school district alone. Also, results indicate that between-district segregation represents the majority of overall segregation in the entire Louisville metropolitan area. Most importantly, the GIS-based S Index enriches segregation studies by mapping the dynamic patterns of racial disparities while permitting a statistical estimate of segregation.

Keywords:

• dissimilarity index
• spatial segregation measure – S index
• Louisville
• metropolitan area
• between-district
• desegregation
• school segregation
• school district