Publisher      Harvard Educational Review, 66(3).
Page Numbers     451-470
Summary     In their search for policy tools to promote reform, detracking advocates are increasingly giving litigation serious consideration in their search for policy tools to promote reform. The authors argue that courts can play an important role in pushing forward with detracking and that educational researchers are vital to these efforts. They survey four recent such cases and discuss the presentations made by the researchers who served as experts. Then, based on their review of caselaw, including these recent cases, as well as their review of desegregration literature, the authors conclude that these top down mandates, while unlikely to achieve all of their intended goals, can play an indispensable role in initiating detracking in schools and districts where such reforms are otherwise highly unlikely.