Ethnic Conflicts in Schools

School Library Journal

Gr 7-9-In six chapters, Banfield provides a brief history of ethnic conflict in America's public schools; reviews its causes and the current state of the problem; and concludes that, while a solution may not be at hand, ``...progress is possible.'' She writes clearly and succinctly, defining terms in context and effectively utilizing statistics to support content. The book is well organized; unfortunately, the black-and-white photographs are of poor quality. The author makes a plea for student/teacher action and offers suggestions for addressing this issue based on models in use in Miami and Massachusetts. Young people and teachers can profit from reading this even-handed overview, and students will find enough facts and statistics to support a research paper.-Rosie Peasley, Empire Union School District, Modesto, CA