ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the history of the application in Supreme Court opinions of one of the basic clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, to two issues that caused great controversy in the US in the twentieth century. These issues are still controversial toda, school desegregation and affirmative action in educational institutions. The chapter focuses on these two areas because they both deal with the implications of the Equal Protection Clause for the racial/ethnic composition of educational institutions. It discusses briefly the extent to which social science has figured in opinions handed down by the Supreme Court in such cases as well as changes over time in the utilization of social science theory and research. The chapter focuses on the changing conceptions of the requirements of the Equal Protection Clause. It ends with a case that concerns whether pre-collegiate educational systems may take account of race in voluntary efforts to increase diversity within their schools.
