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University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

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1150 Beal Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113, USA
bentley.ref@umich.edu

Programs for Educational Opportunity (University of Michigan) records, 1969-2002 (majority within 1970-1986)

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Restrictions:
The record group is open for research. Select recordings within this collection have been digitized. Original sound recordings are only available for staff use.

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Summary

Creator:
University of Michigan. Programs for Educational Opportunity.
Abstract:
A race desegregation assistance center based at the University of Michigan, the Program for Educational Opportunity (PEO) was established by funding through the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The program was expanded to encompass race, gender, and national origin equity in public schools in the Great Lakes region. The PEO ceased operation in 2011. Administrative files, topical files, workshop and task force material, handbooks, and material pertaining to desegregation and equality in public schools in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and elsewhere in Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Materials include reports from school districts, histories of desegregation, and recordings of conferences/workshops (1970-1993) including speakers Charles D. Moody, Junious Williams, Edward H. Steinman, and other notable individuals.
Extent:
36.2 linear feet (in 40 boxes)
1 oversize folder
573 digital audio files
Language:
English
Call Number:
9759 Bimu C6 2
Authors:
Finding aid created by Michelle Sampson, November 1996 Eric Hartmann, June 1997 Richard Adler, 2005. Updated by Lilly Carrel, June 2017.

Background

Scope and Content:

The records for the Program for Educational Opportunity, 1969-2002, (36.2 linear feet) are divided into twenty-two series: Administrative, Correspondence, Committees and Task Forces, Conferences and Workshops, Handbooks, Reports, Desegregation, Project for Fair Administration of School Discipline (PFASD), Public Schools, Topical Files, Administrative, Conferences, Center for Sex Equality in Schools (CSES), Desegregation Assistance Center, PFASD, Public Schools, Topical Files, Programs, Reports, CSES, Topical Files, and Recordings of Conferences and Workshops. All folders within series are arranged alphabetically. Series titles repeat due to multiple transfers of material received at different times.

Researchers of desegregation efforts and the controversy of school discipline will find many valuable resources in the record group such as research reports, case studies, and conference materials. Also well documented is the Ann Arbor Area School District within the general Public Schools series which includes information on various programs within the district, records from the Board of Education, community surveys, and statistical data on staff and students. The Conferences and Workshops and Committees and Task Forces are also series that are particularly well documented; included are conference and workshop materials, reports, and in some cases, evaluations. The Recordings of Conferences and Workshops (1970-1993) includes 515 audiovisual recordings and covers topics such as human relations training, recruiting minority staff, combating racism and sexism in the curriculum, multi-cultural education, student rights and discipline, and the development of staff counseling skills.

Biographical / Historical:

Programs for Educational Opportunity (PEO) was a race desegregation assistance center based at the University of Michigan and originally funded under Title IV of the 1964 Federal Civil Rights Act. PEO was established in 1970 under the directorship of Charles Moody and provided services to Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. PEO served as the umbrella agency for the Project for Fair Administration of School Discipline (PFASD), which was originally funded under Title VII--Emergency School Aid, Special Student Concerns Projects--and evaluates and aids midwestern school districts in eradicating incommensurate discipline of minority students. Since its inception, PEO has provided assistance to over three thousand school districts, and in-depth technical assistance to over one hundred school districts.

PEO and PFASD served Michigan school districts in the transition period following the passing of the Civil Rights Act until 2011, when it ceased operations. According to a grant proposal narrative, PEO was founded to aid both schools and students by a focus not on desegregation, but on integration to attain equality of opportunity. Furthermore, PEO and PFASD existed to address discriminatory student assignment, inequitable discipline, unrepresentative student participation, unequal counseling, discriminatory employment practices, biased curriculum, classroom segregation, interracial conflict, and community hostility toward desegregation. PEO and PFASD supported schools seeking these goals in a number of ways. In partnership, they conducted local, regional, and national in-service training and conferences for school districts on many topics such as human relations training, recruiting minority staff, combating racism and sexism in the curriculum, student rights and discipline, and the development of staff counseling skills. A number of reports have been issued which detail the history of desegregation in the Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Grand Rapids, Highland Park, and Kalamazoo school districts.

PFASD also issued a number of reports both general and specific to school districts in the evaluation of schools in the equity of discipline among students. School districts were ranked at different levels within Local Education Agencies (LEAs); each district was assigned a case worker from PEO/PFASD who visited the schools on numerous occasions and reported their findings in field activities reports. Many such field activity reports were utilized to create both general and specific case studies which were then distributed to schools and/or delivered at conferences and in-service training.

In the 1980s, PEO became a combined Race, Gender, and National Origin Desegregation Assistance Center. The Gender Center began in 1981 and the National Origin Center in 1987. In 1988, the name was changed from the Program for Educational Opportunity to the Programs for Educational Opportunity to reflect the wider scope of its efforts. One grant funded all three aspects of PEO--race, gender, and national origin--and was subject to renewal every three years. While the program existed within the School of Education, there was no direct funding from the University of Michigan, nor any direct involvement by education faculty. Charles Moody remained director until 1987 when he was appointed University of Michigan Vice Provost for Minority Affairs. Upon Dr. Moody's appointment, Percy Bates assumed directorship of the program. Professor Bates served until 2011, when, after more than 40 years, federal funding for PEO was not renewed and it ceased operations.

Acquisition Information:
The record group was received from PEO offices (Donor number 8490 ) in three accessions in June 1996, April 1997, and May 2005. Addition of primarily audiovisual material received from Charles Moody (Donor number 11386 ) in October 2015.
Processing information:

In preparing digital material for long-term preservation and access, the Bentley Historical Library adheres to professional best practices and standards to ensure that content will retain its authenticity and integrity. For more information on procedures for the ingest and processing of digital materials, please see Bentley Historical Library Digital Processing Note. Access to digital material may be provided either as a direct link to an individual file or as a downloadable package of files bundled in a zip file.

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The record group is open for research.

Select recordings within this collection have been digitized. Original sound recordings are only available for staff use.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright is held by the Regents of the University of Michigan but the collection may contain third-party materials for which copyright is not held. Patrons are responsible for determining the appropriate use or reuse of materials.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[item], folder, box, Programs for Educational Opportunity (University of Michigan) Records, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

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Collection

Programs for Educational Opportunity (University of Michigan) records, 1969-2002 (majority within 1970-1986)
Call Number 9759 Bimu C6 2
Total components 2,013
Items available online Online 552
Last indexed 2023-12-08