Peer Interaction Patterns in an Integrated Middle School

The interaction of black and white students in a new open enrollment desegregated middle school which meets most of the criteria Allport (1954) specified as important in fostering positive intergroup relations was studied. Seating patterns in the cafeteria were observed during the school's first year of operation. Analysis of these patterns using indices based on Campbell et al.'s (1966) formula for analyzing racial aggregation suggested: (a) race is an extremely important grouping criterion even for students who have chosen a desegregated school; (b) however, sex is generally an even more important grouping criterion; (c) girls show more racial aggregation than boys; and (d) racial aggregation decreased over time in the seventh grade but increased in the eighth grade, which had a predominantly white accelerated academic track and a predominantly black regular track.