Department of Political Science at Boston University

Christine Rossell
Professor of Political Science
Office: PLS 202
Phone: 617.353.2776
E-mail: crossell@bu.edu
Education: B.A., University of California at Los Angeles; Ph.D., University of Southern California
Areas of Specialization: Public policy, public policy analysis; American politics, school desegregation and bilingual education policy, education policy, urban politics and policy, methodology.

Professor Rossell holds the Maxwell Chair in United States Citizenship. She is Director of the Department's Graduate Studies Program. She is also the author of five books -- most recently School Desegregation in the 21st Century, Bilingual Education in Massachusetts and The Carrot or the Stick for School Desegregation -- and many other scholarly articles and reports in the the areas of school desegregation and bilingual education policy. She has been a consultant to and/or expert witness in more than 60 educational equity court cases, and has helped design and defend 11 magnet-voluntary desegregation plans. In addition, she has designed and conducted numerous public opinion surveys.

Professor Rossell regularly teaches the following courses:
Introduction to Public Policy (CAS PO 241 / MET PO 241) [CAS Website / MET Website]
The Politics of Education (PO 548)
Public Policy Analysis (PO 741) [Website]
Quantitative Research Methods (PO 841)

For more information:

Curriculum Vitae

Christine Rossell's Personal Webpage

Selected publications available for download:
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"Making Uneven Strides: State Standards for Achieving English Language Proficiency Under the No Child Left Behind Act," September 2005, a report for the Lexington Institute, Arlington, VA.

"The Near End of Bilingual Education," Education Next, 3(4), Fall 2003: 44-52.

"The Desegregation Efficiency of Magnet Schools," Urban Affairs Review, May 2003: 697-725 (92KB).

"Dismantling Bilingual Education, Implementing English Immersion: the California Initiative," August 20, 2002 (.5 MB). This version includes an analysis of achievement after 227.

with Keith Baker, "The Educational Effectiveness of Bilingual Education," Research in the Teaching of English, 30 (1) 1996: 7-74.

"Teaching Language Minorities: Theory and Reality," in City Schools: Lessons From New York, edited by Diane Ravitch and Joseph Viteritti, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000: 187-218.

"The Federal Bilingual Education Program: Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," in Brookings Papers on Education Policy, 2000, edited by Diane Ravitch, Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2000: 215-244.

"Different Questions, Different Answers: A Critique of the Hakuta, Butler, and Witt Report," in Read Perspectives, Fall 2000, vol VII, pp: 134-154.

“Mystery on the Bilingual Express: a Critique of the Thomas and Collier Study,” Read Perspectives, V (2), Fall 1998: 5-32.

With David J. Armor, "The Effectiveness of School Desegregation Plans, 1968-1991," in American Politics Quarterly, July 1996, 24 (3).

"The Convergence of Black and White Attitudes on School Desegregation Issues During the Four Decade Evolution of the Plans," William and Mary Law Review, January 1995, 36 (2).

"Using Multiple Criteria to Evaluate Public Policies: The Case of School Desegregation," in American Politics Quarterly, April 1993, 21 (2): 155-184.

"Nothing Matters? A Critique of the Ramirez, et. al. Longitudinal Study of Instructional Programs for Language Minority Children," Bilingual Research Journal, 16 (1 & 2), Winter & Spring 1992: 159-186.

*with Keith Baker, "Selecting and Exiting Students in Bilingual Educational Programs," Journal of Law and Education, 17 (4), Fall, 1988, 589-624.