Scholarly Power on Display in High Court Race Cases

When the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices take the bench on Dec. 4 to hear oral arguments about the use of race in assigning students to public schools, social science research might not be at the top of their minds.

But not for lack of effort by groups representing hundreds of psychologists, political scientists, economists, historians, and other social scientists who signed several friend-of-the court briefs attempting to convey the weight of scholarship in those fields about racial diversity in society.

Most of that weight is stacked on the side of the Jefferson County, Ky., and Seattle school districts, whose consideration of race in their student-assignment plans is being scrutinized by the high court. The policies, with some variations in each district, use race as a secondary determinant—after parent choice, sibling status, and other factors—in...