The Definitive Book on School Uniforms

Over the past week, I've been reading "The School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us About American Education" by David L. Brunsma. Dr. Brunsma, along with Kerry Rockquemore, conducted the first empirical study the effect of school uniforms on academics and discipline in 1998. In his latest book, he extends his study and reviews different variables to determine their impact on school safety and in creating a learning environment.

Some of his findings:

• Uniforms do not significantly impact tenth- or eighth-grade attendance, behavior, or drug use.
• Uniforms have no significant impact on eighth- or tenth-graders' self-concepts.
• Uniforms have no significant impact on eighth- or tenth-graders' locus of control.

About the only impact that uniforms had was a "solidly negative impact on aggregate achievement in high schools."

In other words, uniforms had no benefits whatsoever, but high schools that had implemented uniforms had noticeably worse academic achievement.

On the subject of dress codes, Dr. Brunsma found that the answer was "a loud and clear 'clarify and enforce existing dress code policies!'"

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the impact uniform policies will have on our school system. I will try to summarize further findings from the book in future posts.

And remember, please sign our petition if you have not already done so. Thanks!