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Reforming public education: addressing (in)equality and (in)equity

Reforming public education: addressing (in)equality and (in)equity. Caroline Chelton Dana Hardigree Chris T iscornia. The manufactured crisis: myths, fraud and the attack on america’s public schools.

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Reforming public education: addressing (in)equality and (in)equity

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  1. Reforming public education: addressing (in)equality and (in)equity Caroline Chelton Dana Hardigree Chris Tiscornia

  2. The manufactured crisis: myths, fraud and the attack on america’spublic schools • The Manufactured Crisis was an “unprecedented onslaught on America’s schools” (Berliner & Biddle, 190) that occurred in the 1980’s. • Prominent figures in the American government claimed that schools had deteriorated, compared poorly with schools from other advanced countries, and that the future of America was seriously threatened. • Evidence was rarely cited by government officials when making these claims.

  3. The Manufactured Crisis was created to distract the public from growing social issues – it aimed to put blame on the American educational system instead of focusing on the inequality faced by lower socioeconomic groups and minorities. • Americans were temporarily distracted from the real issues in education (underfunding, low pay for teachers, etc.) and what steps might be taken to resolve said issues.

  4. Quotable quotation “Attempts to improve education are more likely to succeed if they are associated with research suggesting that they actually work” (Berliner & Biddle, 191)

  5. “Research on education is not used because there is so little of it […] funding is almost non-existent” (192). • If the American people could agree to invest in relevant and accurate research on the field of education, then perhaps appropriate funding could be set aside to benefit the public school system in the United States.

  6. Quotable quotation “If we pay teachers substandard wages and treat them like recalcitrant incompetents, won’t they eventually come to think of themselves in this light? And if we foolishly structure schools so that many students are regularly bored, threatened, or punished in them, who would be so naïve as to assume those students would thereafter love learning?” (193)

  7. The current system of public education in the United States is “massively inequitable” and often places the highest needs students in the most underfunded schools. • Other causes of social inequity? “[…]poverty, drugs, gang warfare, police brutality, poor job prospects, discriminatory treatment, mindless television […]” (194)

  8. In order to truly change our public school systems, the educators responsible for instilling both knowledge and sociability in our students must be treated with respect and compassion. There is no room to be selfish when it comes to education – placing students in an environment where they can grow and fulfill their potential is the number one goal.

  9. How to rescue educational reform • Republican Presidential candidates discuss the prospect of getting the federal government out of education. • However, Democrats believe the federal government has a role in telling states how to identify, punish and fix low-performing schools.

  10. Suggestions by the Authors • 1) NCLB requires reporting adequate yearly progress (AYP) and achievement of all students. It should also report  school and district level spending; the resources students receive should be disclosed. • 2) The reassurance that constitutional rights are protected. NCLB required states to "disaggregate" assessment results to show how disadvantaged or vulnerable populations were doing. Efforts to reduce inequities have led to micromanagement by the government. • 3) As always, basic research is needed.

  11. Quotable quotation "The federal government can make states, localities and schools do things — but not necessarily do them well. Since decades of research make it clear that what matters for evaluating employees or turning around schools is how well you do it — rather than whether you do it a certain way — it’s not surprising that well-intentioned demands for “bold” federal action on school improvement have a history of misfiring. They stifle problem-solving, encourage bureaucratic blame avoidance and often do more harm than good."  

  12. Discussion question Why, in your personal opinion, do you think more funding has not be allocated towards research in the educational field?

  13. references • Berliner, D.C. & Biddle, B.J. (2009). The manufactured crisis. In C. Kridel (Ed.), Classic edition sources: Education (pp. 190-194). New York: McGraw-Hill. • http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/opinion/how-to-rescue-education-reform.html

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