Course description: To what aims have education reformers aspired over time? When and how did schools become tools for divergent goals, such as reducing inequality, advancing capitalism, creating cultural uniformity, and liberating oppressed peoples? Why have educational policies succeeded or failed to achieve these ends, and what were some of the unintended consequences? In this mid-level undergraduate course, we compare and contrast selected movements, both past and present, to reform elementary, secondary, and higher education in the United States from the nineteenth-century Common School era to contemporary debates over school choice, cultural differences, governance structures, and digital technology. Students will develop skills in reading and researching primary and secondary sources, interpreting divergent perspectives, and expository writing on the web.
Cross-listed with American Studies and Public Policy & Law. Pre-requisite: Ed 200, or AMST or PBPL major, or permission of instructor.
Time & location: Mondays 6:30-9:10pm in Seabury S205 at Trinity College. Students are encouraged to bring laptops for in-class notes and writing exercises.
Jump to: Week 1: Jan 22 — Week 2: Jan 29 — Week 3: Feb 5 — Week 4: Feb 12 — Week 5: Feb 26 — Week 6: March 5 — Week 7: March 19 — Week 8: March 26 — Week 9: April 2 — Week 10: April 9 — Week 11: April 16 — Week 12: April 23 — Week 13: April 30
About the instructor: Jack Dougherty, Professor of Educational Studies at Trinity College, specializes in the history and policy of education in the metropolitan United States. He received his Ph.D. in educational policy studies, with a minor in U.S. history, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. See faculty profile with contact info, and appointments & advising page to book an appointment.
Teaching Assistant: Nicole George ’18, Ed Studies and Psychology major, will serve as a teaching assistant during the first half of the semester.
Required books:
Dana Goldstein, The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession (New York: Anchor, 2015). ISBN 978-0-345-80362-7
Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America (Boston: Mariner Books, 2009). ISBN 978-0-547-24796-0
If your last name is A-Mo: David S. Cecelski, Along Freedom Road: Hyde County, North Carolina, and the Fate of Black Schools in the South (The University of North Carolina Press, 1994). ISBN 978-0-8078-4437-3
OR if last name is Mu-Z: Constance Curry, Silver Rights: The story of the Carter family’s brave decision to send their children to an all-white school and claim their civil rights. (Harvest Books, 1996; or reissued edition by Algonquin Books, 2014). ISBN 978-1-61620-559-1
Additional digital readings are linked below, and I will discuss options for print copies.
Schedule
(always check for instructor’s updates; important changes will appear in red)
Week 1: Mon Jan 22 in class – Overview & Introduction to Common School Reform
- Before our first class, please fill out this quick survey
- Introduction to the syllabus, assignments, and how to book an appointment
- Focus on broad US education reform, and what this course does NOT do
- In class: Interpretive reading quiz 1 about syllabus on Moodle
- Presentation: What textbooks reveal about the Common School Movement
- Study hint: See my presentations live on web or File > Download. Avoid becoming a robotic note-taker of what I say. Instead, write notes on your deeper insights and/or unanswered questions about the presentations.
- Preview next week’s readings, and decide if you prefer digital or print
- Assign at least 3 students to annotate a Google Doc primary source (3 points)
- History lab at 7:45pm: Common school textbooks at Watkinson Library with worksheet
due Sun Jan 28 by 9pm
- Use “Guiding questions” below to help organize your notes and to prepare for the Interpretive reading quiz 2 on Moodle (due Sunday 9pm) and mid-term exam
- Guiding question on Goldstein: How did the goals of early common school activists change from Catharine Beecher to Horace Mann to Susan Anthony?
- Read: Dana Goldstein, Teacher Wars, introduction and chapters 1-2.
- All read primary sources below, and also read Assignment: Annotating Sources if your name is listed below
- To comment on a Google Document, see this section of my tutorial: https://epress.trincoll.edu/webwriting/chapter/how-to-google-docs/#feedback
- Guiding question: How did common-school advocate Horace Mann justify why citizens should financially support government-sponsored schooling?
- Read: Horace Mann, “Intellectual Education as a Means of Removing Poverty, and Securing Abundance,” excerpt from “Annual Report to the Board of Education of Massachusetts for 1848,” in Life and Works of Horace Mann, ed. Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, vol. 3 (Boston: Walker, Fuller and co., 1865), 663–670, http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001067112. Read our annotated Google Doc version, with questions/comments by me and Olivia.
- Guiding question: Although prevailing norms dictated that white Protestant women should remain in the “private sphere” as mothers and homemakers during the nineteenth century, common-school advocate Catherine Beecher bent this rule to persuade women to enter the “public sphere” as school teachers. How did she craft this argument?
- Read: Catherine Beecher, The Evils Suffered by American Women and American Children: The Causes and the Remedy (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1846), excerpt. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003456542. Read our annotated Google Doc version, with questions/comments by me and Julia, Zsofia
- Guiding question: On what grounds did John Hughes, the Catholic archbishop of New York, criticize the common school movement, and what was his rhetorical strategy for communicating these views to the Protestant majority?
- Read: John Hughes and New York. Committee of Catholics, Address of the Roman Catholics to their fellow citizens, of the City and State of New York (New-York : H. Cassidy. 1840), https://repository.library.nd.edu/view/44/121448.pdf. Read our annotated GDoc version, with questions/comments by me and Amber
- Guiding question: How did Thomas Nast and other members of the Protestant majority portray Catholic opponents of common schools?
- See cartoon and explanation: Robert C. Kennedy, “On This Day: May 8, 1875 [about Thomas Nast’s Political Cartoon, ‘The American River Ganges’],” The New York Times Learning Network, May 7, 2001, http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0508.html.
- Guiding question: In some cases, how did Common School reformers accommodate non-English-speaking communities?
- See excerpt from Sanders’ Pictorial Primer = Sanders’ Bilder Fibel (1846), https//catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008376748.
- Read: Rosio Baez and Ashley Ardinger, “Are McGuffey Readers still used to educate children today?,” Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present, January 31, 2012.
Week 2: Mon Jan 29th in class – Interpreting Common-School Reform
- Ed Studies announcements:
- Wed Jan 31st 4:30pm Terrace Room lecture on Cuban literacy campaign
- Mon Feb 5th 4-5pm McCook 201 students meet external reviewers
- Wed Feb 7th and Tues Feb 13th lunchtime events with faculty candidates
- Presentation: Thinking like a Historian about the Common School Movement
- Annotators: point out your questions or interpretations on key passages
- Role-play debate over common schools
- Discuss: What can we learn from America’s past anti-immigration history to address present-day events? What steps — big or small — can you take?
- Any questions about background reading? Dana Goldstein, Teacher Wars
- Prep and assign annotators for next week’s readings
due Sunday February 4th by 9pm
- Interpretive reading quiz 3 on Moodle on Goldstein, Teacher Wars, ch 3-4.
- If you have been assigned to annotate, see: How to Annotate Sources
- Guiding question: On what points did Washington and DuBois agree and disagree on education for African Americans, and how were their views shaped by their contexts?
- Booker T. Washington, “Industrial Education for the Negro,” in The Negro Problem (New York, J. Pott & Company, 1903), 7–30, http://archive.org/details/negroproblemseri00washrich. Read our Google Doc version, annotated by Mabel and Emily
- W.E.B. DuBois, “The Talented Tenth,” in The Negro Problem, ed. Booker T. Washington (New York, J. Pott & Company, 1903), 31–76, http://archive.org/details/negroproblemseri00washrich. Read our GoogleDoc version, annotated by Anna M
- Guiding question: A century ago, John Dewey, Margaret Haley, Elwood Cubberley, and Robert Yerkes all were identified with the broader Progressive education movement, but had very different goals. How did their views overlap and differ from one another?
- John Dewey, “The School and Social Progress,” in The School and Society (University of Chicago Press, 1900), 19–44, http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001055834. Read our GoogleDoc version, which we will annotate together in class.
- Margaret Haley, “Why Teachers Should Organize.” In National Association of Education. Journal of Addresses and Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting (St. Louis), 145–152. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1904. http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112039515827?urlappend=%3Bseq=161. Read our GoogleDoc version, annotated by Jackie and Neve
- Ellwood Patterson Cubberley, “The Organization of School Boards,” in Public School Administration (Boston, New York etc.: Houghton Mifflin, 1916), 85–97, http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001283482. Read our GoogleDoc version, annotated by Callyn and Mohammed
- Robert M. Yerkes, “The Mental Rating of School Children,” National School Service 1, no. 12 (February 15, 1919): 6–7, http://archive.org/details/nationalschoolse01unituoft. Read our GoogleDoc version, annotated by Shirley
- Read more about Army Alpha and Beta intelligence tests in Facing History and Ourselves, “Revising the Test,” in Race and Membership in American History: The Eugenics Movement (Brookline MA: Facing History, 2002), 156–59, https://www.facinghistory.org/for-educators/educator-resources/readings/revising-test.
Week 3: Mon Feb 5th in class – Contrasting Black and White “Progressive” Reform
- Presentation: What Direction for African-American Education: Washington and DuBois?
- Annotators: What are key lines/connections/questions in primary sources?
- History Lab: For residents of any town/street in 1940 US census manuscript, what are typical highest levels of education completed?
- See column 14 codes: 0, grades 1-8, High School (H1-4), College (C1-5)
- Presentation: Contrasting Theories of “Progressive” Education Reform
- Annotators: What are key lines/connections/questions in primary sources?
- Assign: Education policy journalism event to attend, report on a newsworthy story, at least 500 words and photo of you at or outside event; due 24 hours after event, due online no later than Saturday March 3rd
- TA Nicole George ’18 on how she completed her Ed Policy Journalism assignment, “Community College Student Tuition Increase to Provide for Campus Safety?”
- In class: Tutorial: How to publish a WordPress post on our course site
- Create a practice post before our next class
- In the right sidebar on this site, scroll down to Meta > Log In, and use your Trinity username and password
- In the Dashboard for this site, create a Post > New Post
- Write a practice post (it will be public!)
- Drag over any text and click “link” tool to insert link to another site
- Click Add Media to insert any image, with a caption about its source
- Select Category = 2018 practice post
- Publish your post, which should appear here on our public site
- Reflect on Public writing and student privacy policy and find out “How searchable are you?”
- Hint: Go to Dashboard > Users > Profile > to automatically display your full name
- WordPress reminder: If you co-author an ed policy journalism post, use “custom byline” below the editor window to list both of your names
- Nicole: please check in with each student about which event they wish to cover
due Sun Feb 11th by 9pm
- Guiding questions for Goldstein, Teacher Wars, ch 5-6: How did anti-communism, school desegregation, and the Great Society programs influence teachers from the 1930s to 1960s?
- Interpretive reading quiz 4 on Moodle on Teacher Wars, ch 5-6
- Guiding question: Historiography is the study of how interpretations of the past have changed over time. How have four historians (Cremin, Tyack, Bowles & Gintis, and Ravitch) described the goals and outcomes of Progressive-era reform in different ways? What parts do they emphasize or de-emphasize? Why do their accounts differ?
- 1) Read: Lawrence Cremin, The Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education, 1876-1957 (New York: Vintage, 1961), excerpt pp. vii-ix, 135-142.
- 2) Read: David Tyack, The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974), excerpt pp. 126-129, 182-191.
- 3) Read: Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life (New York: Basic Books, 1976), excerpt pp. 180-181, 191-195.
- 4) Read: Diane Ravitch, The Troubled Crusade: American Education, 1945-1980 (New York: Basic Books, 1983), excerpt pp. 43-48.
- Guiding question: We all know (or should know) that the US Supreme Court ruled against legally segregated schooling in Southern and border states in 1954. But on what grounds did the court base its ruling? What do the words reveal about this decision?
- Read: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (Supreme Court 1954), http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12120372216939101759, read our GoogleDoc version for 2018, with annotations by Graciela
Week 4: Mon Feb 12th in class – Historiography of Progressive Era; Civil Rights Strategizing
- Announcement: Event on Tuesday Feb 13th, 12:15pm in McCook 305
- New posts by classmates: Ed Policy Journalism Spring 2018
- Reflect on our class Public writing and student privacy policy
- How many students display their full names? See my book chapter
- Hint: Go to Dashboard > Users > Profile > to automatically display name
- If co-authoring, write in Google Doc, paste into WordPress and use “custom byline” field below editor to display both names
- Did everyone complete their practice post? If yes, you may delete it.
- Inform Nicole: which event do you plan to attend for your Ed Policy Journalism assignment (with partner, if desired).
- Jigsaw exercise on Historiography: Progressive-era reform through different historians’ eyes
- Assign: Historiography reading quiz (after jigsaw exercise) on Moodle due Sunday Feb 18th at 9pm
- Presentation: Evolution of School Desegregation Law Part 1, from Plessy to Brown to Massive Resistance
- Collaborative Notes 2018: Evolution of School Desegregation Law, Part 1
- Search strategies: Find and summarize court cases in http://scholar.google.com
- Compare historical dramatization, historical text, and historical documentary:
- View excerpt from historical dramatization: Separate But Equal [about early 1950s legal strategy] (1991), on Moodle.
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (Supreme Court 1954), http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=12120372216939101759, with GoogleDoc annotated version for 2018
- Assign: NEW Avoid Plagiarism Exercise due Sunday Feb 18th at 9pm
- Recommended: Use a citation tool, such as How to capture and cite sources with Zotero
- Comparative reading guide for Curry or Cecelski, due week after Trinity Days
Mon Feb 19 – No class (Trinity Days)
- Remember your assignments from above are due on Sun Feb 18th at 9pm
- Do your Ed Policy Journalism assignment and read for next week
due Sun Feb 25 by 9pm
- This week’s reading quiz will be held during class on Monday
- Guiding question: According to Goldstein, why did the early 1960s alliance between city teachers and civil rights activists break apart in the late 1960s?Read: Goldstein, Teacher Wars, ch 7
- See Curry/Cecelski comparative reading guide
- If your last name is A-Mo, read: David S. Cecelski, Along Freedom Road: Hyde County, North Carolina, and the Fate of Black Schools in the South (The University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
- OR if last name is Mu-Z: Constance Curry, Silver Rights: The story of the Carter family’s brave decision to send their children to an all-white school and claim their civil rights. (Harvest Books, 1996; or reissued edition by Algonquin Books, 2014).
- Read: Jack Dougherty, “Conclusion: Rethinking History and Policy in the Post-Brown Era” in More Than One Struggle: The Evolution of Black School Reform in Milwaukee. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004. Read and comment on Google Doc version annotated for 2017 and 18.
Week 5: Mon Feb 26th in class – Integration: From Idea to Implementation
- Announcements
- Tues Feb 27th common hour lecture by Vox.com journalist Alvin Chang, Educational Inequality through Digital Storytelling, Terrace Rooms, Mather
- How to declare a major in Ed Studies – Do it before Spring Break, not after!)
- Ed Studies Junior Plan: Mandatory meeting, Tues March 6th common hour
- Apply by March 28th to be a Community Learning Research Fellow next fall
- Update on Ed Policy Journalism assignment, with posts by classmates
- Presentation: Evolution of School Desegregation Law, part 2
- View excerpt from historical documentary: “Fighting Back” (1957-62 segment begins at 6:00), Eyes on the Prize video documentary (Blackside Inc., PBS, 1986/2006), https://youtu.be/Bi_WX0rOwzM?t=55m20s
- Jigsaw-pair learning exercise on Curry/Cecelski readings – see reading guide
- In class: Interpretive reading quiz 5 on Moodle on Curry/Cecelski
- How to prepare for upcoming interpretive open-book exam 1
- Recommended: Work solo to organize your notes AND create a study group to anticipate possible exam questions
- Collaborative writing exercise: How to Write About Historians and the Past
- Feedback on Avoiding Plagiarism assignments
- Prep for next week
due Sun March 4 by 9pm
- Guiding questions on Goldstein, Teacher Wars, chapter 8: How does Goldstein explain the rise of the school accountability movement in the 1980s, and how is it similar or different to prior reform movements?
- No Moodle quiz this weekend
- Complete mid-semester course feedback anonymous form
Week 6: Mon March 5th in class – Accountability in Recent Ed Reform
- Ed Policy Journalism assignment and posts by classmates
- Announcements:
- New faculty member: Professor Dan Douglas
- Liberal Arts Action Lab video — apply by March 26th at http://commons.trincoll.edu/action-lab/apply
- Presentation: Crises in Education: 1958 – 1983 – today
- Review together: mid-semester course evaluation feedback
- Prep for next class: read all of Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes, and complete Moodle quiz by Sun March 18th at 9pm (end of spring break)
- In class: Exam 1
- After you complete the exam, save in MS Word format, insert your TrinityID number into the filename (example: 1234567exam.docx), and upload your responses for blind review.
Do NOT include your name anywhere in the file, so that I may evaluate your work anonymously.
Mon March 12th – No Class (Spring break)
due Sun March 18th by 9pm
- Read all of Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America. Boston: Mariner Books, 2009.
- Guiding questions on Whatever It Takes: What is the theory of change behind the Harlem Children’s Zone? According to Geoffrey Canada, what is the underlying cause of poverty, and how does it compare with other theories of poverty? Does the Harlem Children’s Zone strategy for reducing poverty lean more toward system-building or decentralization? Why do political leaders from sharply divided parties both praise his reform efforts?
- Interpretive reading quiz 6 on Moodle on Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes
Week 7: Mon March 19th in class – Theories of Poverty & Theories of Change
- Make a Difference in the City: Apply to the Liberal Arts Action Lab (by Monday March 26th) and the Community Learning Research Fellows (by Wed March 28th)
- Presentation: Theories of Poverty & Change around the Harlem Children’s Zone
- Presentation/activity: Theories of Change and Policy Chains
- Intro to Research Essay Process *fix dates
- Assign: Research proposal due by Sat March 31st at 6pm on GoogleDoc Organizer
- Brainstorm Topics and Transform into Research Questions exercise
- Prep for next week’s assignments in links below; no Moodle quiz on Sunday
- Hand back and review exam #1 with selected student essay responses
due by Sun March 25th at 9pm
- Assign: Compare Trinity archival sources on 1960s-70s social change, and complete your assigned paragraph on the Google Doc. Plan ahead: the Watkinson Library is open from Monday-Friday from 10am-4:30pm.
- No reading quiz this week, but be prepared to discuss & analyze in class:
- Guiding Question: How did students featured in the readings below experience schooling and social change, in similar or different ways?
- Read: David Adams, Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995, chapter 4, on Moodle
- Read: Leonard Covello. The Heart Is the Teacher. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958, pp. 28-31, on Moodle.
- Read: Esmeralda Santiago, When I Was Puerto Rican. New York: Vintage Books, 1994, excerpt on Moodle
Week 8: Mon March 26th in class: Student Experiences of Education Reform
- Presentation: Student Experiences of School Reform and Social Change
- Discuss: How has student activism changed — or remained continuous — from 1968 to 2018?
- In class: What did Trinity 1960-70s archival sources tell you about past?
- Assign: Research essay proposal due Sat March 31st at 6pm on GDoc Organizer.
- In class: Create your proposal Google Doc
- Set Share> Advanced> Anyone with link > can Comment
- Copy and paste link into GDoc Organizer
- In class: Read LAST YEAR’s research proposals, with my comments. See asterisks*
- In Class: Finding Sources and Search Strategies for Educ 300 with Jack’s hints
- Recommended: Schedule a meeting with a librarian to discuss finding sources about your research question
- Required: Schedule a 20-minute meeting with me for face-to-face feedback on your proposal, either before the deadline OR during week of April 2-6th.
due by Monday April 2nd (not Sunday) at 6pm
- Interpretive reading quiz 7 on Moodle on Goldstein, Teacher Wars, ch 9-10 and Harris, Value-Added Measures
- Guiding questions: How does researcher Doug Harris explain the benefits and limits of measuring student growth and value-added assessment? How does Goldstein explain criticisms of this approach?
- Read: Harris, Douglas N. Value-Added Measures in Education: What Every Educator Needs to Know. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2011, introduction and chapters 1-3 (excerpted), on Moodle.
- Read: Goldstein, Teacher Wars, chapters 9-10
Week 9: Mon April 2nd in class – Value-Added Assessment and Finding Sources
- Announcements:
- Advising Week: Updated Educ and Cross-Referenced Courses
- Catalyst summer internship funding, Center for Student Success and Career Development, due Sun Apr 15th
- RSVP for Ed Studies Majors Dinner
- Presentation: Testing Data and Value-Added Assessment
- Data exercise: Which schools are best? Three ways to measure
-
Feedback at your appointment on research proposal and/or online comments
- PS: Did you remember to book an appointment on my calendar?
-
Think creatively about Finding Sources for your research proposal
- Google Ngram and other full-text databases — concept used by Kate McEachern, “Teaching to the Test,” Educ 300 essay, Trinity College, CT, Spring 2005.
- Internet Archive and the Way Back Machine — used by Taylor Godfrey, “Change in Evaluation of Teach for America,” Educ 300 web essay, Trinity College, CT, May 3, 2012.
- Reminder: Capture and Cite Sources with Zotero or other bibliographic management tool that produces results in either Chicago-style endnotes or MLA or APA in-line citations
- Assign Working Thesis and Evidence drafts on GDoc Organizer due Friday April 20th by 6pm
- Assign: Video documentary analysis due Sunday April 8th by 9pm (instead of a Moodle quiz), based on either documentary:
- Davis Guggenheim, Waiting For “Superman,” video documentary (2010), viewable at https://vimeo.com/69353438.
- Greg Whiteley, Most Likely to Succeed, video documentary (2015), http://www.mltsfilm.org/. View on Trinflix (requires Ed 300 student Trinity login; may not work consistently with Chrome browser?)
- Submit as a WordPress post (category=2018-video-analysis), and your post should appear on the Student Writing page.
- Quick tips: How to Publish with WordPress
- Dashboard > Profile to display your name and short bio
- How to capture screenshots and insert an image with a caption in your post
- How to embed video in your post; insert a Vimeo link at selected time
due Sun April 8th by 9pm
- Guiding Questions: How did charter schools originate, how did their mission shift over time, and what do Kahlenberg and Potter recommend to bring them back? And what doubts does Welner raise about charter schools? Could these doubts apply to other public school choice programs?
- Read: Richard Kahlenberg and Halley Potter, “Restoring Shanker’s Vision for Charter Schools,” American Educator, Winter 2014, https://www.aft.org/ae/winter2014-2015/kahlenberg_potter or (compact PDF version) https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/kahlenberg.pdf
- Read: Kevin Welner, “The Dirty Dozen: How Charter Schools Influence Student Enrollment,” Teachers College Record, April 22, 2013, http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=17104, and publicly available at http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/welner-charter-enrollment-teachers-college-record.pdf
- Submit your WordPress post Video documentary analysis due Sunday April 8th by 9pm (instead of a Moodle quiz)
Week 10: Mon April 9th in class – School Integration and Innovation
- Presentation/exercise: School Choice Conceptual Map
- Discuss Kahlenberg and Potter’s article, and Welner’s “Dirty Dozen”
- What is “self-selection bias” and why does it matter in educational research about school choice outcomes?
- Read definition in Kahlenberg and Potter, A Smarter Charter book, 2014
- Draw picture of “self-selection bias” in school choice process, for people unfamiliar with this concept.
- Where is self-selection bias in this news article about CT study of school choice outcomes? Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, “State Report: Students in Desegregated Schools Test Higher,” CT Mirror, September 12, 2013, http://ctmirror.org/state-report-students-in-desegregated-schools-test-higher/.
- Read and discuss your video documentary analysis web posts
- Update on research essay proposals, comments, and next deadline
due Sun April 15th by 9pm
- Moodle reading quiz on Haynes and Thomas
- Reading guide: How has the US Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Free Exercise and Non-Establishment clauses of the First Amendment regarding public schools changed from the 1960s to the present?
- Charles Haynes and Oliver Thomas, Finding Common Ground: A First Amendment Guide to Religion and Public Schools (Nashville, TN: First Amendment Center, 2007), read chapter 4 (The Supreme Court, Religious Liberty, and Public Education) and chapter 16 (Frequently Asked Questions about Religious Liberty in Public Schools). See PDF excerpt on Moodle
- Read: Ashley Ardinger, “Sex Education: Defining Gender Roles During the Sexual Revolution and Today,” Educ 300 web-essay, Trinity College, May 2012.
Week 11: Mon April 16th in class – Sex and Religion in School Reform
- Presentation: Religion, Sex Education, and School Reform
- In-class video excerpt: Calvin Skaggs and David Van Taylor, With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, Documentary, 1996, in Moodle.
- In-class exercise: What does this curricular source reveal or hide about sex education debates during the late 1960s?
- Anaheim Union High School District, “Family Life and Sex Education Course Outline: Grades Seven Through Twelve, Fourth Revision,” June 1967.
- Recommended reading on related debate over student hair: Gael Graham, “Flaunting the Freak Flag: Karr v. Schmidt and the Great Hair Debate in American High Schools, 1965–1975,” Journal of American History 91, no. 2 (September 1, 2004): 522–43, https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3660710.
- In class: Apply Educ 300 criteria to evaluate a prior student essay
- 1) Ashley Ardinger, “Sex Education: Defining Gender Roles During the Sexual Revolution and Today,” Educ 300 web essay, Trinity College, May 2012.
- 2) Brigit, “Kindergarten: The Changes from Play to Work,” Educ 300 web essay, Trinity College, May 2012.
- 3) Lydia Kay, “Charter School Growth and its Effect on Catholic Schools,” Educ 300 web essay, Trinity College, May 2013.
- Presentation: Structural and Stylistic Advice on Writing Ed 300 Web Essays
- Assign: Post your Working thesis & evidence draft on Google Doc Organizer by Friday April 20th at 6pm. *Avoid the late penalty*
- Set to Share > Advanced > Anyone with link > Can Comment
- Paste these questions at the TOP of your draft for reviewers
- 1) Does the essay pose a thought-provoking research question that addresses change and/or continuity over time in education?
- 2) Does the essay present a clear and insightful thesis that addresses the research question?
- 3) Does the essay identify the most appropriate source materials and methods for researching this question?
- 4) Is the essay’s thesis persuasive? Is it supported with convincing evidence and analysis?
- 5) Is the essay organized, clearly written, and does it include sufficient background for audiences unfamiliar with the topic?
- Assign: On Saturday morning, each student will be assigned to comment on two peer drafts on GDoc Organizer by Sunday 9pm.
- Trinity Writing Center: schedule an appointment, and see online resources (such as developing a thesis statement)
- Book an appointment with me if you would like to talk about your draft
due Fri April 20th at 6pm
Working Thesis and Evidence drafts due on GDoc Organizer on Friday April 20th by 6pm
due Sunday April 22nd by 9pm
- Comment on assigned peer drafts on GDoc Organizer with these criteria:
- 1) Does the essay pose a thought-provoking research question that addresses change and/or continuity over time in education?
- 2) Does the essay present a clear and insightful thesis that addresses the research question?
- 3) Does the essay identify the most appropriate source materials and methods for researching this question?
- 4) Is the essay’s thesis persuasive? Is it supported with convincing evidence and analysis?
- 5) Is the essay organized, clearly written, and does it include sufficient background for audiences unfamiliar with the topic?
- Guiding questions: What is a “flipped classroom,” and what are the challenges of implementing it in the K-12 and higher education sectors?
- Read online: Dan Berrett, “How ‘Flipping’ the Classroom Can Improve the Traditional Lecture,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 19, 2012, http://chronicle.com/article/How-Flipping-the-Classroom/130857/ (requires password) OR on Moodle
- Read online: Sarah D. Sparks, “Lectures Are Homework in Schools Following Khan Academy Lead,” Education Week, September 28, 2011, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/09/28/05khan_ep.h31.html (requires password) OR on Moodle
- There is no Moodle quiz this week
Week 12: Mon April 23rd in class – Competing Reforms for Higher Education
- Presentation: Competing Reforms for Higher Education
- Vote with your feet and defend your reform analysis
- In your assigned groups on the GDoc Organizer, discuss peer comments on working thesis & evidence drafts. Draw on the research essay evaluation criteria to review what works and what needs to improve.
- Discuss common issues and next steps to improve your essays
- Review my Structural and Stylistic Advice to organize your writing
- Focus your energy on insightful arguments, persuasive evidence, and meaningful interpretation.
- Use any tool (such as my Zotero tutorial) to cite sources, in any acceptable format, such as Chicago-style endnotes or MLA/APA in-line citations.
- Ask for feedback by scheduling an appointment with me, or The Writing Center, or a friend.
- Do all of your writing and revising in your preferred word processor, then copy and paste into WordPress, and add links and images if desired. See my WordPress tutorial.
- Assign: Final essay on WordPress (category = 2018-research-essay) due Fri May 4 by 6pm, which will publicly display your work on the Student Writing 2017 page.** Plan ahead and avoid the late penalty.
- Public writing and student privacy policy, and what past students have decided
- Assign: Two-minute research presentation with Google Slides, and share the link on our GDoc Organizer. Be sure to include:
- Engaging essay title
- Thoughtful research question
- Insightful working thesis (bullet points are acceptable for presentations)
- Rich interpretation of at least one key source (which you may describe, quote, display as image, link, etc.)
- Confirm that your Share settings allow anyone with the link to view
- Be prepared to vote for bonus points:
- Most insightful thesis
- Richest source interpretation
- Most improved since proposal (selected by instructor)
Week 13: Mon April 30th in class – Panel Presentations & Making Sense of Reform
- Read before class: Stan Karp and Linda Christensen, “Why Is School Reform So Hard?,” Education Week, October 8, 2003, http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2003/10/08/06karp.h23.html.
- Two-minute presentations of research-in-progress on GDoc Organizer
- Vote for bonus points: Most insightful thesis; Richest source interpretation
- Bonus point for most improved since proposal (selected by instructor)
- Feedback from instructor to improve your final essays
- Reminder: post your final essay on WordPress on Friday May 4th by 6pm.
- Focus your writing on the key research criteria: RQ — Thesis — Evidence
- Use tools to help you cite sources and improve your grammar
- Write and revise in your preferred word processor, then copy and paste into WordPress, and add links and images if desired. See WordPress tutorial.
- Check the category (2018 research essay), which will publicly display your work on the Student Writing 2018 page.
- Prepare for open-book interpretive exam #2 on Monday May 7th at 6:30pm in our classroom. Will be same number of questions and format as exam #1, but a longer time period (up to 3 hours if needed; most will finish sooner). The exam may address any topic on the syllabus, but items from the second half of the course are more likely to appear.
- Presentation: What I Believe: Making Sense of Education Reform
- Available for essay discussions by appointment
due Fri May 4th by 6pm
- Final web essay due by 6pm. Plan ahead and avoid the late penalty.
Mon May 8th from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in our regular classroom
- Exam #2, open-book, interpretive questions.
- After you complete the exam, save in MS Word format, insert your TrinityID number into the filename (example: 1234567exam.docx), and upload your responses for blind review.
Do NOT include your name anywhere in the file, so that I may evaluate your work anonymously.