I'll admit that finding a why question was a lot harder than I anticipated. And now that I have one, I'm kind of releaved. I started with autism, then moved to special education, then to education in general, then back to special education-- only to eventually return to education. So now, my question is "Why is public education on the decline? When I first landed on this topic I was pretty much desperate, I'm not gonna lie. But last night I was doing some research and found that there are many individuals who believe that public education is making America "dumber." I realized that going to New Trier and living in this area has made me relatively unaware of public education across the nation. Now I have a chance to understand it more.
Any good book suggestions? Any suggestions at all?
5 comments:
Congratulations on picking a topic.
I was reading a letter to the editor today in the NY Times and came across Robert Holland, a senior fellow for the Heartland Institute. He has written extensively on vouchers and charter schools. Here's a link to about 200 of his articles:
http://www.heartland.org/policybot/byauthor/27190/Robert_Holland
He also recommends the "brilliant documentary" about deeply flawed public education..Davis Guggenheim's "Waiting for Superman" which argues that the only way to reform education is from the bottom up.
a 2010 Sundance Film Festival pick which received the audience award. "As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems. "
Here's a link to the trailer:
http://sundance.bside.com/2010/films/waitingforsuperman_sundance2010
(not yet available on Netflix) but a must see for your JrTheme.
J. Gressel
Waiting for Superman is not coming to theaters until fall.
But here's an interview with Guggenheim:
http://makingof.com/posts/watch/1305/director-david-guggenheim-on-waiting-for-superman
BTW, Robert Holland is in Chicago and maybe you can get an interview?
or read one of his books?
book on teacher preparation, To Build a Better Teacher: The Emergence of a Competitive Education Industry,2004. OR
Not With My Child, You Don't (1995) examined the parents' revolt against national school restructuring.
April 13, 2010
Former Education Department official and author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System Diane Ravitch talks about the role of testing in the U.S. education system.
see short pbs video:
http://ow.ly/1y90U
J. Gressel
From the Education Week Blog:
"The Education Disaster Campaign"
By Walt Gardner on April 16, 2010
argues that the bleak characterization of schools is overstated.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/walt_gardners_reality_check/2010/04/the_propaganda_of_education_disaster.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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