education reform thesis statement

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Education reform is a compelling topic that aims to improve the way students acquire skills, knowledge, and competency. A precise and engaging thesis statement is essential to draw attention to the pressing need for reforms in education and to guide your audience through your research’s significance and methodology. Here are examples of good and bad thesis statements related to education reform, along with detailed explanations of their effectiveness.

Good Thesis Statement Examples

Good: “This thesis explores the impact of classroom size reduction on students’ academic performance in low-income school districts.” Bad: “Smaller classes are better for students.”

The good statement offers specificity regarding the targeted school districts (low-income) and the measured outcome (students’ academic performance). Conversely, the bad example is too general and lacks clarity on the demographic and expected outcomes.

Good: “Implementing a year-round school calendar enhances student retention rates and alleviates teacher burnout.” Bad: “Year-round schooling can be beneficial.”

The good statement makes a clear, debatable claim regarding year-round schooling, allowing for argumentation and research on student retention and teacher burnout. The bad example, while positive, lacks specificity and a clear claim.

Good: “Incorporating technology in elementary education significantly improves students’ engagement and learning outcomes in STEM subjects.” Bad: “Technology in classrooms is good for student learning.”

The good example is focused and researchable, targeting elementary education, technology incorporation, and specific subject areas (STEM). The bad statement is vague and does not provide clear variables for study.

Bad Thesis Statement Examples

Overly Broad: “Education reform is necessary for student success.”

Though true, this statement is overly broad, failing to identify specific areas of education reform or define ‘student success’.

Lack of Clear Argument: “Schools need to change.”

While this statement might be generally accepted, it lacks a clear argument or focus, serving as a poor guide for research direction.

Unmeasurable and Unresearchable: “A good education is the key to a successful life.”

While philosophically sound, this statement is unmeasurable and broad, making it inappropriate for scholarly research.

Creating an effective thesis statement for research on education reform is crucial for guiding your exploration and clarifying your study’s objective and scope. Effective thesis statements should be specific, arguable, and researchable. In contrast, ineffective ones are often too broad, lack clear arguments, and aren’t designed for empirical study. With careful consideration of the above examples, students can articulate compelling thesis statements that serve as robust foundations for their research on the important issue of education reform.

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Education Thesis Statement

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Crafting a strong thesis statement is essential for any successful educational essay or research paper. This one or two-sentence assertion forms the backbone of your argument, providing a concise summary of the point you intend to make. Whether you’re exploring the impact of technology in classrooms or analyzing the effectiveness of early childhood education, a well-structured thesis statement serves as a roadmap, guiding both.

What is Education Thesis Statement – Definition

An education thesis statement is a concise, focused, and arguable statement that presents the main idea or argument of an essay, research paper, or academic work related to the field of education. It outlines the scope of the study and provides a roadmap for the reader to understand the purpose and direction of the paper.

What is a Good Thesis Statement about Education

A comprehensive integration of technology in classrooms enhances students’ engagement, knowledge retention, and critical thinking skills, ultimately transforming traditional educational paradigms.”

What is an Example of an Education Topic Thesis Statement

“Implementing inclusive education policies in primary schools leads to improved academic outcomes for students with disabilities, fostering a more diverse and supportive learning environment.”

Remember, a good thesis statement is specific, debatable, and gives a clear indication of the focus of your paper. It should also be supported by evidence and analysis throughout the essay.

100 Education Statement Examples

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Crafting effective education thesis statements is pivotal in academic writing. These succinct sentences encapsulate the core concepts of your research, guiding your paper’s trajectory. From dissecting teaching methodologies to examining education’s societal impacts, a well-structured thesis statement is a beacon that illuminates your scholarly journey.

• Technology in Education : Integrating personalized digital tools in classrooms enhances collaborative learning, preparing students for a tech-driven world.
• Early Childhood Education : High-quality preschool programs significantly improve children’s cognitive development, ensuring a strong foundation for future learning.
• Inclusive Education : Adapting curriculum and teaching methods to diverse learning styles fosters equitable and enriching classroom experiences for all students.
• Education Policy : Reforms in standardized testing systems promote a more holistic evaluation of students’ abilities and potential.
• Online Learning : The surge in online education democratizes access to knowledge, revolutionizing traditional notions of learning environments.
• Critical Pedagogy : Empowering students to think critically about societal issues cultivates active citizenship and social change.
• STEM Education : Prioritizing STEM subjects in curricula prepares students for the demands of a technology-driven workforce.
• Arts Integration : Infusing arts into education not only enhances creativity but also nurtures a deeper understanding of core subjects.
• Parental Involvement : Engaged parental participation positively correlates with students’ academic success and overall well-being.
• Higher Education Costs : Exploring alternative funding models is crucial to make higher education accessible and affordable for all.
• Global Education : Fostering cross-cultural awareness in schools cultivates tolerance, empathy, and a broader worldview among students.
• Special Education : Tailoring teaching strategies to the needs of students with disabilities empowers them to achieve their full potential.
• Motivation and Learning : Understanding motivational factors improves teaching methods and student engagement in the classroom.
• Physical Education : Incorporating regular physical activity into the curriculum promotes not only fitness but also cognitive and emotional development.
• Education and Employment : Analyzing the relationship between education levels and job prospects reveals the role of education in economic mobility.
• Bilingual Education : Studying the effects of bilingual instruction on cognitive development highlights the benefits of multilingualism in education.
• Gender Disparities in Education : Addressing gender biases in curricula and teaching practices contributes to more equitable educational experiences.
• Teacher Training : Enhancing teacher preparation programs leads to more effective classroom management and student engagement.
• Education and Social Media : Analyzing the impact of social media on students’ learning habits reveals new avenues for interactive and self-directed learning.
• Education and Mental Health : Integrating mental health education into the curriculum helps reduce stigma and promotes students’ psychological well-being.
• Education and Sustainability : Incorporating environmental education empowers students to become responsible stewards of the planet.
• Literacy Development : Investigating early literacy interventions highlights the importance of foundational reading skills in later academic success.
• Civic Education : Teaching civics fosters active participation in democratic processes and shapes informed and responsible citizens.
• Education for Special Needs Students : Creating individualized education plans (IEPs) enhances the learning experience for students with diverse abilities.
• Globalization and Education : Exploring how globalization affects educational policies and practices prepares students for a globalized world.
• Education and Poverty : Investigating the link between education and poverty reduction underscores the role of education in breaking the cycle of disadvantage.
• Character Education : Nurturing qualities like empathy, integrity, and resilience in students contributes to holistic personal and ethical development.
• Standardized Curriculum vs. Personalized Learning : Evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of standardized versus personalized learning approaches in classrooms.
• Education Technology Ethics : Examining the ethical implications of using student data in educational technology applications.
• Education and Immigration : Studying the educational challenges and opportunities faced by immigrant students in host countries.
• Critical Thinking Education : Integrating critical thinking skills into curricula prepares students to analyze and evaluate information independently.
• Education and Cultural Heritage : Incorporating cultural heritage education preserves traditions and fosters cultural pride among students.
• Education Funding Allocation : Investigating the impact of equitable distribution of funding on educational outcomes in different communities.
• Education and Neurodiversity : Creating inclusive classrooms that accommodate neurodiverse students promotes a more accepting society.
• Sexual Education : Implementing comprehensive sexual education equips students with vital knowledge for making informed decisions.
• Education and Democracy : Understanding the role of education in nurturing informed citizenship and active participation in democratic processes.
• Education and Indigenous Knowledge : Integrating indigenous knowledge systems into curricula honors diverse worldviews and promotes cultural understanding.
• Home Schooling vs. Public Schooling : Comparing the academic and social outcomes of students educated at home versus traditional schools.
• Peer-to-Peer Learning : Exploring the effectiveness of peer mentoring programs in enhancing students’ academic performance and social skills.
• Education and Artificial Intelligence : Analyzing the potential of AI to personalize learning experiences and address individual student needs.
• Vocational Education : Promoting vocational education as a viable pathway to skill development and successful career opportunities.
• Education and Ethical Dilemmas : Investigating ethical challenges faced by educators and students in modern educational settings.
• Education and LGBTQ+ Inclusivity : Creating safe and inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ students through policy changes and awareness programs.
• Education and Aging Population : Adapting educational strategies to meet the learning needs of an aging workforce.
• Assessment Methods : Exploring innovative assessment techniques that provide a more comprehensive understanding of student learning.
• Outdoor Education : Utilizing outdoor and experiential learning to enhance students’ practical skills and environmental awareness.
• Education and Artificial Reality : Harnessing the potential of virtual and augmented reality in creating immersive educational experiences.
• Emotional Intelligence in Education : Integrating emotional intelligence training in schools contributes to students’ interpersonal skills and emotional well-being.
• Education and Gifted Students : Tailoring instruction to meet the unique learning needs of gifted students supports their intellectual growth.
• Education and Nutrition : Recognizing the link between proper nutrition and cognitive development for optimal student learning.
• Education and Language Acquisition : Examining strategies for effective language acquisition among non-native speakers in educational settings.
• Education and Political Socialization : Investigating how education shapes students’ political beliefs and participation in civic activities.
• Education and Political Socialization : Investigating how education shapes students’ political beliefs and participation in civic activities
• Education and Digital Literacy : Evaluating the importance of teaching digital literacy skills to navigate the information-rich online world.
• Teacher-Student Relationships : Investigating the impact of positive teacher-student relationships on academic motivation and achievement.
• Education and Social Justice : Analyzing the role of education in addressing societal inequalities and promoting social justice.
• Education and Multilingualism : Exploring the benefits of a multilingual approach in education for cognitive development and cultural awareness.
• Education and Learning Disabilities : Implementing tailored strategies to support students with learning disabilities enhances their academic success.
• Education and Environmental Awareness : Integrating environmental education fosters a generation of environmentally conscious citizens.
• Education and Entrepreneurship : Promoting entrepreneurial education equips students with skills for innovation and economic contribution.
• Student Engagement Strategies : Investigating effective methods to enhance student engagement and participation in the learning process.
• Education and Artificial Intelligence Ethics : Examining ethical considerations when using AI in educational settings to ensure data privacy and equity.
• Education and Emotional Well-being : Creating emotionally supportive environments positively impacts students’ mental health and academic performance.
• Education and Cultural Assimilation : Analyzing how education can either preserve or dilute cultural heritage among immigrant communities.
• Distance Learning Challenges : Exploring the challenges and benefits of distance learning, especially in the context of global events.
• Education and Creativity : Fostering creative thinking skills in students through innovative teaching approaches and curricular design.
• Education and Student Autonomy : Investigating the benefits of allowing students more autonomy in their learning processes.
• Education and Gaming : Exploring the potential of educational games in enhancing learning outcomes and student engagement.
• Teacher Burnout : Examining the factors contributing to teacher burnout and strategies to promote educator well-being.
• Global Education Disparities : Analyzing the disparities in access to quality education across different regions of the world.
• Education and Learning Styles : Tailoring instruction to accommodate diverse learning styles enhances students’ comprehension and retention.
• Education and Brain Development : Studying the correlation between educational experiences and brain development in children and adolescents.
• Education and Ethics Education : Integrating ethics education cultivates morally responsible decision-making among students.
• Education and Socioeconomic Mobility : Examining how education can be a catalyst for upward social mobility in disadvantaged communities.
• Education and Peer Influence : Investigating how peer interactions shape students’ attitudes, behaviors, and academic choices.
• Education and Indigenous Language Revival : Promoting the revitalization of indigenous languages through education preserves cultural heritage.
• Teacher Evaluation Methods : Exploring effective methods for evaluating teacher performance and their impact on educational quality.
• Education and Critical Media Literacy : Developing media literacy skills equips students to critically analyze and navigate the digital information landscape.
• Education and Online Privacy : Raising awareness about online privacy and digital citizenship in educational settings.
• Education and Parental Expectations : Analyzing the effects of parental expectations on students’ academic motivation and achievements.
• Education and Gender Stereotypes : Exploring how education can challenge or reinforce traditional gender stereotypes and roles.
• Education and Mindfulness : Incorporating mindfulness practices in schools enhances students’ focus, emotional regulation, and well-being.
• Education and Aging Workforce : Adapting teaching methods to address the unique learning needs of mature students in continuing education.
• Education and Postcolonialism : Analyzing the influence of colonial history on education systems and curriculum development.
• Education and Lifelong Learning : Promoting the idea of education as a continuous process that extends beyond formal schooling.

Education Thesis Statement Examples for Argumentative Essay

Education is the cornerstone of societal progress, and an argumentative essay thesis statement can explore its multifaceted impact. A thesis statement could be: “Mandatory financial literacy education in schools should be implemented to empower students with essential life skills, promoting responsible financial decision-making.

• Mandatory Financial Literacy Education : “Mandatory financial literacy education in schools should be implemented to empower students with essential life skills, promoting responsible financial decision-making.”
• Comprehensive Sex Education : “The integration of comprehensive sex education into curricula is imperative to address the rising rates of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.”
• Bilingual Education : “Bilingual education programs positively contribute to cognitive development, cross-cultural understanding, and global communication skills among students.”
• Diverse Perspectives in History Education : “The inclusion of diverse perspectives in history education fosters critical thinking and promotes a more accurate understanding of past events.”
• Importance of Arts Education : “Arts education should remain a fundamental component of the curriculum, as it enhances creativity, cognitive abilities, and emotional intelligence.”
• Media Literacy Education : “Promoting media literacy education equips students to navigate the complexities of the digital age, fostering critical analysis of information sources.”
• Restorative Justice in Education : “Implementing restorative justice practices in schools nurtures conflict resolution skills, reduces disciplinary disparities, and creates a more inclusive learning environment.”
• Environmental Education : “Environmental education cultivates a sense of responsibility for ecological sustainability, preparing students to address pressing global environmental challenges.”
• Mental Health Education : “Education about mental health and emotional well-being should be integrated into curricula to reduce stigma, enhance self-awareness, and support student mental health.”
• Coding and Computer Science Education : “Teaching coding and computer science in primary education enhances problem-solving abilities, technological literacy, and prepares students for a technology-driven future.”

Importance of Education Thesis Statement Examples

Highlighting the significance of education, a thesis statement like, “Access to quality education equips individuals with the tools to break the cycle of poverty, fosters critical thinking, and cultivates informed citizens essential for a thriving democracy.”

• Access to Quality Education : “Access to quality education equips individuals with the tools to break the cycle of poverty, fosters critical thinking, and cultivates informed citizens essential for a thriving democracy.”
• Education and Innovation : “Education empowers individuals to challenge societal norms, fostering innovation and progress through the exploration of new ideas and perspectives.”
• Early Childhood Education : “Investing in early childhood education yields lifelong benefits, promoting cognitive development, emotional intelligence, and academic success.”
• Education for Social Cohesion : “Education plays a pivotal role in promoting social cohesion, bridging cultural divides, and fostering mutual respect and understanding among diverse communities.”
• Education and Economic Growth : “An educated workforce drives economic growth by fostering innovation, increasing productivity, and attracting investment in a knowledge-based economy.”
• Empowerment through Education : “Education is the foundation of personal empowerment, enabling individuals to make informed decisions about their health, finances, and overall well-being.”
• Education in a Technological Era : “Quality education equips individuals with the skills to adapt to rapid technological changes, ensuring they remain competitive in a dynamic job market.”
• Education and Social Mobility : “Education serves as a catalyst for social mobility, enabling individuals to transcend their socioeconomic backgrounds and achieve upward mobility.”
• Education and Public Health : “In societies with higher levels of education, there is a positive correlation with improved public health outcomes, lower crime rates, and overall well-being.”
• Right to Education : “Education is a fundamental human right that should be accessible to all, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or geographical location.”

Lack of Education Thesis Statement Examples

Examining the consequences of inadequate education, a concise thesis statement might state: “The lack of accessible education perpetuates social inequality, limits economic mobility, and hinders personal and societal development, underscoring the urgent need for educational reforms.”

• Impact of Inaccessible Education : “The lack of accessible education perpetuates social inequality, limits economic mobility, and hinders personal and societal development, underscoring the urgent need for educational reforms.”
• Cycle of Poverty : “In regions with limited educational opportunities, there is a heightened risk of perpetuating cycles of poverty, resulting in diminished life prospects for generations.”
• Lack of Comprehensive Sex Education : “The absence of comprehensive sex education contributes to uninformed decisions, leading to higher rates of unintended pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections.”
• Educational Inequality and Civic Engagement : “Communities with inadequate educational infrastructure experience reduced civic engagement, hampering their ability to advocate for their rights and interests.”
• Challenges in Special Needs Education : “Without inclusive education practices, students with disabilities are often marginalized, denying them opportunities for holistic development and societal contribution.”
• Environmental Ignorance : “The lack of emphasis on environmental education results in a lack of awareness about sustainable practices, exacerbating environmental degradation and climate change.”
• Mental Health Education Gap : “A dearth of education around mental health perpetuates stigma, preventing individuals from seeking help and contributing to a global mental health crisis.”
• Gender Disparities in Education : “In societies where gender equity in education is not prioritized, women and girls face limited opportunities, reinforcing gender disparities in various sectors.”
• Education and Ignorance : “Communities without access to quality education struggle to break free from cycles of ignorance and misinformation, hindering progress and social cohesion.”
• Digital Literacy Divide : “The absence of education tailored to the digital age leaves individuals vulnerable to misinformation, cyber threats, and challenges presented by rapid technological advancements.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples for College

For a college-focused context, a thesis could be: “Integrating practical skills training into higher education curricula prepares students for real-world challenges, bridging the gap between academic knowledge and employability.”

• Practical Skills in Higher Education : “Integrating practical skills training into higher education curricula prepares students for real-world challenges, bridging the gap between academic knowledge and employability.”
• Interdisciplinary Learning in College : “College education should prioritize interdisciplinary learning, fostering a holistic understanding of complex global issues and encouraging innovative solutions.”
• Experiential Learning in College : “Promoting student engagement through experiential learning opportunities in college enhances critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and prepares students for lifelong learning.”
• Soft Skills Development in College : “Colleges should emphasize the development of soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and adaptability, essential for success in diverse professional environments.”
• Entrepreneurship Education in College : “Incorporating entrepreneurship education in college equips students with the mindset and skills needed to create and navigate their own career paths.”
• Cultural Competence in College : “College education should encourage cultural competence, promoting empathy and understanding in an increasingly interconnected and diverse world.”
• Technology-Enhanced Learning in College : “Embracing technology-enhanced learning methods in college empowers students to become digitally literate, adaptable, and well-prepared for the modern workforce.”
• Research-Oriented College Education : “Fostering a research-oriented approach in college education cultivates critical inquiry, creativity, and advances our understanding of various academic disciplines.”
• Mental Health Support in College : “Colleges should prioritize mental health and well-being services to support students during a transformative period, ensuring their holistic success.”
• Flexible Learning in College : “Offering flexible learning options, including online and hybrid courses, accommodates diverse student needs and promotes lifelong learning beyond traditional campus settings.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples for Students

Directing attention to students, a thesis might read: “Implementing personalized learning approaches in schools caters to diverse learning styles, enhances student engagement, and fosters a lifelong love for learning.”

• Personalized Learning for Students : “Implementing personalized learning approaches in schools caters to diverse learning styles, enhances student engagement, and fosters a lifelong love for learning.”
• Student-Centered Education : “Student-centered education that encourages curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking nurtures independent thought and prepares students for active citizenship.”
• Project-Based Learning for Students : “Incorporating project-based learning in schools develops problem-solving skills and empowers students to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world situations.”
• Student Agency in Education : “Encouraging student agency in educational decisions fosters a sense of ownership, boosting motivation, and promoting self-directed learning.”
• Learning from Failure for Students : “Education that emphasizes the value of failure as a stepping stone to success helps students develop resilience, adaptability, and a growth mindset.”
• Collaborative Learning for Students : “Promoting collaborative learning experiences in classrooms cultivates teamwork skills, enhances communication, and exposes students to diverse perspectives.”
• Extracurricular Involvement for Students : “Student involvement in extracurricular activities and community service fosters character development, empathy, and a sense of responsibility to society.”
• Arts and Creative Expression for Students : “Integrating arts and creative expression into education sparks imagination, enhances emotional intelligence, and encourages students to think outside the box.”
• Digital Literacy for Students : “Cultivating digital literacy skills equips students to navigate the digital landscape responsibly, critically evaluate information, and contribute positively online.”
• Mindfulness in Education for Students : “Education that incorporates mindfulness and well-being practices helps students manage stress, build emotional resilience, and maintain overall mental wellness.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples for Essay

In the context of an essay, a case study thesis statement could be: “Exploring the evolution of educational technology reveals its role as a transformative force in modern classrooms, reshaping traditional teaching methods and enhancing student outcomes.”

• Effective Study Habits : “Exploring effective study habits and time management strategies equips students with the tools to optimize their learning experience and achieve academic success.”
• Role of Teachers in Student Motivation : “Analyzing the pivotal role of teachers in motivating students through innovative teaching methods and supportive mentorship enhances the learning journey.”
• Educational Technology Integration : “Examining the integration of educational technology in classrooms highlights its potential to enhance engagement, collaboration, and personalized learning.”
• Impact of Standardized Testing : “Investigating the impact of standardized testing on curriculum, instruction, and student stress provides insights into the complexities of assessment-driven education systems.”
• Importance of Early Literacy : “Highlighting the significance of early literacy development in shaping future academic achievements emphasizes the need for targeted interventions and support.”
• Holistic Assessment Approaches : “Exploring alternative assessment methods beyond exams, such as project-based assessments and portfolios, offers a comprehensive view of student learning.”
• Cultural Competence in Education : “Analyzing the importance of cultural competence in educators for creating inclusive classrooms and fostering diverse student perspectives.”
• Critical Thinking in Education : “Investigating the cultivation of critical thinking skills through interdisciplinary learning encourages students to question, analyze, and form independent viewpoints.”
• Ethics Education : “Examining the integration of ethics education across disciplines prepares students to navigate ethical dilemmas and make informed moral decisions.”
• Education and Sustainable Development : “Exploring the role of education in promoting sustainable development addresses its contribution to environmental awareness, social responsibility, and global citizenship.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples about Online Learning

Regarding online learning, a thesis might state: “The rapid expansion of online education presents opportunities for global access to quality learning, yet challenges persist in ensuring equitable access and maintaining educational rigor.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples about Online Learning:

• Rise of Online Education : “The rapid expansion of online education presents opportunities for global access to quality learning, yet challenges persist in ensuring equitable access and maintaining educational rigor.”
• Hybrid Learning Models : “Examining the effectiveness of hybrid learning models highlights the potential of combining online and in-person elements to enhance engagement and flexibility in education.”
• Synchronous and Asynchronous Online Interactions : “Investigating the role of synchronous and asynchronous online interactions in virtual classrooms reveals their impact on student engagement, peer collaboration, and instructor feedback.”
• Online Assessment Methods : “Analyzing the role of online assessments in measuring student performance raises questions about the fairness, security, and authenticity of remote evaluation methods.”
• Digital Divide in Online Learning : “Exploring the digital divide’s impact on online learning access emphasizes the need for targeted interventions to bridge technological disparities among students.”
• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) : “The rise of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) challenges traditional education paradigms by offering large-scale, accessible learning experiences to diverse global audiences.”
• Artificial Intelligence in Online Education : “Examining the role of artificial intelligence in personalized online education sheds light on its potential to adapt content, pacing, and assessment to individual student needs.”
• Virtual Communities and Online Learning : “Investigating the social aspects of online learning environments explores the ways virtual communities, discussions, and collaborations contribute to a sense of belonging.”
• Online Simulations and Virtual Labs : “Analyzing the benefits of online simulations and virtual labs in science education showcases their role in providing experiential learning opportunities outside traditional labs.”
• Long-Term Effects of Online Learning : “The exploration of online learning’s long-term effects on students’ social skills, time management, and self-regulation offers insights into the broader impacts of digital education.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples for Parental Involvement

Focusing on parental involvement, a thesis could be: “Active parental engagement in a child’s education significantly impacts academic performance, creating a collaborative learning environment and fostering holistic development.”

• Active Parental Engagement : “Active parental engagement in a child’s education significantly impacts academic performance, creating a collaborative learning environment and fostering holistic development.”
• Early Childhood Parental Involvement : “Investigating the influence of parental involvement in early childhood education emphasizes its role in shaping cognitive, emotional, and social foundations for lifelong learning.”
• Parent-Teacher Partnerships : “Analyzing the impact of parent-teacher partnerships on student motivation and behavior management highlights the importance of consistent communication and shared goals.”
• Parental Involvement in Remote Learning : “Exploring strategies to involve parents in remote and online learning environments addresses the need for adaptable approaches to maintain strong home-school connections.”
• Parent-Led Initiatives in Schools : “Examining the impact of parent-led initiatives in schools reveals their potential to enhance school facilities, resources, and extracurricular opportunities for all students.”
• Challenges of Parental Involvement : “Investigating the challenges faced by parents from diverse backgrounds in engaging with school activities emphasizes the importance of culturally sensitive communication and support.”
• Parent Education Workshops : “Analyzing the role of parent education workshops in enhancing parenting skills, communication, and support systems contributes to positive student outcomes.”
• Parental Involvement and Absenteeism : “Exploring the impact of parental involvement on reducing absenteeism, dropout rates, and disciplinary issues underscores its potential as a preventive measure.”
• Parental Involvement in Curriculum Decisions : “Investigating the effects of parent participation in curriculum decisions and policy-making highlights their valuable insights and contributions to shaping educational priorities.”
• Technology and Parental Involvement : “Exploring the intersection of technology and parental involvement unveils the potential of digital platforms to facilitate communication, updates, and collaboration between parents and educators.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples for Special Needs

Addressing special needs education, a thesis might read: “Inclusive education practices empower students with diverse abilities by providing tailored support, promoting social integration, and challenging stigmas surrounding disabilities.”

• Inclusive Education Practices : “Inclusive education practices empower students with diverse abilities by providing tailored support, promoting social integration, and challenging stigmas surrounding disabilities.”
• Assistive Technology in Special Education : “Examining the impact of assistive technology in special education classrooms showcases its role in enhancing communication, learning experiences, and independence for students.”
• Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) : “Analyzing the effectiveness of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) emphasizes their significance in providing personalized learning pathways for students with special needs.”
• Parental Experiences in Special Education : “Exploring the experiences of parents of children with disabilities within the education system sheds light on the challenges they face and the importance of collaborative partnerships.”
• Educator Training for Inclusive Classrooms : “Investigating the training and professional development needs of educators in inclusive classrooms addresses the necessity of equipping teachers with diverse teaching strategies.”
• Peer Support Programs : “Analyzing the benefits of peer support programs in fostering positive relationships between students with and without disabilities underscores their role in promoting empathy and understanding.”
• Accessible Learning Materials : “Examining the impact of accessible learning materials, such as Braille, a resources, and captioning, highlights their contribution to equitable educational experiences.”
• Sensory-Friendly Environments : “Investigating the role of sensory-friendly environments in schools demonstrates their ability to create inclusive spaces that accommodate the needs of students with sensory sensitivities.”
• Transition from School to Post-School Life : “Analyzing the transition process for students with special needs from school to post-school life underscores the importance of vocational training and community integration.”
• Mental Health Support in Special Education : “Exploring the intersection of mental health support and special education reveals the need for comprehensive strategies that address the unique emotional needs of students with disabilities.”

Education Thesis Statement Examples for Gender Equity

Exploring gender equity in education, a thesis statement could be: “Implementing gender-sensitive policies and curriculum reforms is essential to eliminate gender disparities in education, empowering all students to fulfill their potential regardless of gender.

• Gender-Sensitive Education : “Implementing gender-sensitive policies and curriculum reforms is essential to eliminate gender disparities in education, empowering all students to fulfill their potential regardless of gender.”
• Gender Bias in Educational Materials : “Examining the impact of gender bias in textbooks and educational materials underscores the importance of representation and accurate portrayals of diverse gender identities.”
• Gender-Responsive Pedagogy : “Analyzing the role of gender-responsive pedagogy in promoting equitable learning experiences challenges traditional teaching practices that perpetuate gender stereotypes.”
• Teacher Expectations and Gender : “Exploring the influence of teacher expectations on student performance highlights the need to address unconscious biases that can hinder gender-equitable educational outcomes.”
• Single-Sex Education vs. Coeducation : “Investigating the impact of single-sex education versus coeducation on academic achievement and personal development offers insights into the effects of different learning environments.”
• LGBTQ+ Students in Educational Settings : “Analyzing the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in educational settings emphasizes the importance of creating safe, inclusive spaces that respect and celebrate diverse identities.”
• Gender-Balanced Leadership : “Examining the impact of gender-balanced leadership and decision-making in schools addresses the need for role models and equitable representation at all levels of education.”
• Gender-Based Violence Prevention in Schools : “Investigating the effects of gender-based violence prevention programs in schools emphasizes their role in fostering respectful relationships and safe learning environments.”
• Parental Attitudes and Gender Roles : “Analyzing the influence of parental attitudes toward gender roles on children’s educational and career aspirations underscores the need for comprehensive family and community involvement.”
• Culture, Gender Equity, and Education : “Exploring the intersection of cultural norms, gender equity, and education in diverse societies reveals the complex factors that shape educational opportunities and challenges for different genders.”

What is a Good Thesis Statement about the Lack of Education?

A strong thesis statement about the lack of education should succinctly capture the essence of the issue while outlining its significance and potential consequences. Here’s a guide to crafting a powerful thesis statement on this topic:

Example Thesis Statement: “The pervasive lack of accessible education in underserved communities perpetuates cycles of poverty, limits economic mobility, and hampers societal progress, necessitating urgent reforms to ensure equitable learning opportunities for all.”

• Identify the Issue : Clearly state the problem you’re addressing – in this case, the lack of education.
• Highlight Significance : Express why the issue matters by emphasizing its impact on individuals and society as a whole.
• Show Consequences : Indicate the adverse effects of the lack of education, such as perpetuating poverty and hindering progress.
• Mention Urgency : Communicate the importance of addressing the issue promptly, as well as the need for reform.

What is an Example of a Thesis Statement in Inclusive Education?

A thesis statement on inclusive education should emphasize the importance of creating learning environments that cater to diverse learners’ needs. Here’s a guide to crafting such a thesis statement:

Example Thesis Statement: “Inclusive education, through its emphasis on diverse learning styles, individualized support, and community engagement, fosters a holistic and equitable learning experience that empowers all students to reach their fullest potential.”

• State Inclusion as a Goal : Clearly mention that the thesis is about inclusive education.
• Highlight Diverse Learning Styles : Emphasize the importance of accommodating various learning styles and needs.
• Emphasize Individualized Support : Stress the role of personalized assistance and adaptations in inclusive education.
• Mention Community Engagement : Indicate how involving the community contributes to a successful inclusive education environment.
• Discuss Empowerment : Express how inclusive education empowers all students to achieve their best outcomes.

How Do You Write a Thesis Statement for Education? – Step by Step Guide

• Identify Your Topic : Determine the specific aspect of education you want to address.
• Understand the Issue : Gain a deep understanding of the topic’s significance, challenges, and potential impact.
• Craft a Clear Idea : Develop a concise and focused main idea or argument related to education.
• Make It Debatable : Ensure your thesis statement presents an argument or perspective that can be debated or discussed.
• Address Significance : Highlight why the topic is important and relevant in the context of education.
• Consider Counterarguments : Acknowledge potential opposing viewpoints and consider incorporating counterarguments.
• Keep It Concise : Your thesis statement should be a single, clear, and well-structured sentence.
• Reflect Your Essay’s Scope : Make sure your thesis aligns with the scope of your essay or paper.
• Revise and Refine : Review and revise your thesis statement to ensure its clarity and accuracy.
• Seek Feedback : Share your thesis statement with peers or instructors for feedback and suggestions.

Tips for Writing a Thesis Statement on Education Topics

• Be Specific : Clearly state what your paper will address within the broad topic of education.
• Avoid Generalizations : Avoid overly broad or vague statements that lack focus.
• Express a Strong Position : Your thesis should convey a clear stance on the issue.
• Consider Your Audience : Tailor your thesis to resonate with your intended audience.
• Use Precise Language : Choose words that convey your message concisely and accurately.
• Make It Unique : Craft a thesis that sets your essay apart by presenting a unique perspective.
• Reflect Your Essay Structure : Your thesis should mirror the overall structure of your essay.
• Be Open to Revisions : Be willing to adjust your thesis as your research and writing progress.
• Proofread Carefully : Ensure your thesis statement is free of grammatical and typographical errors.
• Revise as Needed : It’s okay to revise your thesis as you refine your arguments and analysis.

Remember, a strong thesis statement sets the tone for your entire essay and guides your readers in understanding the focus and direction of your work. You may also be interested in our  thesis statement for informative essay .

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What Will It Take to Fix Public Education?

The last two presidents have introduced major education reform efforts. Are we making progress toward a better and more equitable education system? Yale Insights talked with former secretary of education John King, now president and CEO of the Education Trust, about the challenges that remain, and the impact of the Trump Administration.

• John B. King President and CEO, The Education Trust

This interview was conducted at the Yale Higher Education Leadership Summit , hosted by Yale SOM’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute on January 30, 2018.

On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush traveled to Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio, to sign the No Child Left Behind Act , a bipartisan bill (Senator Edward Kennedy was a co-sponsor) requiring, among other things, that states test students for proficiency in reading and math and track their progress. Schools that failed to reach their goals would be overhauled or even shut down.

“No longer is it acceptable to hide poor performance,” Bush said. “[W]hen we find poor performance, a school will be given time and incentives and resources to correct their problems.… If, however, schools don’t perform, if, however, given the new resources, focused resources, they are unable to solve the problem of not educating their children, there must be real consequences.”

Did No Child Left Behind make a difference? In 2015, Monty Neil of the anti-standardized testing group FairTest argued that while students made progress after the law was passed, it was slower than in the period before the law . And the No Child Left Behind was the focus of criticism for increasing federal control over schools and an emphasis on standardized testing. Its successor, the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, shifted power back to the states.

President Barack Obama had his own signature education law: the grant program Race to the Top, originally part of the 2009 stimulus package, which offered funds to states that undertook various reforms, including expanding charter schools, adopting the Common Core curriculum standards, and reforming teacher evaluation.

One study showed that Race to the Top had a dramatic effect on state practices : even states that didn’t receive the grants adopted reforms. But another said that the actual impact on outcomes were limited —and that there were overly high expectations given the scope of the reforms. “Heightened pressure on districts to produce impossible gains from an overly narrow policy agenda has made implementation difficult and often counterproductive,” wrote Elaine Weiss.

Are we making progress toward a better and more equitable education system? And how will the Trump Administration’s policies alter the trajectory? Yale Insights talked with John King, the secretary of education in the latter years of the Obama administration, who is now president and CEO of the nonprofit Education Trust .

Q: The last two presidents have introduced major education reform efforts. Do you think we’re getting closer to a consensus on the systematic changes that are needed in education?

Well, I’d say we’ve made progress in some important areas over the last couple of decades. We have highest graduation from high school we’ve ever had as a country. Over the last eight years, we had a million African-American and Latino students go on to college. S0 there are signs of progress.

That said, I’m very worried about the current moment. I think there’s a lack of a clear vision from the current administration, the Trump administration, about what direction education should head. And to the extent that they have an articulate vision, I think it’s actually counter to the interests of low-income students and students of color: a dismantling of federal protection of civil rights, a backing-away from the federal commitment to provide aid for students to go to higher education, and undermining of the public commitment to public schools.

That’s a departure. Over the last couple of decades, we’ve had a bipartisan consensus, whether it was in the Bush administration or the Obama administration, that the job of the Department of Education was to advance education equity and to protect student civil rights. The current administration is walking away from both of those things.

I don’t see that as a partisan issue. That’s about this administration and their priorities. Among the first things they did was to reduce civil rights protections for transgender students, to withdraw civil rights protections for victims of sexual assault on higher education campuses. They proposed a budget that cuts funding for students to go to higher education, eliminates all federal support for teacher professional development, and eliminates federal funding for after-school and summer programs.

Q: Some aspects of education reform have focused on improving performance in traditional public schools and others prioritize options like charter schools and private school vouchers. Do you think both of those are needed?

I distinguish between different types of school choice. The vast majority of kids are in traditional, district public schools. We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to strengthen those schools and ensure their success.

Then I think there is an important role that high-quality public charters can play if there’s rigorous oversight. And if you think about, say, Massachusetts or New York, there’s a high bar to get a charter, there’s rigorous supervision of the academics and operations of the schools and a willingness to close schools that are low-performing. So for me, those high-quality public charters can contribute as a laboratory for innovation and work in partnership with the broader traditional system.

There’s something very different going on in a place like Michigan, where you’ve got a proliferation of low-quality, for-profit charters run by for-profit companies. Their poorly regulated schools are allowed to continue operating that are doing a terrible job, that are taking advantage of students and families. That’s not what we need. And my view is that states that have those kinds of weak charter laws need to change them and move toward something like Massachusetts where there’s a high bar and meaningful accountability for charters.

And then there’s a whole other category of vouchers, which is using public money for students to go to private school, and to my mind, that is a mistake. We ought to have public dollars going to public schools with public accountability.

Q: When you have a state like Michigan in which you’ve got a lot of very poor charter schools, does that hurt a particular type of student more than others?

It has a disproportionate negative effect on low-income students and students of color. Many of those schools are concentrated in high-needs communities and, unfortunately, it’s really presenting a false choice to parents, a mirage, if you will, because they’re told, “Oh, come to this school, it will be different” or, “it will be better,” and actually it’s not. Ed Trust has an office in Michigan, where we have spent a long time trying to make the case to elected officials that they need to strengthen their charter law and charter accountability.

Unfortunately, there’s a very high level of spending by the for-profit charter industry and their supporters on political campaigns. And so far there’s not been a lot of traction to try to strengthen the charter oversight in Michigan. We see that problem in other states around the country, but at the same time we know there are models that work. We know that in Massachusetts, where there’s a high standard for charters, their Boston charters are some of the highest performing charters in the country, getting great outcomes for high-need students. So it’s possible to do chartering well, but it requires thoughtful leadership from governors and legislators.

Q: What’s your view on how students should be evaluated?

Well, I think we have to have a holistic view. The goal ought to be to prepare students for success in college, in careers, and as citizens. So we want students to have the core academic skills, like English and math, but they also need the knowledge that you gain from science and social studies. They need the experiences that they have in art and music and physical education and health. They need that well-rounded education to be prepared to succeed at what’s next after high school. They also need to be prepared to be critical readers, critical thinkers, to debate ideas with their fellow citizens, to advocate for their ideas in a thoughtful, constructive way—all the tools that you need to be a good citizen.

In order to evaluate all of that, you need multiple measures; you can’t just look at test scores. Obviously you want students to gain reading and math skills, but you also need to look at what courses they’re taking. Are they taking a wide range of courses that will prepare them for success? Do they have access to things like AP courses or International Baccalaureate courses that will prepare them for college-level work? Do they acquire socio-emotional skills? Are they able to navigate when they have a conflict with a peer? Are they able to work collaboratively with peers to solve problems?

So you want to look at grades; you want to look at teachers’ perceptions of students. You want to look at the work that they’re doing in class: is it rigorous, is it really preparing them for life after high school? And one of the challenges in education is, to have those kinds of multiple measures, you need very thoughtful leadership at every level—at state level, district level, and at the school level.

Q: How should we be evaluating teachers?

I started out as a high school social studies teacher, and I thought a lot about this question of what’s the right evaluation method. I think the key is this: you want, as a teacher, to get feedback on how you’re doing and what’s happening in your classroom. Too often teaching can feel very isolated, where it’s just you and the students. It’s important to have systems in place where a mentor teacher, a master teacher, a principal, a department chair is in the classroom observing and giving feedback to teachers and having a continuous conversation about how to improve teaching. That should be a part of an evaluation system.

But so too should be how students are doing, whether or not students are making progress. I know folks worry that that could be reduced to just looking at test scores. I think that would be a mistake, but we ought to ask, if you’re a seventh-grade math teacher, if students are making progress in seventh-grade math.

Now, as we look at that, we have to take into consideration the skills the students brought with them to the classroom, the challenges they face outside of the classroom. But I think what you see in schools that are succeeding is that they have a thoughtful, multiple-measures approach to giving teachers feedback on how they’re doing and see it as a tool for continuous improvement to ensure that everybody is constantly learning.

Q: Do you think the core issue in improving schools is funding? Or are there separate systemic issues that need to be solved?

It varies a lot state to state, but the Education Trust has done extensive analysis of school spending, and what we see is that on average, districts serving low-income students are spending significantly less than more affluent districts across the country, about $1,200 less per student. And in some states, that can be $3,000 less, $5,000 less, $10,000 less per student for the highest-needs kids. We also see a gap around funding for communities that serve large numbers of students of color. Actually, the average gap nationally is larger for districts serving large numbers of students of color—it’s about $2,000 less than those districts that serve fewer students of color.

So we do have a gap in terms of resources coming in, but it’s not just about money; it’s also how you use the money. And we know that, sadly, in many places, the dollars aren’t getting to the highest needs, even within a district. And then once they get to the school level, the question is, are they being spent on teachers and teacher professional development, and things that are going to serve students directly, or are they being spent on central office needs that actually aren’t serving students? So we’ve got to make sure they have more resources for the highest-needs kids, but we’ve also got to make sure that the resources are well-used.

Q: Does it make it significantly harder that so much of the decisions are made on the local level or the state level when you’re trying to create a change across the country?

It’s certainly a challenge. You want to try to balance local leadership with common goals. And you want, as a country, to be able to say, look, you may choose different books to read in class, you may choose different experiments to do in science, but we need all students to have the fundamental skills that they’ll need for success in college and careers and we ought to all be able to agree that all schools should be focused on those skills. Even that can be politically challenging.

We also know that from a funding standpoint, having funding decided mostly on the local level can actually create greater inequality, particularly when you’re relying on local property taxes. You’ll have a very wealthy community that’s spending dramatically more than a neighboring community that has many more low-income families. One of the ways to get around that is to have the state or the federal government account for a larger share of funding so that you can have an equalizing role. That was the original goal of Title I funding at the federal level—to try to get resources to the highest-needs kids.

The other challenge we see is around race and income diversity or isolation. And sadly, in many states, Connecticut included, you have very sharp divisions along race and class lines between districts and so kids may go to school and never see someone different from them. That is a significant problem. We know there are places that are trying to solve that. Hartford, Connecticut, for example, has, because of a court decision, a very extensive effort to get kids from Hartford to go out to suburban schools and suburban kids to come to Hartford schools. And they’ve designed programs that will attract folks across community lines, programs that focus on Montessori or art or early college programs. We can do better, but we need leadership around that.

Q: Are you seeing concrete results from programs like Hartford?

What we know is that low-income students who have the opportunity to go to schools that serve a mixed-income population do better academically. And we also know that all students in schools that are socioeconomically and racially diverse gain additional skills outside the purely academic skills around how to work with peers, cross-racial understanding, empathy.

So, yes, we are seeing those results. The sad thing is, it’s not fast enough; it’s not happening at enough places. We in the Obama administration had proposed a $120 million grant program to school diversity initiatives around the country. We couldn’t get Congress to fund it. We had a small planning grant program that we created at the Education Department that was one of the first things the Trump administration undid when they came into office. So we’re going backwards at the federal level, but there’s a lot of energy around school diversity initiatives at the community level. And that’s where we’re seeing progress around the country.

Q: Do you think the education system should aim to send as many people to college as possible? Should we think of it as being necessary for everyone or should we find ways to prepare students for a wider range of careers?

What’s clear is that everybody going into the 21st-century economy needs some level of post-secondary training. That may be a four-year degree. It could also be a two-year community college degree, or it could be some meaningful career credential that actually leads to a job that provides a family-sustaining wage. But there are very, very few jobs that are going to provide that family-sustaining wage that don’t require some level of post-secondary training. My view is, we have a public responsibility to make sure folks have access to those post-secondary training opportunities. That’s why the Pell Grant program is so important, because it provides funding for low-income students to be able to pursue higher education.

We also need to do a better job in the connection between high school and post-secondary opportunities. A lot of times students leave high school unclear on what they’re going to do and where they should go. We can do a much better job having students have college experiences while in high school and then prepare them to transition into meaningful post-secondary career training.

Q: What’s the one policy change you would made to help students of color and students in poverty, if you had to choose one thing?

There’s no one single silver bullet for sure, but one of the highest return investments we know we can make as a country is in early learning. We know, for example, that high quality pre-K can have an eight-to-one, nine-to-one return on investment. President Obama proposed something called Preschool for All, which would have gotten us toward universal access to quality pre-K for low- and middle-income four-year olds. That’s something we ought to do because if we can give kids a good foundation, that puts them in a better place to succeed in K-12 and to go on to college.

But I have a long list of policy changes I would want to make. I think, fundamentally, we haven’t made that commitment as a country, at the federal level, state level, or local level, to ensuring equitable opportunity for low-income students and students of color. And if we made that commitment, then there’s a series of policy changes that would flow from that.

Interviewed and edited by Ben Mattison.

Visit edtrust.org to learn more about the Education Trust. Follow John B. King Jr. on Twitter: @JohnBKing .

• Politics and Policy

Achieving High Educational Standards for All: Conference Summary (2002)

Chapter: education reform in context: research, politics, and civil rights, education reform in context: research, politics, and civil rights.

Christopher Edley, Jr.

THE CONTEXT

The modern civil rights movement made popular the aspiration that we improve educational outcomes for children from communities to whom America historically denied equal rights and equal opportunities to advance. Political tides notwithstanding, the moral claim has grown stronger with time, not weaker. And now the structural changes in the economy combine with inexorable, almost breathtaking demographic changes to add a material urgency making that moral claim an imperative for all.

Disparities as Reflection of History and Portent for the Future

The conference papers and presentations highlighted matters of context that, in a reasonable world, would lead to a redoubling of efforts to promote equal opportunity. First, the dramatic racial disparities, summarized in Chapter 2 , speak to our past, present, and future. They are the evidence of the lingering effects of historical sins, and of the legacy of racial caste. The disparities also signal painful imperfections in the ma-chinery of opportunity today. But for the future, and especially in light of the demographics, the disparities measure a challenge to the nation’s future greatness: deepening, persistent divisions threaten our collective economic prosperity, social stability, and capacity for democratic self-governance. Moreover, this is a challenge to our national character. If we

accept that racial and ethnic disparities are impervious to intergenerational mobility, then we confess that the American myth is a lie.

A dimension of this future threat is our growing separateness by color and class in our schools. The consequences are evident in learning outcomes, but also in such broader societal outcomes as shared community and intercultural competence in the workplace, the political arena, and the civic sphere generally. Nonwhite students already constitute majorities in California, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Hawaii, and New Mexico and make up 67 percent of all students in the nation’s 100 largest school districts. 1 Schools with large majorities of minority children are far more likely to have high concentrations of poverty, which in turn makes those schools far less likely to be successful. 2

We know that the workforce will be increasingly Hispanic and black, but will these workers have the skills to be competitive and to keep America competitive? The wage advantage of young adult men with bachelor’s degrees over young men who did not complete high school increased from 40 percent in 1973 to 124 percent in 1998. 3 Moreover, the data indicate that minority drop out rates exceed college completion rates ( Table 1 ). Without more effective public policies and private practices,

TABLE 1 Percent of High School and College Graduates, Ages 18-29 by Age, Race and Hispanic Origin

our divisions will widen as the growing market premium on education makes poor schooling a socioeconomic death sentence.

Political Context

A second salient aspect of the context is the politics of school reform. In the 2000 national election and in the opening months of the Bush presidency there was partisan competition to be passionate and “bold” on the subject of school improvement. 4 Such competition, while a good place to start, does not necessarily translate into thoughtful proposals.

Although through much of the 1980s and 1990s there were partisan battles over whether to eliminate the federal Department of Education, President George W. Bush abandoned that oft-stated GOP position and instead proposed greater percentage increases in education funding than for any other domestic program in his first budget. 5 Congressional Democrats successfully sought still more, but this merely confirmed a recent pattern of bipartisan congressional interest in an expanded federal financial role in K-12 education, even while the form for federal activity remains hotly debated. The prototype Republican plan tends toward block grants with few federal requirements apart from intensive state-defined testing programs for public disclosure and accountability purposes, and perhaps augmented by encouragement for private school vouchers. The prototype Democratic plan tends toward substantial additional funding for more specific needs widely thought to be critical ingredients for school improvement, including more and better-trained teachers, capital investments in facilities and technology, and smaller class size in the early grades. The legislative compromise lies between these positions, and includes more resources, substantial emphasis on testing, and flexibility short of block grants. 6 The general nature of this national legislative consensus seems likely to remain stable for several years, and much of the programmatic and structural change will continue to be driven at the state level, with some significant but not revolutionary expansions in federal support for those efforts.

A key unresolved question, however, is whether the equity and disparity issues beginning to emerge in the national discussions, and a few states, including Texas under former Governor Bush, will become a powerful force shaping state and local policies. At this writing, new federal legislation seems likely to include a requirement that state accountability systems report the results of their frequent student tests disaggregated by race, disability, English language proficiency, and class. 7 Civil rights and other advocates unsuccessfully urged Congress to go a step farther by requiring that published evidence of disparity be more than a hoped-for prod for popular political accountability. In addition, some of these advo-

cates and observers argued that the change in achievement disparities should be an ingredient of the statutory requirement that states make “adequate yearly progress” in school improvement or face administrative and fiscal sanctions from the federal Department of Education. Traditional conservatives have been opposed to such prescriptiveness, and the traditional liberals have been opposed to fiscal sanctions which, they believe, ultimately hurt needy children and school districts.

All of this points to the need for an ambitious research agenda along the lines of the work discussed in this volume in order to continue to refine the newly ambitious federal role and the increasingly activist state reform role over the coming decade.

The Civil Rights Connection

A third area of concern, even for a convocation primarily of social scientists, is the civil rights context. The foundation of the modern civil rights movement was the attack on school segregation, not because black leaders believed that black children could only learn if seated next to a white child, but because they believed that apartheid in education would mean apartheid in opportunity; that separate could never be equal; and that unequal education would perpetuate the entire structure of injustice for generations to come. Contemporary racial justice advocates, following decades of attack on barriers in voting, employment, housing, entrepreneurship, criminal justice, and so forth, are now revisiting education issues with renewed vigor. There is a growing consensus within that community that equal education opportunity and the elimination of disparities in achievement and attainment must be the number one agenda item for the civil rights movement in the decade ahead. 8 As some have put it, algebra is a civil right. 9 While liberals stress the mantra that “every child can learn,” 10 conservatives argue that poor and minority families deserve private school vouchers so that they will supposedly have choices like other families to escape failing schools, and people across the spectrum proclaim that we must “leave no child behind.” 11

Another aspect of the civil rights context, however, is less about the rekindled aspirations for educational successes than about insistence that the antidiscrimination and equality norms familiar to civil rights law be given their appropriate, contemporary interpretation and aggressively enforced. One prominent example concerns testing.

When President Clinton proposed a voluntary national test (VNT) in his 1997 State of the Union Address, 12 he viewed it as an important device to promote comparability and accountability, and a needed spur to the standards-based school reform movement. Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, among other leaders in minority communities,

opposed the VNT. Among their reasons were the risk that such tests would be used not only for diagnostic and intervention purposes, but for high stakes imposed on students who may not have had the opportunity to learn the material included on the tests—denial of diplomas, tracking into dead-end curricula, and retention in grade. Thus, went the critique, the tests would almost surely be used to penalize the very students who were being ill-served by failing schools, rather than used to identify underperformance by teachers, administrators, and officials at all levels. President Clinton and Secretary Riley reacted to such civil rights concerns rather dismissively, suggesting privately that perhaps these leaders were not committed to excellence or high standards. 13

This charge was, of course, utterly false. The civil rights claim has three central components. First, conventional civil rights antidiscrimination law suggests that when a policy, although race-neutral on its face, is applied and produces racially disparate results, there is a prima facie case of discrimination under regulations implementing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 14 The burden then shifts to the policy maker—in this case school authorities—to demonstrate that the policy is “educationally necessary” to the legitimate purposes of the government. If officials meet this burden, then the civil rights plaintiff would have the burden of showing that, even if educationally necessary, there are alternative means of pursuing the legitimate goals without so serious a disparate impact. There are, of course, “antitesting” advocates who oppose so-called standardized testing in most forms and contexts. The civil rights complaint, however, is not against the test, but against the high-stakes use of the test for retention in grade or denial of diplomas, rather than for the wide range of other accountability and intervention measures that would not punish the ill-taught or poorly performing student. Relatedly, the civil rights claim is that a high-stakes regime cannot be “educationally necessary” if the assessments fail to satisfy the generally accepted professional norms of the psychometric and testing community—see the principles in the “Joint Standards” and in various NRC publications. 15

The important civil rights thesis, underlying all antidiscrimination law, is this: When a policy or practice is favored by powerful interests but noxious to a “discrete and insular minority,” 16 we cannot be confident that the ordinary rules of majority politics and democratic policy making will produce just outcomes, even over an extended period of time. Put bluntly, if the victims of a policy are largely minority and poor, the self-correcting mechanisms of deliberation and reform may not work so well. Antidiscrimination laws, whether rooted in the Constitution or in statute, are intended to be antidotes to the antiminority tilt of democratic rule— in, for example, a subordinate jurisdiction, or at some future moment. In that special sense, antidiscrimination laws are antidemocratic and at cer-

tain times and in certain places contrary to popular wisdom or a majority’s preferences. That’s their purpose.

The structure of this legal argument has become clear over the past few years. The relationship between scientifically sound testing practices and civil rights law was examined in an important 1999 publication by the National Research Council (NRC), High Stakes: Testing for Tracking, Promotion and Graduation , edited by Robert Hauser and Jay Heubert. That same analysis was largely adopted in a formally published guidance on test use produced by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in December 2000, since “archived” by the new Bush administration pending detailed review. 17 It has met with little success in the courts, however, because judges so naturally tend to defer to the expertise of state and local school officials, and the judges themselves are, like politicians and much of the public, seemingly in the thrall of testing. 18

To be sure, there is a largely unexamined empirical assertion underlying the arguments of high-stakes proponents: attaching high-stakes consequences for the students provides an indispensable, otherwise unobtainable incentive for students, parents, and teachers to pay careful attention to learning tasks. For the countless parents, policy makers, and observers who approach these debates as instrumentalists, the accuracy of this assertion is a central mystery as we struggle to close the education gap.

High-stakes testing is also problematic from a civil rights perspective if curriculum is not aligned with the test, or if instruction is not aligned with the curriculum. 19 The simple insight, reflected in both case law and professional testing standards, is that it is a denial of due process to punish a student when he or she has not even had a chance to prepare for the exam. This is the most pointed form of a general concern about providing adequate and equitable opportunity to students before imposing on them a potentially devastating decision about tracking, retention in grade (with, many believe, resulting increases in the risk of dropping out), 20 or diploma denial. While liberal education reformers tried during the first Clinton administration to include general “opportunity to learn” provisions as a condition of federal financial assistance to the states and a necessary complement to standards-based accountability, this linkage was soundly rejected in Congress and has not generally been made in state policies. The narrower legal claim of civil rights and other advocates is that, in some circumstances, opportunities may be so inadequate in relation to the high-stakes test as to amount to fundamental unfairness in a constitutional sense. Court decisions and state policy makers have often responded by building a lag into the schedule between announcement of a high-stakes test and its implementation, presumably to permit alignment of curriculum and instruction so that everyone has a fair chance to

get ready. 21 The deeper question, requiring case-specific research, is whether the alignment and preparation really take place for the neediest and least powerful before the accountability axe falls.

This issue of adequate opportunity has civil rights resonance outside of the testing arena. For example, Michael Rebell’s contribution in Part III of this volume describes a thus far successful effort in New York state courts to demand greater equality in the provision of the minimum adequate education guaranteed by that state’s constitution. Failure to do so is a denial of rights. I would add that, given this right under state law, it therefore because a denial of federal constitutional due process rights to deprive a child of that right, and a violation of federal civil rights statutes as well. 22 Indeed, there are at least two major strands of civil rights claims being pursued under various state constitutional law theories: failure to provide disadvantaged students with a minimally adequate basic education, and failure to assure some rough comparability in education finances or services across school districts. These interdistrict equity claims, while impossible under the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of federal equal protection doctrine, 23 have met with significant success in the state courts, as Rebell details.

It is important to bear in mind, however, that attention to these fancy, still evolving civil rights claims should not cause us to ignore the myriad garden variety discrimination claims based on intradistrict inequalities (e.g., minority schools without text books or certified teachers), 24 or discrimination in the administration of ability grouping, special education, school discipline, and so forth. Beneath much of the subtle discrimination, which advocates believe is all too common among educators and officials, is a form of racial stereotyping or “academic racial profiling” in which expectations are lower for students of color. 25 Against this backdrop, thoughtful focus on racial disparities, as represented in this volume, is a vital antidote.

The gravamen of all this is that the success or failures of minority children in our schools must be understood to be a matter of civil rights urgency—and the concerns are far broader than the historical attention to racial isolation and state-sponsored segregation. The agenda in this new century encompasses a whole vision of opportunity and achievement.

The Urgency of School Improvement

A fourth and final aspect of the context is the broad sense that there is a crisis in public education. Polling evidence suggests that many parents feel that, while my child’s school is fine, public schools in general are in serious trouble. 26 Another piece of evidence is the continuing interest in private school vouchers, public school choice, charter schools, and other

strategies that, in one way or another, amount to a rejection of business as usual in the public school system and in particular a skepticism that the customary strategies for bureaucratic innovation and reform will suffice. At present, the bulk of leadership in minority communities, both nationally and regionally, support public schools, oppose private school vouchers, and voice at least cautious commitment to the ordinary processes of incremental progressive reform. It seems likely, however, that the erosion of this commitment will accelerate unless leaders and their constituents see substantial gains in minority achievement and reductions in disparities within the next few years. There has been too little attention in policy and political debates to the rate of school improvement, as though truly modest movement in the right direction is cause for celebration and self-satisfied media events by officials from the White House to the school house. 27 The linchpin of federal accountability imposed on the states, in fact, has been the requirement that states adopt some kind of assessment system and demonstrate “adequate yearly progress.” To any dispassionate observer of such policy outputs, this is all but laughable: “progress” has only the thinnest of statutory definitions, and “adequate” has no definition whatsoever. 28 Surely, the findings surveyed in this volume suggest that the dismaying disparities along lines of color and class are too dangerous for half measure or slow cures. Yet, curiously, there is little public debate and little research about the rate of change we should require of school reform efforts in order to win the continuing support of voters and taxpayers. Part of the context for this examination, I suggest, is that patience is wearing thin, and is not inexhaustible. In short, improvements must be pursued and indeed accomplished with a sense of urgency, lest the consensus for supporting public education vanish over the course of the next generation—or sooner.

Our task in light of this context is to take a set of normative propositions—about the opportunity, achievement, and justice we want—and recast them so that they are more than mere statements of aspiration, hortatory in character. Instead, they must be scientifically descriptive statements about closing achievement gaps that are then married to an enforceable regulatory regime. Surely the facts presented in this volume and at the conference suggest no less.

HOW STRONG IS THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE?

From the perspective of the National Research Council, however, this raises the question of whether we have a research predicate for the dramatic if not revolutionary K-12 change I believe the context demands. We might consider research in three dimensions: it is a foundation for policy

choice, a critical guide for implementation engineering, and a foundation for enforcement.

There is more to this than an academic’s standard plea for more research. Return, for example, to the issue of a minimally adequate education under state constitutional and federal due process theories. Unless there is a research predicate to help define and measure the vague “adequacy” concept derived from legal doctrine (not to mention education policy), it will be impossible to create a judicially manageable standard or a useful set of objectives for policy makers to attend to. Or, to use another example, understanding scientific principles regarding the predicate for appropriate use of tests (construct validity, reliability, alignment, inferential validity, etc.) is necessary. But it is obviously not a sufficient predicate for enforcing fidelity to those norms in the political, bureaucratic, or legal processes that shape school change. Is the research predicate adequate? The conference and this volume suggest that it is actually pretty good. This requires some caveats. Not withstanding daunting uncertainties, the findings are good enough for policy making—good enough for government work, as the expression goes. This is because if politics presses, politicians will act; when the research base is nonexistent or inconveniently inaccessible, then the dispositive “research” is provided by pollsters who ferret out hot-button phrases and symbolic gimmicks, not research-based policy proposals. Pollsters drive the policy choices, rather than research evidence. My favorite example is the early Clinton administration, strapped for cash, touting school uniforms as though it were a central component for bold federal leadership on school improvement. Why? It polled well, and fit with the desired political message. 29 Anecdotal evidence sufficed.

There is a further, crucial caveat. Certainly much research remains to be done—conceptualized, even—in the continuing effort to give educators and parents the insights needed to promote learning. The exploding diversity in school districts and classrooms makes some dimensions of the research urgent.

Research on Achievement and Learning

This volume, building on the conference, does much to illuminate the gap, its dynamic over time, and to some extent its determinants. This kind of research is critical in order (a) to target treatments; (b) to some extent to actually design the treatments; and (c) importantly, to help build political will for needed changes by demonstrating that the problems are frightening but the possibilities for success are real. Many policy interventions do not depend upon a detailed understanding of how the achievement gap comes to be. Instead, there are some treatments likely to be helpful no

matter what the origin of the disease, so to speak. Moreover, even if we are not using the evidence about the etiology of disparities to target or design our treatments, research that goes only to the magnitudes helps build the moral consensus needed if we are to find and apply resources in a sustainable way. Certainly, we must continue with an even more ambitious research agenda. But meanwhile, leaders must be prepared to act.

Following discussion of the achievement gap, the conference turned to the subject of learning: the research on how we learn, on early childhood learning and appropriate interventions, and on reading specifically as the indispensable foundation (see Chapter 3 ). Of course there are, again, continuing disagreements about what the research demonstrates, but a substantial body of work, including important reports by the NRC (see Box 1-1 in Chapter 1, Part I, of this volume), offer important findings that do deserve wide acceptance. In particular, Lauren Resnick made a critical observation: we now have a conceptual and an empirical foundation to substantiate the claim that virtually all students can learn at high levels (see Chapter 6 , Part I). This conclusion is of singular importance for policy makers and politicians. The principle is more than an eloquent turn of phrase.

Tools for Policy Change

Turning to particular programmatic strategies to address adequacy and equity, the conference discussion covered the five most salient strands of the broader policy debate—choice, teaching, assessment, accountability, and integration.

One of these topics, choice in its various forms sparked little discussion, perhaps because from a research perspective it is speculative. Indeed, much of the school choice debate has long struck me as an ideological matter in a central sense, in particular those species of “choice” embodied in private school vouchers and in large-scale public school choice. The commanding question for reformers is whether quasi-market incentive and signaling schemes based on family decision makers will be more effective at driving change than the alternative reform schemes. Those alternatives promise school improvement driven by politico-professional and bureaucratic methods, including, of course, assorted incentive elements. This question of comparative efficacy—the market or not the market—simply has not been answered by research, leaving the strategic choice even more open than most to ideological battle and policy prejudice.

For many serious policy analysts, the choice issue is uninteresting because there is so little good science to digest, the methodological challenges seem all but imponderable, and purists insist that there should be

large-scale randomized experiments, which seem impossible on practical grounds. The few studies to date have feuled a firestorm of controversy out of proportion to the available evidence. 30 This is unfortunate because coarse political decision making will flourish in such science-starved environments—like a staph infection with no disinfectants in sight. So the politico-policy system will muddle through, perhaps making some dangerous choices along the way. And we should not count on bold new research and evaluation efforts to detect and correct promptly the errors of our ways, especially with poor and powerless victims. Here is where the enormous decentralization and diversity in the public school system may be a blessing indeed.

On the question of teaching, the most important insight is that basic “research” result: In order to improve student achievement, pick better students; failing that, do better and more teaching of the students you are stuck with. The former strategy is illustrated by retention, over-referrals to special education, “push-out” strategies, and choice schemes that involve overt or subtle screening on family, motivational, or academic variables. The latter strategy is illustrated by reducing class size, investments in greater teacher professionalism and development, extended school day or school year, research-proven instructional strategies, curriculum that is aligned with the achievement goals, and so forth. It is not difficult to inventory the list of “do’s” and even many of the “don’ts.” The question is largely one of will (resources, leadership) and implementation—which is not to gainsay the difficulties there.

That brings us to assessment and accountability. The conference discussion included substantial attention to the critical distinction between using tests for diagnostic or assessment purposes on the one hand, and attaching high-stakes consequences to those test results. High stakes for students raise concerns among those in the civil rights community, as discussed earlier. High stakes for teachers raise concerns among many teachers and unions, and not simply for job security reasons. There are daunting methodological questions 31 of how to measure “value added,” ranging from assessment validity to fluid student enrollments, and those problems of method are considered by many to be unacceptable if the purpose of the measurement has high stakes for some powerful constituency. Finally, in any high-stakes context, there are serious questions of testing reliability—the random and other variability one might observe between hypothetical administrations of a test—the political policy makers seem never to confront.

Children, of course, are less powerful, so doubts about student-edged high stakes have far less political potency. Nevertheless, there is growing discussion of evidence concerning the misuse of such tests, as judged by reference to the Joint Standards, 32 and especially the question of how such

tests may drive up retention rates and special education referral rates, while driving down diploma completion rates. 33 I refer to diploma completion, because most official data on dropouts is seriously incomplete and misleading, 34 and because the GED is a far less valuable credential in the labor market. 35

The concerns over assessment and student-edged accountability are only heightened by the intriguing work presented by Claude Steele concerning stereotype threat and disidentification, described in Chapter 4 , Part I, of this volume. There should be little doubt that test-driven standards-based reforms taken as a whole are spurring important school improvement in a great many places. There is, however, collateral damage. Steele’s work raises questions both about a particular form of collateral damage among traumatized test-takers, and even more fundamental questions about the validity of the underlying assessments and inferences from them. If, as he suggests, the test and its context produce psychological responses that depress the performance of the test-taker, then the resulting measurement has a systematic error that biases the results downward, generally to an unknown degree. Warning lights, hazard signals, and sirens going off continuously. And they have to be louder and brighter, because of the imperatives for revolutionary change and coupled with the fairness demands of a civil rights sensibility.

Integration

With respect to school integration by class and race, the most important point to be gleaned from the conference is that there is far too little attention in political and policy debates to the importance of integration as a tool for improving learning outcomes and, ultimately as important if not more so, as a tool for improving societal outcomes. Without an integration strategy responsive to our exploding diversity, one must worry about civic virtues and about our personal and collective capacity to thrive.

SPECULATIONS AND FURTHER WORK

Finally, we turn to a few speculations, focusing on several matters for further investigation and consideration.

English Language Learners (ELLs)

The political and policy conflict over how best to educate students who are not proficient in English continues, 36 while the number of ELLs enrolled in public schools increases. Between 1980 and 1995, students

speaking a language other than English at home increased from 8.8 percent of the total student population to 13.3 percent. 37 Meanwhile, to date, research shows that the difference in academic learning acquired through bilingual education programs that use native language support and English immersion programs are not that significant. 38 However, the knowledge gap between ELLs and their non-ELL peers is great. One leading expert, Kenji Hakuta, has noted several findings he believes are well supported and widely accepted in the research community (if not among politicians and policy makers), including:

There is significant variation in the definition and implementation details of ELL programs, creating enormous difficulties for research and evaluation. 39

77 percent of ELLs come from low-income backgrounds and are generally concentrated in linguistically segregated schools in which most of the school population comes from low-income backgrounds. 40 Among ELL programs, students receiving transitional bilingual education are more socioeconomically disadvantaged and attend higher-poverty schools than students in ESL. As between the two dominant models, transitional bilingual education and ESL, the former appears to be modestly better, but neither makes a substantial dent in the achievement gap between poor ELL and middle-class English speakers. In other words, the furious political debate between bilingual strategies is, from the perspective of student achievement, almost entirely beside the point. 41

The research evidence is that no-support, sink-or-swim “immersion” strategies are distinctly inferior for the typical student; indeed, this was the basis for the Supreme Court’s 1974 decision in Lau v. Nichols .

How long does the language transition take? The evidence is that the time needed to achieve English proficiency depends on many factors, including age of the child, level and quality of prior schooling of the child, education level obtained by the parents, type of language instruction provided, the child’s exposure to English in his or her community, quality of the teachers, and quality of the instruction, including the bilingual education instruction, that a child receives. 42 Given all these variables, researchers generally agree that the time it takes to become proficient in English ranges from two to eight years. 43 There is no substantial research support for a one- or two-year time limit on bilingual services applicable to all students.

The legal principles are simple to state, if not apply: students with limited English proficiency may not be denied access to an education due to failure of the schools to make reasonable accommodations through some form of language or translation assistance. The leading case,

Castenada v. Pickard , established a three-part test for determining whether a school district “has taken appropriate action to overcome language barriers” (648F.2d989[5th Cir. 1981]). It requires that the school district’s program (1) be based on sound educational theories, (2) effectively implement the education theories, and (3) produce results showing that language barriers are being overcome. Given the state of social science research, these legal principles suggest that no one approach to bilingual education should be mandated. Implementing strict one-year English immersion programs or mandating three-year time limits on bilingual education instruction would likely violate the rights of many children granted under the Equal Educational Opportunities Act. 44

So, interestingly, the antidiscimination legal framework puts the minimal adequacy of policy research directly at issue, at least in principle. (Ultimately, judges tend to defer to government policy makers, rather than make a more independent judgment, based on expert testimony, of which choices the research supports.) The political framework, however, is far less attentive to research evidence. And when social scientists for good and principled reasons dither with definitiveness, they invite irrelevance in policy debates, and there is more space for error and even demagoguery, as in the sometimes xenophobic demands for English-only laws.

Looking to the future, this situation must not stand. Language barriers are an increasingly important component of the racial and ethnic gap in achievement, the sharp wedge that widens economic and social divisions. We must have research of sufficient quantity and quality to match the growing challenge that this represents in so many communities.

High Stakes and Accountability for Others Besides Students

While there has been much attention to high-stakes testing for students, and an enormous scientific enterprise of psychometric and other disciplines focused on student assessments in that context, there is far less intellectual capital concerning high stakes for teachers, schools, districts, and states. For example, researchers have raised important questions about “value added” models that attempt to make valid inferences about achievement gains over time. 45 Despite the scientific difficulties, the very structure of federal legislation now demands that states demonstrate “adequate yearly progress” in student achievement. 46 Many states—among them Kentucky, Texas, New York, Florida, and California—purport to attach financial and administrative rewards and sanctions to measured changes in school and district performance on tests. 47 The standards-based reform movement finds its motive force in accountability, which requires that the targeted actors above students demonstrate improvement over time.

Why is the emphasis on high stakes for students —diploma denials, retention in grade, tracking, even alternative schools—rather than high stakes for other actors? In part it is because students are the least politically powerful in the system, especially if they are poor and minority. 48 An additional explanation, however, is that the problems of measurement are supposedly even more daunting when we contemplate high-stakes judgments at higher organizational levels: the number of exogenous variables seems to mount exponentially as one moves up the chain of responsibility; the data problems multiply (flux in student population, for example); authority is often diffuse; and so forth. All of this makes establishing causation, attribution, and culpability arguably more difficult—or so teachers, administrators and elected officials say when deflecting calls for high stakes directed at them rather than the students.

I am not persuaded that these defenses are true, that accountability is from a scientific perspective dramatically more difficult for teachers or districts than for students. Indeed, from a purely analytical perspective, some of the “noise” and randomness of individual test results and micro-level data becomes less of a problem when you aggregate inferences more supportable than those we make at the student level. Analytics aside, however, anyone on the receiving end of a sanction can offer explanations and excuses, be they student or state commissioner or anyone in between. The scientific question is how to gauge the truth of the excuses. The policy and political question is how much weight to accord them in light of the science.

The science is too thin. We are in the midst of dramatic increases in K-12 expenditures in an effort to spur reform, but support for these welcome investments will soon evaporate unless the public sees effective accountability and meaningful improvements. Perhaps it is a good gamble that states and districts will drive change forward by focusing the high stakes principally on powerless children, with far less attention to carrots and sticks for other actors. (I am doubtful, and in any case it seems a cruel gamble.) Surely, however, our investment will be more secure if research provides more guidance in constructing higher-level accountability methods. This is an urgent matter.

Reconsidering Radical Decentralization

A more radical suggestion, perhaps, is that we make a less romantic and more scientific assessment of the decentralization in our 15,000-district education sector. The choice by national and state governments to decentralize should be considered one of several possible “treatments” or engineering strategies in school reform, just as a multinational conglomerate might adopt a strategy concerning centralization versus site-based

autonomy. Is the strategy we’ve had the one we should choose in this new century?

Imagine the perspective of a passionate, concerned parent, hearing a claim that school improvement will come from devolving more discretion to principals and teachers. “Why?” asks the parent. “I’m not all that interested in giving principals or teachers the freedom to be stupid at the expense of my kid. I’m just not. It’s too important. Indeed, I’m not all that interested in giving my local school board the autonomous discretion to continue its history of bad administration, because the people in my community and I don’t have the practical political power to force our school board to do better.”

Here is an analogy. I am not interested in giving my local oncologist the freedom to experiment and innovate. I would prefer that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) be giving some guidance, that the oncologist feel considerable pressure to follow that guidance, and that the Food and Drug Administration mark some treatments clearly out of bounds because they are ineffective or dangerous. Ideally, I want the local oncologist to be aware of all the treatment options, and fully skilled at selecting among them. Absent the ideal clinician, however, I want a quality safety net. (I also want to be able to sue the doctor if she’s negligent.) And I want all of this, thank you very much, because it matters to me what choices are made, intensely. I feel only slightly less frantic about the wisdom of the choices shaping my child’s education.

This could be put another way. Starting with an acknowledgement of education problems in the decentralized system we have, where is the research evidence that just letting 15,000 flowers bloom is the better strategy for bringing about the tremendous changes needed to close the racial gaps in achievement, or the broader change the public demands?

Toward a Science of Diffusion

Finally, retreating from radicalism to accept the more realistic assumption of a high degree of decentralization, do we know enough about how change occurs? About the processes for the diffusion of reform strategies, especially the diffusion of research about successful practices under a variety of different circumstances? There is an enormous education policy literature, of course, but far less rigorous attention to the question of how insight about success in district A can be analyzed, transmitted, and applied to inform practice in district Z.

Between promising research and program evaluation on one end, and successful implementation on the other, a diffusion and refinement of knowledge takes place through a variety of processes varying in their formality and quality-assuring characteristics. These processes deserve

far more study and self-conscious design effort than we have seen, including consideration of the need for more powerful intermediary institutions. 49 Leaving it to schools of education and a meager jumble of inservice training investments will not do. Again, the magnitude of the challenges, combined with the coming of major new investments, make this an important avenue for work.

Consider once more a medical analogy. How does clinical research about the latest strategies for combating a particular type of cancer in a particular type of patient find its way to the practice group in your local hospital, and to the desktop and the mind of the physician who is going to treat you? Well, it is a complicated process, with elaborate mechanisms involving a combination of institutions. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn’t. But it is far less ad hoc than the diffusion of new practices to schools and teachers.

In medicine, NIH and other agencies are thinking hard about how to harness technology to shrink the length of time that it takes for the effective dissemination of new clinical strategies. There is no assumption that every patient ought to be treated the same and, in the case of cancer, there is a recognition that it is not a single disease, but a constellation of diseases. Some of the mechanisms of disease are shared, but some of them are different. And the treatments vary enormously, from the high end modern genetic interventions of the sort that we are going to be seeing increasingly over the next few years, to the common sense we-need-more-prevention. In this incredibly complex system, progress is not left to decentralized, unanalyzed processes of diffusion. There is focused attention to the problem of getting news out and into practice.

Now, we stand at the threshold of many tens of billions of dollars of new investments in school improvement, in the teaching profession, and in experimentation and research. A key question, therefore, is whether we are smart enough to make the best possible use of those new investments by devising better strategies and mediating institutions to take the best ideas and implement them. That problem, that puzzle, I think, is a research set of questions. The diffusion delays we see in education would be unacceptable for promising new treatments of cancer, heart disease, or even acne.

“Millennium Conference” is an awfully ambitious title, but for good reason. The conference organizers hoped we would recognize this as an occasion for making new commitments, and for rededicating ourselves to some things that are fundamental . The ideas of opportunity, achievement, and justice certainly do qualify. Americans have learned the hard way

that when we are missing those things, this isn’t the kind of nation we want and we don’t have the kinds of communities our children deserve to grow up in.

The sponsorship by the Department of Education was a welcome opportunity to focus the National Academies on the importance of closing the opportunity gap. One can find in the work of the National Research Council much reason to be encouraged about the possible contributions of research science to that undertaking. Any and all possible undertakings in this regard must be encouraged, because it is difficult—I would say impossible—to imagine a more important set of challenges for the opening decades of this millennium.

1. Digest of Education Statistics, 2000 . NCES 2001-034. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2001. Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 1998-1999 . NCES 2000-345, by Beth Aronstamm-Young. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2000.

2. Gary Orfield and John T. Yun, Resegregation in American Schools . Cambridge, MA: Harvard Civil Rights Project, 1999. Also see Lloyd, et al., this volume.

3. The Use of Tests as Part of High-Stakes Decision-Making for Students: A Resource Guide for Educators and Policy-Makers, Office for Civil Rights, Washington, DC, 2000. Available at www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/testing/index1.html Accessed June 14, 2001.

4. Joetta L. Sack, “Candidates’ K-12 Policies Share Themes,” Education Week 9/6/00; David E. Rosenbaum, “The 2000 Campaign: The Education Policies; Bush and Gore Stake Claim to the Federal Role in Education,” New York Times 8/30/00, A1; Jacques Steinberg, “The 2000 Campaign: Education,” New York Times 11/5/00, A44; David E. Sanger, “The New Administration: The Plan; Bush Pushes Ambitious Education Plan,” New York Times 1/24/01, A1. J. Sack, “Democrats’ ‘Three R’s’ Bill Regains Currency,” Education Week 3/21/01.

5. Department of Education Press Release (April 9, 2001) (available at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/budget02/summary ); Office of Management and Budget, “A Blueprint for New Beginnings: A Responsible Budget for America’s Priorities” 2001, pp. 29-43. (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/usbudget/blueprint/budtoc.html ).

6. Lizette Alvarez, “Testing Requirement to Stay in House Bill,” New York Times , May 23, 2001, A22; Lizette Alvarez, “On Way to Passage, Bush’s Education Plan Gets a Makeover,” New York Times , May 4, 2001, A16.

7. H.R. 1, 107th Cong., § 111 (2001). The Texas accountability system, while in other respects criticized by some civil rights commentators, does have achievement data disaggregated by race and poverty, and does tie rewards and sanctions to performance of law-defined achieving students.

8. Kwase Mfume, Presidential Address to the 4th Annual Daisy Bates Education Summit, May 17, 2001. See < www.naacp.orgcommunications/press_releases/edu4th052401.asp > Accessed June 13, 2001. Also, Hugh B. Price, National Urban League Opportunity Agenda. Available at < www.nul.org/econsummit >. Accessed June 13, 2001.

9. Moses, Robert P., and Charles E. Cobb, Jr., Radical Equations - Organizing Math Literacy and Civil Rights . Boston: Beacon Press, 2001.

10. The opening paragraph of A Nation at Risk intones:

All, regardless of race or class or economic status, are entitled to a fair chance and to the tools for developing their individual powers of mind and spirit to the utmost. This promise means that all children by virtue of their own efforts, competently guided, can hope to attain the mature and informed judgement needed to secure gainful employment, and to manage their own lives, thereby serving not only their own interests but also the progress of society itself.

A Nation at Risk , 1983: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html . This document is generally thought to mark the national ascendancy of the standards-based reform movement.

11. This Bush presidential campaign slogan was appropriated from the liberal Children’s Defense Fund. http://www.childrensdefense.org .

12. William J. Clinton, State of the Union Address (Feb. 4, 1997).

13. I had several conversations with President Clinton and Secretary Riley on this subject during 1997 and 1998, and each of them offered the same characterization to me of the civil rights concerns. My rebuttals were ineffective.

14. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d to 2000d-1. Administrative regulations to enforce Title VI contain standards for disparate impact cases. For example, the Department of Education’s regulations state that programs which have “the effect of subjecting individuals to discrimination because of their race, color, or national origin” can violate Title VI. 34 C.F.R. § 100.3. The U.S. Supreme Court recently limited the availability of private lawsuits to enforce disparate impact regulations, but the Court did not limit government enforcement of the regulations nor address the legality of the regulations themselves. Alexander v. Sandoval , 121 S. Ct. 1511 (2001). Title VI’s protections are limited to race, color, or national origin. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects individuals based on sex. 20 U.S.C. § 1681. Persons with disabilities are protected in various ways by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1401-1420.

15. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing . (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1999); National Research Council, Committee on Appropriate Test Use, High Stakes: Testing for Tracking, Promotion, and Graduation , Jay P. Heubert and Robert M. Hauser, eds. (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999).

16. United States v. Carolene Products Co. , 304 U.S. 144, 152 n.4 (1938). For an analysis of the Carolene Products case and the role of judicial review in addressing problems with the majoritarian process, see John Hart Ely, Democracy and Distrust (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981).

17. “The Use of Tests When Making High-Stakes Decisions for Students: A Resource Guide for Educators and Policymakers.” (available at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/testing/TestingResource.pdf ).

18. GI Forum v. Texas Education Agency, 87 F. Supp. 667 (W.D. Tex. 2000); Parents for Education Justice v. Picard , (No. 00-0633, E.D. La. 2000). Moreover, unless overturned by Congressional amendments to Title VI, the Supreme Court’s decision in the recent Sandoval case means that court challenges to testing policies based on the disparate impact regulations can be brought only by federal enforcement officials. Private persons may complain to the Office for Civil Rights, but may not themselves pursue the matter in court unless the basis for their claim involves intentional discrimination, rather than the effects-based or disparate impact discrimination discussed here. Alexander v. Sandoval , 121 S. Ct. 1511 (2001).

19. The related concern of education policy, as distinct from civil rights polity, is that would-be reformers often treat the test as the statement of learning goals and then insist that the curriculum in some sense be “aligned” with the test. This is nonsensical to testing experts, who recognize that any test instrument is just a sample over some learning domain. In practice, this inverted perspective is driven by high stakes use of a test and can produce a narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the test.

20. C. Thomas Holmes, “ Grade Level Retention Effects: A Meta-Analysis of Research Studies” in Shepard and Smith, Flunking Grades: Research and Policies on Retention (London: Falmer Press, 1989), pp. 16-33; Robert M. Hauser, “Should We End Social Promotion? Truth and Consequences,” in Gary Orfield and Mindy Kornhaber (eds.), Raising Standards or Raising Barriers? Inequality and High-Stakes Testing in Public Education (New York: Century Foundation Press, 2001), pp. 151-178.

21. Debra P. v. Turlington , 644 F.2d 397 (5th Cir.1981). In Massachusetts, students graduating in 2003 will be the first students required to have passed the high stakes examination. In California and New York, the testing requirement first applies to students graduating in 2004. Similar delays in implementation can be found in proposed federal legislation, which does not require states to adopt content standards in history or science until the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year. H.R. 1, 107th Cong. § 111 (2001).

22. See Board of Regents v. Roth , 408 U.S. 564 (1972). Violations of constitutional due process rights are enforced through Reconstruction-era federal civil rights legislation. 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

23. San Antonio Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Rodriguez , 411 U.S. 1 (1973). See also , Rebell’s paper in this volume.

24. Historically, of course, it is well established that before Brown , expenditures for minority students attending segregated schools were grossly unequal. See, e.g., Gary Orfield, Dismantling Desegregation, 36-37; Michael Middleton, Brown v. Board: Revisited, 20 S. Ill. U. L. J. 19, 32 (1995) (describing how black children received inferior education under segregated systems because of severe underfunding). Today, by far the stronger relationship is between poverty and underfunding. More important, there is a strong interaction effect produced by the disproportionate concentration of poverty in heavily minority schools. See, e.g., Gary Orfield, Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation at 39-40 (July 2001, The Civil Rights Project at Harvard) ( www.law.harvard.edu/civilrights/publications/pressseg.html ). The percent of poor children in the school of the average African American student is twice that for the average white student, and the disparity is slightly greater for Latino children. Among highly racially isolated schools (90 percent or more white, or 90 percent black and Latino), only 17 percent of those white schools have half or more poor children, compared with 88 percent of minority schools. Id ., at 40 (using 1998-99 NCES Common Core of Data). Contemporary court decisions support the observation that race is correlated with resource disparities. See, e.g . , Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. v. State of New York, (2001 N.Y. Misc. Lexis 1); Robinson v. Kansas, 117 F. Supp. 2d 1124 (D. Kan. 2000) (Title VI claim alleging disproportionate resources). Indeed the relationship is accepted knowledge in the civil rights enforcement community. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the problem of unequal resources affects minority and low-income students the hardest. See U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Intradistrict Resource Comparability Investigative Resources at 3 (2000).

25. See, e.g., Ronald Ferguson, “Teachers’ Perceptions and Expectations and the Black-White Test Score Gap,” in Jenks and Phillips (eds.), The Black-White Test Score Gap at 273 (Brookings 1998).

26. Mark Gillespie, “Local Schools Get Passing Grades,” September 8, 1999 (available at http://www.Gallup.com/poll/releases/pr990908.asp )

27. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/no-child-left-behind.html .

28. 20 U.S.C. § 6311. The statute only states that “adequate yearly progress” shall be defined in a manner: “(i) that is consistent with guidelines established by the Secretary that result in continuous and substantial yearly improvement of each local educational agency and school sufficient to achieve the goal of all children served under this part meeting the State’s proficient and advanced levels of performance, particularly economically disadvantaged and limited English proficient children; and (ii) that links progress primarily to performance on the assessments carried out under this section while permitting progress to be established in part through the use of other measures.”

29. William J. Clinton, Text of Presidential Memo to Secretary of Education on School Uniforms (Washington, DC: U.S. Newswire, 1996).

30. William G. Howell, Patrick J. Wolf, Paul E. Peterson and David E. Campbell, “Test-Score Effects of School Vouchers in Dayton, Ohio, New York City, and Washington D.C.: Evidence from Randomized Field Trials.” Paper Prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 2000; Paul E. Peterson and Bryan Hassel, eds., Learning from School Choice (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1998); Cecilia Rouse, “Private School Vouchers and Student Achievement: An Evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program,” Quarterly Journal of Economics , v. 113, no. 1, February 1998; Kate Zernicke, “New Doubt is Cast on Study that Backs Voucher Effects,” The New York Times , September 15, 2000.

31. Daniel M. Koretz and Sheila I. Barron, The Validity of Gains in Scores on the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 1998).

32. National Research Council, Committee on Appropriate Test Use, High Stakes: Testing for Tracking, Promotion, and Graduation , Jay P. Heubert and Robert M. Hauser, eds. (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999): American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing . (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1999).

33. John Bishop and Ferran Mane, “The Impacts of Minimum Competency Exam Graduation Requirements on College Attendance and Early Labor Market Success of Disadvantaged Students,” in Gary Orfield and Mindy L. Kornhaber (eds.), Raising Standards or Raising Barriers? Inequality and High Stakes Testing in Public Education (New York: Century Foundation Press, 2001); Hauser, op cit.; Gary Natriello and Aaron M. Pallas, “The Development and Impact of High Stakes Testing,” in Gary Orfield and Mindy L. Kornhaber (eds.), Raising Standards or Raising Barriers? Inequality and High Stakes Testing in Public Education (New York: Century Foundation Press, 2001); C. Thomas Holmers, op. cit. Note that the magnitude of these effects is disputed, especially as regards drop outs. Deciding this is an important empirical question for policy, but it is complicated by problems with drop out data, and by the problem of holding constant exogenous variables, especially the impact of a tight labor market on propensity to drop out.

34. Phillip Kaufman, “The National Dropout Data Collection System: Assessing Consistency,” A paper prepared for Achieve and The Civil Rights Project Conference, Dropout Research: Accurate Counts and Positive Interventions, January 13, 2001.

35. Richard Murnane, John B. Willett and K. P. Boudett (1995). “Do High School Dropouts Benefit from Obtaining a GED?” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis , 17 , 133-147; Richard J. Murnane, John B. Willett, and John H. Tyler (2000). “Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and Beyond.” The Review of Economics and Statistics , 82, 23-37.

36. For example, California Proposition 227 passed on June 2, 1998 codified at Cal. Educ. Code section 300, et seq. (popularly known as the Unz Initiative, after businessman Ron Unz) which essentially eliminated bilingual education programs and mandated struc

tured English immersion programs with the goal of moving limited-English-proficient students into mainstream classes after one year; Arizona Proposition 203 passed on November 7, 2000 codified at Title 15, chapter 7 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. Section 15-751, et seq., (2001), Article 3.1 which is similar to California’s Proposition 227.

37. J. Ruiz de Velasco and M. Fix, eds., Overlooked and Underserved: Immigrant Children in U.S. Secondary Schools . Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2001.

38. While bilingual education programs generally have produced better outcomes in academic achievement, it is not clear how much better these programs are. See Testimony of Kenji Hakuta to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, “The Education of Language Minority Students,” April 13, 2001, www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/Docs/CivilRightsCommission.htm . Also see, Jorge Amselle and Amy Allison, “Two Years of Success: An Analysis of California Test Scores After Proposition 227,” http://www.ceousa.org/html/227rep.html , August 2000; Californians Together, “Schools with Large Enrollments of English Learners and Substantial Bilingual Instruction are Effective in Teaching English,” August 21, 2000; and Orr, Butler, Bousquet, and Hakuta, “What Can We Learn About the Impact of Proposition 227 from SAT-9 Scores?” August, 2000 analyzing student achievement scores on the Stanford 9 after the implementation of Proposition 227.

39. Educating Language Minority Children . Committee on Developing a Research Agenda on the Education of Limited-English Proficient and Bilingual Students, D. August and K. Hakuta, eds. Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1998.

40. Educating Language Minority Children , p. 5; Ruiz de Velasco and Fix, op. cit. pp. 14, 30.

41. Kenji Hakuta, Improving Education for All Children: Meeting the Needs of Language Minority Children. Available at: < www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/Aspen.html >

42. Some may define proficiency as proficiency in conversational skills while others define proficiency as having appropriate oral, written, and reading skills for a native speaker of English at a particular grade or age level. Still more relevant in the context of achievement testing, however, is proficiency sufficient for academic learning in English.

43. Public Education: Meeting the Needs of Students with Limited English Proficiency. Washington, DC: Government Accounting Office, pp. 5-6, 2001.

44. While the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in Valeria G. v. Wilson , 12 F.Supp.2d 1007 (July 15, 1998), that Proposition 227 on its face did not violate the EEOA, the case has been appealed and it is unclear whether another court would make the same finding. The Court in Valeria G . found that Proposition 227 did not violate the EEOA because the defendants presented evidence that structured immersion is the “predominant method of teaching immigrant children in many countries in Western Europe, Canada and Israel.” Id . at 1018. It also found that because the initiative was flexible and allowed schools and school districts to make choices about the type of curriculum they would implement that “this court can not conclude that no possible choice could constitute ‘appropriate action’ under Section 1703(f).” Id . at 1019.

45. D. Koretz, “Educational practices, trends in achievement, and the potential of the reform movement.” Educational Administration Quarterly 24(3):350-359, 1988; William L Sanders and Sandra P. Horn, “Research Findings from the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment (TVAAS) Database Implications for Educational Evaluation and Research.” Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education 12(3):247-256.

46. 20 U.S.C. § 6311. The 2001 reauthorization, pending as of this writing, will continue and strengthen this requirement.

47. Ulrich Boser, 2001, “Pressure without Support.” In Quality Counts, 2001 , V. Edwards, ed. Bethesda, MD: Editorial Projects in Education; Jeff Archer, “Teacher-Quality Bill Comes Down To Wire in New Mexico,” Education Week , March 21, 2001; Ann Bradly,

“Denver Teachers to Pilot Pay-for-Performance Plan,” Education Week , September 22, 1999; Beth Reinhard, “Texas Proposal Ties Teacher Performance to School Scores,” Education Week February 12, 1997; Mark Stricherz, “Top Oakland Administrators to Receive Bonuses Tied to Test Scores,” Education Week , January 24, 2001; Mark Stricherz, “N.Y.C. Administrators to Receive Merit Pay for Boosting Scores,” Education Week , June 6, 2001.

48. My earlier discussion included the claim that only student-focused incentives will command the attention of students, and will also focus the energy of parents, teachers and administrators.

49. For an overview of the approaches adopted by the National Institutes of Health for the dissemination of biomedical and clinical research, see http://www.nih.gov/about/NIHoverview.html .

This volume summarizes a range of scientific perspectives on the important goal of achieving high educational standards for all students. Based on a conference held at the request of the U.S. Department of Education, it addresses three questions: What progress has been made in advancing the education of minority and disadvantaged students since the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision nearly 50 years ago? What does research say about the reasons of successes and failures? What are some of the strategies and practices that hold the promise of producing continued improvements? The volume draws on the conclusions of a number of important recent NRC reports, including How People Learn, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Eager to Learn, and From Neurons to Neighborhoods, among others. It includes an overview of the conference presentations and discussions, the perspectives of the two co-moderators, and a set of background papers on more detailed issues.

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How has the Implementation of Education Reform in the last 30 Years Affected the Quality of Education and Student outcomes?

• Masters Thesis
• Johnson, Patricia
• Valiquette L'Heureux, Anais
• Franklin, Rhonda
• Palasani-Minassians, Henrik
• Public Administration
• California State University, Northridge
• Dissertations, Academic -- CSUN -- Public Administration.
• No Child Left Behind
• Education Reform
• Every Student Succeeds
• New Public Management
• 2019-01-08T18:34:11Z
• http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/207607
• by Patricia Gonzalez Johnson
• California State University, Northridge. Department of Political Science.

Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

63 Education Reform Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best education reform topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting education reform topics to write about, 📌 simple & easy education reform titles.

• Reforms in the Singaporean Education System The discussion of this paper seek to illustrate the history of Singapore and the education reforms that took place in the country resulting into a great leap within the economy in relation to education.
• Business Administration Education Reform in Teaching Style The paper addresses the stimulus that big data can give to the reformation of business administration teaching, learning, and academic research.
• “Goals 2000” on Education: Summary of the Systemic Education Reform The goals were established in the 1990s and were part of a national effort to foster standards based reform in the schools throughout the United States.
• Reform Agenda in Education The quality of teachers have been strengthened this making security of the learning process to be increased the government has also addressed the authenticity of the learners by making them have large scope to choose […]
• Current Education Reform Efforts in the US Therefore, to understand the merits and demerits of the ESSA, a decision to talk to the dean of one of the schools of business in the United States is made.
• Higher Education Reform Efforts in the United States However, the outcomes of many reform efforts demonstrate that the US government and other organizations and people involved in policymaking are able to add a number of other goals to American education.
• The Analysis of an Educational Reform The use of the four organizational frames has proved to be effective as the major flaws in the implementation of an educational reform have been identified.
• Reform of Education in California This is one of the points that can be made. The main advantage of this policy is that it can contribute to the academic achievement of many students.
• Gender and the Politics in Educational Reform Since at present, the U.S.schools need to focus not only on the choice of the most appropriate strategy of introducing the principles of No Child Left Behind Act into the U.S.educational sphere, but also on […]
• Educational Reform in the State of Florida The state ranks 11th in terms of students’ achievements whereas before the reform it was at the bottom of the rating.
• American Education Reform The use of tests is vital for monitoring student learning, but the current accountability system under the NCLB Act has brought about serious implications including: reduced attention to critical elements of the curriculum that are […]
• Psychological and Cultural Behavioral Traits: Education Reform
• Plans and Features of Education Reform
• Education Reform’s Global Ambitions
• Business and Market Analysis of Education Reform
• Education Reform: Performance Management Practices
• Recommendations for Education Reform
• Career Outlook of Education Reform
• Management Style of Education Reform
• Education Reform and Management Information System
• Education Reform and Risk Management
• Strategy and Governance at Education Reform
• Difficulties and Challenges for Education Reform
• Strategic Issues Facing Education Reform
• Competitive Analysis and Education Reform
• Strategic and SWOT Analysis of Education Reform
• Communication Strategy of Education Reform
• External Factors Affecting Education Reform
• Leadership and Marketing Mix Strategy at Education Reform
• Education Reform: Financial Analysis and Critique
• Internal and External Aspects of Education Reform
• Education Reform: Strategic Management Issues
• Financial Information of Education Reform
• Education Reform: A Priority for a Better Future
• Past and Present in Education Reform
• Education Reform and Total Quality Management
• Education Reform: A Combination of Theory and Practice
• Skills That Can Help Improve Work in Education Reform
• Education Reform and Five Forces Model Analysis
• Queueing System Analysis of Education Reform
• Education Reform: Improve Student Performance
• What Is the Vision of Education Reform?
• The Fundamentals of Education Reform: Navigating Challenges and Coordinating Care
• The Realities of Education Reform: What Can Go Unnoticed?
• Education Reform: Mission, Business Model, and Strategy
• Ethical Due Diligence at Education Reform
• Factors Affecting the Activities of Education Reform
• Sources and Solutions Technological Advancements in Education Reform
• Education Reform: Challenges and Risks
• The Culture of Education Reform
• Education Reform and Its Effect on Society
• Education Reform Innovation Strategy Implementation
• Law, Ethics, and Policy in Education Reform
• The Future of Education Reform
• What Is the Role of Information Technology in the Education Reform?
• Education Reform in Finland and the Comprehensive School System
• Marketing Strategies and Recommendations for Education Reform
• Science Education Reform in the U.S.
• Resources and Capabilities of Education Reform
• Management Information System and Education Reform
• Education Reform Structure and Its Principles of Work
• Reforms Titles
• Academic Achievements Research Topics
• Gender Differences Questions
• Leadership Essay Ideas
• Research and Development Essay Topics
• Online Education Topics
• Remote Work Research Topics
• Adulthood Titles
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Educ 300: Education Reform, Past and Present

an undergraduate course with Professor Jack Dougherty at Trinity College, Hartford CT

Educ 300 Syllabus – Spring 2019

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 28 —  Week 2 : Feb 4 —  Week 3 : Feb 11 —  Week 4 : Feb 18 —  Week 5 : Feb 25 — Week 6 : March 4 — Week 7 : March 11 — Week 8 : March 25 — Week 9 : April 1 — Week 10 : April 8 — Week 11 : April 15 — Week 12 : April 22 — Week 13 : April 29

Learning Objectives:  In this mid-level required course for Ed Studies majors, students will:

a) Interpret historical sources from different periods and perspectives to better understand how education has varied from their current-day experiences.

b) Compare and contrast different explanations about the causes and consequences of educational change and continuity over time.

c) Propose a research question, identify appropriate sources, and write a substantive essay that supports their thesis with persuasive evidence.

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 his personal website to book an appointment: http://jackdougherty.org

Teaching Assistant:  Emily Schroeder ’20, Ed Studies and Neuroscience major.

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-K : 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 L-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.

(always check for instructor’s updates; important changes will appear  in red )

Week 1: Mon Jan 28 in class – Overview & Introduction to Common School Reform

• Before our first class, please fill out this quick survey
• Lecture: “Progressive Education Meets the Market” 12:15pm, McCook 201
• Student-led discussion: 3-3:45pm in Underground Cafe, Mather basement
• 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 Annotating Sources for specific Google Docs primary sources listed below (3 points)
• Move to the Library by 7:45pm for two back-to-back 40-minute labs:
• History Lab with Jack in Watkinson Library: Analyzing 19th-Century Common School textbooks with worksheet
• Practice how to write meaningful comments on Google Docs below for Annotating Sources assignment
• Create a practice WordPress post  to prepare for Ed Policy Journalism assignment

due Sun Feb 3rd 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 follow instructions for  Assignment: Annotating Sources if your name is listed below
• 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 3 students: Jaymie, Eleanor, Bryan.
• 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 3 students: Yeabsira, Manny, Renita.
• 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 3 students: Elizabeth, Gisselle, Ayanna.
• 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.
• New post about our first class: Jack Dougherty, “Teaching Race in the Archives,” January 30, 2019, https://jackdougherty.org/2019/01/30/teaching-race-archives .

Week 2: Mon Feb 4th in class – Interpreting Common-School Reform

• Community-Centered Research for Youth of Color panel , Tues Feb 5th 12:15pm in Terrace B&C, Mather Hall
• Documentary video and panel on “Unlikely” college access , Wed Feb 6th, 7pm at Cinestudio
• 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. Option for paper printouts.
• See how your public writing will appear online this semester
• 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
• 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 by Sat March 2nd

due Sunday February 10th 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 3 students: Miley, Jess, Tina
• 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 3 students: Julia, Sara, Stephanie B
• 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 3 students: Lilliana, India, Zedong
• 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 2 students: Aditi, Allie
• 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 2 students: Stefanie C, Gisselle
• 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 .
• NEW: Advice on Organizing Notes from TA Emily Schroeder ’20

Week 3: Mon Feb 11th in class – Contrasting Black and White “Progressive” Reform

• Apply for Public Humanities Collaborative paid summer internships – read listings and contact professors well before Feb 19th application deadline
• Thursday Feb. 14th, Coeducation in Context: 1969–1970, Common Hour at Cinestudio. This event is a panel discussion on the transition to coeducation, with Judy Dworin ’70, professor of theater and dance, emerita; Dori Katz, professor of modern languages and literature, emerita; Randy Lee ’66, associate professor of psychology and director of the Counseling and Wellness Center; and Ron Spencer ’64, former associate academic dean and lecturer in history, emeritus. This signature event is part of  Women at the Summit: 50 Years of Coeducation at Trinity College .
• Advice on Organizing Notes from TA Emily Schroeder ’20
• Presentation: What Direction for African-American Education: Washington and DuBois?
• Annotators: What are key lines/connections/questions in primary sources?
• Open 1940 US Census in Ancestry.com ( https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2442 ) since National Archives site is not cooperating
• In right side, see “Browse this collection”
• Choose any area, or CT > Hartford > Hartford > any enumeration district
• View free records with free account (insert any email)
• Here’s a sample 1940 census manuscript page
• High School (H1-4)
• College (C1-5)
• For each team, open this Google Spreadsheet, insert codes for up to 40 residents on your page
• Overall, how many residents on your 1940 page completed grade 8? How many completed high school?
• How could you improve this study with better data collection and analysis?
• Presentation:  Contrasting Theories of “Progressive” Education Reform  

due Sun Feb 17th 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
• 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 2018-19

Week 4: Mon Feb 18th in class – Historiography of Progressive Era; Civil Rights Strategizing

• 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 our TA about which event 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 completing jigsaw exercise) on Moodle  due by Sun Feb 24th 9pm (or sooner so you don’t forget!)
• Presentation: Evolution of School Desegregation Law Part 1, from Plessy to Brown to Massive Resistance  and Students’ Collaborative Notes for 2019
• Search strategies: Find and summarize court cases in http://scholar.google.com
• 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 , or see  GoogleDoc annotated version for 2018-19
• Assign:  Avoid Plagiarism Exercise due Sunday Feb 24th by 9pm
• Recommended: Use a citation tool, such as  How to capture and cite sources with Zotero 
• Handout: Curry/Cecelski comparative reading guide

due Sun Feb 24 by 9pm

• There is NO Sunday night Moodle quiz this week, because we will do the quiz in class on Monday, after discussion
•  Historiography reading quiz (after jigsaw exercise) on Moodle  due by Sun Feb 24th 9pm
•   Avoid Plagiarism Exercise due Sunday Feb 24th by 9pm
• 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-K , 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 L-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 2017-19 .

Week 5: Mon Feb 25th in class – Integration: From Idea to Implementation

• How to declare a major in Ed Studies  – Do it before Spring Break!
• Ed Studies Junior Plan : Mandatory meeting for rising seniors, Tues March 5th common hour in McCook 201 conference room (with pizza)
• Ed Policy Journalism assignment   deadline extended to Saturday March 16th (but only a fool waits until the last minute); see new  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 on Moodle  on Curry/Cecelski
• Recommended: Work solo to organize your notes AND create a study group to anticipate possible exam questions (What Would Jack Ask?)
• Collaborative exercise:  How to Write About Historians and the Past
• Feedback on Avoiding Plagiarism assignments
• Prep for next week
• Assign:  mid-semester course feedback anonymous form

due Sun March 3 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; use your time to prepare for exam 1
• Complete your  mid-semester course feedback anonymous form 2019

Week 6: Mon March 4th in class – Accountability in Recent Ed Reform

• Dr. Elise Castillo named Ann Plato Fellow in Educ & PBPL, 2019-20
• Prof. Daisy Reyes on “Learning to be Latino” Thur March 7th, 12:15pm, Mather Hall, Terrace ABC
• Pathways to Teaching and Youth Work: Advice from Trinity Alumni , Tues March 12th, 6:30-7:30pm, McCook 201 conference room
• Ed Policy Journalism assignment and  posts by classmates
• Review together: mid-semester course evaluation feedback 2019
• Prep for next class: See guiding questions below, read all of Paul Tough,  Whatever It Takes , and complete Moodle quiz by Sunday 9pm
• Presentation: Crises in Education: 1958 – 1983 – today
• 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.

due Sun March 10th 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 11th in class – Theories of Poverty & Theories of Change

• Tonight will be a 30-minute abbreviated class due to my illness
• Apply to Liberal Arts Action Lab by Sunday March 31st
• Apply to Community Learning Research Fellows by Sunday March 31st
• Ed Policy Journalism assignment  due Sat March 16th;  posts by classmates
• Presentation:  Theories of Poverty & Change around the Harlem Children’s Zone
• Presentation/activity:  Theories of Change and Policy Chains
• Prep for next week’s readings; no Moodle quiz during break
• Assign History Lab: 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 8:30am-4:30pm.
• Hand back and review exam #1 with selected student essay responses

Mon March 18th – No Class (Spring break)

Due by mon march 25th at 4:30pm (extended from sunday).

• History Lab: 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 8:30am-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 25th in class: Student Experiences of Education Reform

• Presentation: Student Experiences of School Reform and Social Change
• In class results of History Lab: What did Trinity 1960-70s archival sources tell you about past?
• Explore more sources on Trinity student protests since 2007
• Discuss: How has student activism changed — or remained continuous — from 1968 to 2018?
• Intro to  Research Essay Process
• In class: Create your proposal Google Doc
• Set Share> Advanced> Anyone with link > can Comment
• Copy and paste link into our GDoc Organizer
• In class: Read LAST YEAR’s research proposals (see asterisks*), with my comments.
• In class: Brainstorm Topics and Transform into Research Questions exercise
• In class: Finding Sources and Search Strategies for Educ 300  with Jack’s hints
• Assign:  Schedule a 20-minute meeting with me  for face-to-face feedback on your proposal, either before OR after the April 7th deadline.
• Recommended: Schedule a meeting with a librarian to discuss finding sources about your research question
• Reading for next week

due by Sunday March 31st at 9pm

• 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 1st in class – Value-Added Assessment and Finding Sources

• Emily will notify you during class if your draft GDoc is not correctly shared
• Next week: our class meets in McCook Auditorium at 6:30pm for public showing of “Backpack Full of Cash” video documentary on school privatization
• Advising Week: Updated Educ and Cross-Referenced Courses
• RSVP by Mon April 15th to [email protected]  for Ed Studies Dinner for all declared majors, Thurs April 18th 6-7pm in Alumni Lounge, Mather Hall
• PS: Did you remember to book an appointment on my calendar ?
• Presentation: Testing Data and Value-Added Assessment
• Data exercise:  Which schools are best? Three ways to measure
• 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 ZoteroBib or  Zotero  or other bibliographic management tool that produces results in either Chicago-style endnotes or MLA or APA in-line citations

due Sun April 7th by 9pm

• Assign: Research proposal due on Google Doc Organizer by Sun April 7th at 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

Week 10: Mon April 8th in class – School Integration and Innovation

• Meet in McCook Auditorium at 6:30pm for public showing of “Backpack Full of Cash” video documentary
• Sarah Mondale,  Backpack Full of Cash video documentary (2017),  https://www.backpackfullofcash.com/ 
• Davis Guggenheim,  Waiting For “Superman,”  video documentary (2010), viewable at  https://vimeo.com/69353438 .
• Submit as a WordPress post (category=2019-video-analysis), and your post should appear on the Student Writing page .
• In class: Presentation/exercise:  School Choice Conceptual Map
• Discuss Kahlenberg and Potter’s article, and Welner’s “Dirty Dozen”
• 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/ .
• Coming this week: comments on your research essay proposals
• Assign  Working Thesis and Evidence drafts  on  GDoc Organizer  due Friday April 19th by 6pm

due Sun April 14th by 9pm

• Video documentary comparative analysis*
• 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 15th in class –  Sex and Religion in School Reform

• Congratulations on video documentary posts; still commenting on research proposals
• RSVP to [email protected] for Ed Studies majors dinner, Thur April 18th 6-7pm in Alumni Lounge, Mather Hall
• 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 .
• 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 .
• 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
• Creat a draft document
• 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: By Saturday morning, each student will be assigned to comment on two peer drafts on GDoc Organizer by Monday 6pm.
• 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 19th at 6pm

Working Thesis and Evidence drafts  due on  GDoc Organizer  on Friday April 19th by 6pm (Avoid the late penalty!)

due Sunday April 21st by 9pm

• Guiding questions: How has the Trinity curriculum changed or remained continuous in recent decades? What factors are motivating current reform proposals?
• Brief Recent History of General Education at Trinity College
• Curricular Realignment – Why?
• Experiential Learning proposal
• General Education Requirements proposa l
• 32 Credits proposal
• Curricular Realignment Frequently Asked Questions
• Please explore other documents (pro and con) on this site, since all of these address your education at Trinity.
• No Moodle quiz this week

Week 12: Mon April 22nd in class – Competing Reforms for Higher Education

• Announcements:
• Prof. Elise Castillo , Ann Plato Diversity Post-Doctoral Fellow 2019-20
• AMST 406 student research projects
• Wed April 24th at 4:30pm, Hallden Hall (next to McCook)

• Presentation:  Curricular Reform at Trinity Over Time
• Vote with your feet and advocate for your preferred policy
• 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.
• Create a To Do list of next paragraphs to write or rewrite, and next sources to read.
• a) Continue writing in your current GoogleDoc draft and resolve comments
• b) File > Make a Copy and start a new version in Google Doc format
• c) File > Download As… MS Word and start a new version in Word format
• If you revise your research question to better match your sources, ask me to review it via email (or point me to your current GDoc).

• Turn off distractions: computer notifications, phone, and/or WiFi
• Review my  Structural and Stylistic Advice  to organize your writing
• Focus your energy on writing insightful arguments, persuasive evidence, and meaningful interpretation, as described in the research essay criteria
• Use any tool (such as ZoteroBib or  Zotero ) 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 = 2019-research-essay) due Fri May 3rd by 6pm, which will publicly display your work on the current  Student Writing page . Plan ahead and avoid the late penalty.
• Public writing and student privacy policy, and what past students have decided
• 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
• See examples of slides from last year’s students in 2018
• Most insightful thesis (majority vote by students)
• Richest source interpretation (majority vote by students)
• Most improved since proposal (selected by instructor)

Week 13: Mon April 29th in class – Brief Research 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 OR download 3-page PDF .
• Vote for bonus points: Most insightful thesis; Richest source interpretation
• Bonus point for most improved since proposal (selected by instructor)
• 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. ( To paste cleanly, consider the hidden “paste as text” button, which will be demonstrated in class ). Add supplemental links and images if desired. See WordPress tutorial .
• Check the category (2019 research essay), which will publicly display your work on the Student Writing page.
• Prepare for open-book interpretive exam #2 on Wednesday (not Monday) May 8th 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 3rd by 6pm

• Final web essay due by 6pm. Plan ahead and avoid the late penalty.

Wed (not Mon) May 8th from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in our regular classroom

• Exam #2, open-book, interpretive questions.

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A Broader Vision of Education: Jefferson’s Efforts to Reform Educational Philosophy

• Reference work entry
• First Online: 22 August 2024
• Cite this reference work entry

• Kelly Govain Leffel 2 &
• Caitlin McGeever 3  

Thomas Jefferson reconceptualized the public education system and expanded its reach to many new individuals in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, but the influences of citizenship, gender, race, and class constructed boundaries for this new system. A key contribution of Thomas Jefferson’s educational reforms is the way in which he linked education to ideas of citizenship and success in the new nation. He considered education as an avenue to freedom of intellectual thought and from tyrannical rule. He grappled with issues regarding the role of higher education within the system of a democratic republic and the tremendous impact education could have on the country’s success. Jefferson saw his endeavors into the creation of the University of Virginia as an opportunity to innovate within the system to strengthen this alignment. Thomas Jefferson’s ideas of education continue to influence future attitudes toward and expectations of education in the United States.

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Additional Reading

Clagett, M. (2022). A spark of revolution: William small, Thomas Jefferson and James watt: The curious connection between the American revolution and the industrial revolution . Clyde Hill Publishing.

Conant, J. B. (2021). Thomas Jefferson and the development of American public education . University of California Press.

Henderson, J. C. (1890). Thomas Jefferson’s views on public education . New York and London, GP Putnam’s sons.

Park, R. (1998). Jefferson’s children: Education and the promise of American culture. Change, 30 (3), 58.

Taylor, A. (2019). Thomas Jefferson’s education . WW Norton & Company.

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Govain Leffel, K., McGeever, C. (2024). A Broader Vision of Education: Jefferson’s Efforts to Reform Educational Philosophy. In: Geier, B.A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Educational Thinkers. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25134-4_48

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