Part Four: 1980-2000 The Bottom Line

The assignment I chose to complete for part 4: 1980-2000 The Bottom Line was the text rendering option of choosing one word, one phrase and one sentence with evidence to back up my choices.

Word: Competition

My reason for choosing this word is because throughout the entire part four of this book I repeatedly saw the word “competition”. Competition is a major theme throughout this entire book in terms of race vs the education provided. In addition to that, the public vs private schools faced competition as well. In some cases, competition is not always a bad thing. However, in my opinion these examples of competition sparked the beginning of positive change for equality within the educational system.

Some key examples:

“Fears of foreign economic competition and the belief that vocationally driven American schools could strengthen the domestic economy led business leaders to privately fund vocational schools and then coax school boards to take over their funding and operation.” (page 175)

“More competition exists among public schools.” (page 180)

“Yet there were so few alternative schools, and so few students willing or able to leave their regular schools, that little competition resulted.” (page 190)

Phrase: “A Nation at Risk”

In 1983 school reform began with a report titled “A Nation at Risk” to President Ronald Reagan commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education. The report stated that the pitiable quality of American schools was a threat to the well-being of the overall country. The report showing the statistics of drops in test scores as well as student achievement which generally shattered the trust and/or confidence in the American school system. This report sparked a major improvement in the educational system which was needed in certain areas but not all because some people did argue that their schools were okay and “and so in some ways, our schools were doing a better job in important areas than they had ever done historically, and yet all of that was lost because of our concern over the economy, which we blamed on the schools” (page 186).

Sentence: “Education isn’t just a social concern, it’s major economic issue. If our students can’t compete today, how will our companies compete tomorrow?”

I found this quote on the introduction page for part four, it is from a quote by John Akers. I believe it summarizes part four as well as the entire book because the entire book is about the struggles and inequality within the educational system. Education is and was the main concern throughout this entire book whether it is socially or economically. me one could translate this quote to mean if one colored student and one white student can't compete within the school system equally, how will they equally compete in the real world companies once they all have jobs? While these inequality situations have drastically gotten better since these times, we have to realize as a whole that the struggle faced during these time periods was necessary to get us to where we are now overall. Competing in the real world is still a huge topic between genders, equal pay, and even the education received (high school GED, associates degree, bachelors degree, masters degree, doctorate, etc).

Reflection on part three...

Segregation & Desegregation:

AKA the biggest topics in this part of the book

In class on February 14th we were broken up into two groups of 5 students and we had to complete an assignment silently at first and then collectively with 4 recorders and 1 facilitator. I took the role of the facilitator while my classmates wrote down some of the notes they took on part three and my job was to circle ideas I wanted to be expanded or elaborated on while also drawing lines between ideas I felt connected in some way. The most difficult part of this task for my classmates more than myself (being that I was the facilitator) was having to stay silent but writing their own notes on the board with 3 others trying to do the same as well. The difficulty of being the facilitator and staying silent was when I circled an idea and my classmate was not sure why I did that. However, as a class I believe we all did phenomenally well with this assignment and the pictures below prove how we all work well in groups together.

My group went from:

            This                              to                        This

I do not think I have ever been a part of a group that clicked so well and worked so easily together. We were all finishing each others sentences and thoughts that we meshed so well for this assignment. As the facilitator I had a more difficult job because I had to circle words or ideas I believed needed to be elaborated on. As my group was writing their notes onto the paper I noticed from the start that almost all of their notes were elaborated and not just small words or phrases, which caused my job to be a little harder. But then I thought why not have them expand on certain words to tell me what exactly they meant or what they believed was meant by it such as: national experience, settings, issues, and so called white public school. My next task was to draw arrows between ideas that meshed or went with each other which realistically could have been the entire paper because all of these notes were from the same part of the book about the same topics. It is in a way like a domino effect, one of these ideas happened which trickled down into other ideas or occurrences. 

 The other group went from:

                   This                      to                        This

The other group certainly took a different approach by writing smaller words and phrases which as pictured, were almost all circled to be elaborated or expanded on. However, the result was the same as my group, a neat list that is like a domino effect too. 

Isn't it fascinating to see how a cluster of ideas can be put into a neat and organized piece of paper filled with ideas and thoughts from multiple students?

Reflection on Part 2...

Doing a reflection post on a class I missed definitely brings in a new perspective since I did not actively participate in the classwork but did read the same part of the book as my fellow classmates. Our assignment was to pick some items from part 2 that we agreed with, argued, assumed, and aspire. It was certainly a different way to form an opinion on the public educational system. 

I reached out to one of my classmates, Kasheena who then sent me the pictures of the group classwork and now my job is to create a reflection on that from somewhat of an outsiders perspective. From the jump I can see that there were 3 groups; two groups of three students and one group of four students. I assume that each student picked their "favorite" idea that they wrote down and contributed it into the 4 boxes: agree, argue, assume and aspire. 

Agree: 

1. American Education is unequal

2. Immigrants helped transform America

3. Bureaucracy movement effects

4. Curriculum status is a problem

5. Every working man = scholar ; scholar = working man

6. Greatest success public school Americanizing immigrants

7. Immigrant children enrolled in public schools

8. Opportunity at the work field

9. Offer school programs

10. Lessons in life

The three I agree with most out of the 10 options are: the educational system in America during this time period was unequal, immigrants certainly did help transform America into what it is, and greatest success public school Americanizing immigrants.

Argue:

1. Acting of assimilation

2. Dewey learning by doing

3. Ethnicity affecting intelligence/expectation

4. Aptitude test determine future education track

5. Factory work instead of school

6. Reduce year common school education from 8 years to 6 years

7. Leave school in 8th grade to help with work

8. Losing culture

9. Educated people for professional jobs

10. Gary school teachings

The three I agree with most out of these 10 options are: ethnicity affecting intelligence/expectation, factory work instead of school, and losing culture. 

Assume:

1. The life adjustment movement

2. Quality education only for white people

3. Learning based on where you're from

4. Sputnik landing sparked idea for more future funding to be given to public schools

5. Different tests were used to divide students

6. Business owners took advantage of immigrants

7. Toe the line

8. IQ Test

9. Nothing was being done for education

10. Gain more support from American born parents than immigrant parents

The three I agree with most out of these 10 options are: quality education only for white people, nothing was being done for education, and business owners took advantage of immigrants.

Aspire:

1. The Gary Plan (active)

2. Nava's success (defied)

3. Enjoying school

4. Be in right/appropriate occupation

5. Be a teacher that is remembered and still cared for

6. Immigrant children be enrolled in school

7. IQ testing outdated

8. John Dewey philosophy 

9. Education should prepare children

10. Work study play should be equal at the school system

The three I agree with most out of these 10 options are: be a teacher that is remembered and still cared for, IQ testing outdated, and education should prepare children.

My favorite answer out of these 40 choices is "education should prepare children" because I strongly believe that all throughout my education from elementary, middle and high school I was taught things for the moment, for the tests, not for life. School should teach more important qualities that are life lessons or will be used for the rest of your life such as taxes information, mortgages, and other adult things that we get thrown into with no prior knowledge.

If you search up a summary on part two of this book, almost every word mentioned in it was brought up in this assignment which I believe is fascinating. How a few words or phrases can summarize a section of a book so easily without one even realizing.

"In 1900, 6 percent of America’s children graduated from high school; by 1945, 51 percent graduated and 40 percent went on to college. This program recalls how massive immigration, child labor laws, and the explosive growth of cities fueled school attendance and transformed public education. Also explored are the impact of John Dewey’s progressive ideas, as well as the effects of controversial IQ tests on students, the “life adjustment” curriculum, and Cold War politics. Interviews with immigrant students, scholars, and administrators provide a portrait of America’s changing educational landscape in the first half of the 20th century."

Link to summary found

For all of these options, I wish I was in class this day so I could have heard explanations or expansions on them if it was discussed because even a 3 word phrase can be interpreted in so many different ways.

Initial Reaction ...The Common School

My first thought about this class when Dr. Rosen spoke about how actively engaged we are always going to be excited me.  I knew from the start it was going to be something I'll enjoy because it was going to be different than what I am used to in a normal educational setting. 

Our first assignment was to read the first part of the book and pick a word, phrase and sentence that we believed summarized part one overall. Collectively as a class we had 9 words, 9 phrases and 9 sentences. It was mind-blowing that even though we all read the same pages we all came up with different choices but the context and meaning of part one was fully understood. 

My group came up with words: foundation, school and shape. Whether or not they have different meanings, that group of words easily correlate to each other regarding the first part of the book. Foundation is such an important part of anything in life because it is the building blocks to the final product. This era was so important because it was the foundation that shaped what we consider our educational system to be today.
"Without undervaluing any other human agency, it may be safely affirmed that the Common School...may become the most effective and benignant of all forces of civilization."

 - Horace Mann

Phrases: free common school: (1) the most American thing about America, (2) were required by law to build schools, (3) local control by elected school committee, (4) all citizens have an obligation, (5) freedom struggle, (6) effective education for the 21st century, (7) the educated citizen, (8) the great balance wheel of social machinery and (9) blue back speller.

How can so many phrases relate to Part One of our book? How did we all manage to bring a different perspective into the classroom? 

The sentences aspect of this assignment was the most interesting because a sentence brings so much more depth into a conversation like this versus a word or phrase. My favorite sentence picked throughout this assignment was "It is a free school system, it knows no distinction of rich and poor... it is the equalizer of their conditions of men, the great balance wheel of the social machinery." Reason being, we all attend school, whether it is a public, private, charter, university, college or community college.  We ALL want to better ourselves, better our knowledge and create the best possible future for ourselves individually as well as creating a better future for us and our future families. 

Literacy History - Assignment 1

Growing up I was raised in a home that spoke Hungarian as our main language so it was much different for me to become literate in English too especially at a young age where mixing the two languages in a sentence could be a common occurrence.  However, my parents did a really good job at making me fluent in both Hungarian and English.  The first home I ever lived in, we had a neighbor who I considered my Nana and it is her I could thank for my success in all my years of school.  Being that my parents were foreigners English was a language they were learning just like me, so my Nana was my main teacher outside of the public education system.  My mother and father inspired me most because they came here to America for new lives and that has always been a spark in my life to do better because I always want to make them proud and make their big move worth it in the end if I can be successful here. My parents and Nana always strived to help me be greater in school and that is why I never settle for low grades, I will always push myself to do the extra steps.  Since I knew I always had their support I never felt discouraged because I always had a strong support system behind me who would help me in any way possible.  My earliest experiences with literacy that I can remember are from my mother and I reading a book in Hungarian that taught you basic words with pictures, for example: it would show a picture of a dog and it would say dog in Hungarian underneath it.  Books were a huge part in my literacy growing up especially Dr. Seuss and other simple children’s books.

I most certainly began to feel literate once I began going to school so around the age of 4-5 when I was in Pre-K.  I was never the foreigner that did not know English and I thank my parents and Nana for that because I never need to take ESL (English as a second language).  I always enjoyed books when I was younger which I think is funny now because I don’t remember the last time, I read an actual book for fun and enjoyed it; I’ve also always been quite the talker.  Nothing really frustrated me when it came to literacy because I always knew if I kept trying and practicing, I would master whichever words I was struggling with.  As stated, my parents have sacrificed so much for me throughout my entire life that they never cease to amaze me which is what makes them my role models indefinitely.  I aspire to be as genuine, kind-hearted and hardworking as them.

I thought it was interesting in class when Dr. Rosen said “reading, writing and speaking all make you literate” because I suppose I never really thought about literacy in depth like that, I believe I always thought it was just writing and speaking.  Literacy is something we are always surrounded with, it is inevitable since every single day we speak, most of the time we write or type, and whether people realize it or not, they read so much due to text messaging.  Considering I work full-time in a contractor’s office I am always composing emails, talking to my bosses and coworkers, and reading various things from invoices to proposals.  Working and college continue to sponsor my literacy development because I am always surrounded by new things to learn in both settings which is very beneficial to my future to know more information than I previously did.  I am looking forward to the rest of this class because I know my knowledge is going to skyrocket and I am excited for the new experiences and information.