1. Pragmatism
2. Philosophy of Education
2.1. Pragmatism
2.1.1. George Sanders Peirce
2.1.2. William James
2.1.3. John Dewey
2.2. Problem Solving through thought and action get results
2.3. Instrumentalism
2.3.1. Relationships between school and society
2.4. Experimentalism
2.4.1. Experimenting with ideas on a educational plane
2.5. A balance between school, social, intellectual and personal development of each student.
2.5.1. Goal of Education
2.6. to encourage students to grow in knowledge everyday with questions and research.
2.6.1. Role of Teacher
2.7. Challenge students, work students in peer groups, expand environments, and have student lead discussions.
2.7.1. Methods of Teaching
2.8. Traditional and contemporary curriculum that uses whole body hands-on learning. Encouraging students to be problem solvers.
2.8.1. Curriculum
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Students with Special Needs
3.2. Congress passed the Education of All Handicapped Children Law in 1975 with 6 basic principals.
3.2.1. 1. The right of access to public educations programs. 2. The individualization of services. 3. The principles of "least restrictive environment". 4. The scope of broadened services to be provided by the school and a set of procedures for determining them. 5. The general guidelines for identifying disability. 6. The principles of primary state and local responsibilities.
3.3. The REI OR Regular Education Initiative in late 1980's
3.4. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA was reauthorized in 1996
3.5. Public vs. Private
3.6. I think that Coleman had good reason to suggest that private schools out perform public schools. Private schools have a better teacher/student ratio. They have better funding for academics and the students are motivated by parents and personally due to the financial aspect. Public schools are not driven by high stakes testing either. There are advantages to both but academically private schools have the scores to prove the upper hand.
4. Politics of Education
4.1. Conservative
4.1.1. William Graham Sumner
4.2. Capitalism
4.2.1. Milton Friedman
4.3. Independence
4.3.1. Adam Smith
4.4. Success
4.4.1. Pride of earning a living
4.4.1.1. Accountability
4.5. Traditional
4.5.1. Keep the best of what works
4.6. Progressive
4.6.1. Strive to be better
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. State
5.1.1. State Senators
5.1.1.1. Richard Shelby & Jeff Sessions
5.1.2. House of Representatives
5.1.2.1. Moe Brooks
5.1.3. State Superintendent
5.1.3.1. Thomas R. Bice, Ed, D
5.1.4. State School Board Representative
5.1.4.1. Mary Scott Hunter
5.2. Local
5.2.1. Superintendent for Madison County Schools
5.2.1.1. Matt Massey
5.2.2. Madison County School Board
5.2.2.1. Ken Kubik, Mark Minskey, Tim Solley, John Southerland, Lorraine Boone, Mary Stump, Tommy Whitten, Ken Jensen, Teresa Halla, Roosevelt Carter, B. Haugtvedt.
5.2.3. Madison County School Board Members
5.2.3.1. Jeff Anderson - Chair, Daniel Nash, and Mary Louise Stowe.
6. Curriculum of Pedagogy
6.1. Developmentalist Curriculum
6.1.1. Dewey 1902
6.1.1.1. Piaget
6.1.2. Student Centered Teaching
6.2. Transformative Tradition
6.2.1. Multi-demensional Teaching Theory
6.2.2. Jackson 1986
6.3. State Senators
6.3.1. Richard Shelby & Jeff Sessions
6.4. House of Representatives
6.4.1. Moe Brooks
6.5. State Superintendent
6.5.1. Thomas R. Bice, Ed, D
6.6. State School Board Representative
6.6.1. Mary Scott Hunter
6.7. Superintendent for Madison County Schools
6.7.1. Matt Massey
6.8. Madison County School's School Board
6.8.1. Jeff Anderson - Chair, Angie Bates, Daniel Nash, Mary Louise Stowe, David Vess
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. No Child Left Behind
7.1.1. President George W. Bush 2001
7.1.2. A mandate for state testing for students and labels/grades for schools based on testing scores achieved by students.
7.1.3. On paper NCLB is a great concept however, in the classroom it doesn't always work. Schools are so focused on getting an overall good grade for the school from student's test scores that it is difficult to teach more than what is on the test. This is unfair to students. Test scores don't always show progress made by students accurately since not all students are good test takers.
7.1.4. Having a way to assess progress in students and schools is very important. However, I believe that the system we are using at the moment needs to be tweaked some. Teaching children standards for the sake of a test near the end of the year gives students the perception that the test is more important that what they are learning.
7.2. John Dewey 1902
7.3. Pedagogic Practice
7.3.1. The establishment of curriculum in the classroom to this day is still groundbreaking. The use of materials modified to grade level and the building on that foundation of information at each consecutive grade level has solidified progressive education. This process leveled the educational field across the board and is essential as standards grow and change yearly.
8. Sociology of Education
8.1. Functional Theories
8.1.1. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
8.1.1.1. Father of Sociology of Education
8.1.1.2. Thought moral values were the foundation of society
8.1.1.2.1. He felt that education was the backbone for society.
8.1.2. Viewed society as one part intellectual and one part physical to form a cohesive working machine.
8.2. A Nation At Risk
8.2.1. President Ronald Reagan 1983
8.2.2. A letter to the nation about the concern for the educational standards for children to be competitive for our society and our national competitors.
8.3. No Child Left Behind
8.3.1. President George W. Bush 2001
8.3.2. A mandate for state testing for students and labels/grades for schools based on testing scores achieved by students.
8.4. Race To the Top
8.4.1. President Barrack Obama 2012
8.4.2. To provide support for teachers and administrators, intense standards and assessments, and aggressive interventions for struggling students.
9. Educational Inequality
9.1. I find that family background and financial issues are the biggest stumbling blocks.
9.2. If there is not a history of education in the family then a student wanting to further their education may be met with a great deal of resistance. The parents may not see a need for education when getting a job may be stressed as more important.
9.3. Students that come from economically distressed homes may not see any possible way to get a college degree. They may also be ashamed to ask someone for help in figuring out a financial solution. College is very expensive and that can seem like a mountain that can't be climbed when their parents are unable to pay current bills.
9.4. Cultrural Deprivation theory
9.4.1. I see the pre-school program as a great advantage for some children but I don't think the way Head Start was accurate. There are a great deal of students regardless of their economic status that would benefit greatly from a pre-school program. Some students are preemies, have special conditions, developed slower or are not maturing at the rate of others and would benefit from the pre-school program, but to put a label of economically disadvantaged is wrong.
9.5. School Centered Explanations
9.6. Motivation for educational success at a very early age starts out as expectations from the parents. If a parent does not demand and encourage success in academics them the students do not see value in it. As the student grows more mature then the motivation comes from within.
9.7. Economically distressed families may see more value in getting a job and a paycheck immediately as opposed to completing a college education for a more economically sound future. This attitude within the family has a great impact on the performance of the student. The student may not see the value of doing well in high school if they are not going to attend college and are going enter the work place immediately.
10. Educational Reform
10.1. I don't think there are any easy answers for Educational Reform. There are good things about all of the different types of reform but I don't think one is a better answer than another. If you could take the the good things from each and build something completely different then we might have a better answer.
10.2. I think we should level the playing field socially so that it doesn't get in the way of acadmenics.
10.3. Private schools do better academically because the students want to be there. Parents stress the fact that they are having to pay for education and that students should strive for better grades.
10.4. In a public school students are required to be there whether they want to or not. If you don't show up you get a truant officer at your door after a while.
10.4.1. Public education is "free" and therefore doesn't have any value. Just something to be endured.