My Foundations of Education

1. Schools as Organizations

1.1. Stakeholders in Education

1.2. Paul Sanford and Jim Patterson, State Senators

1.3. Mo Brooks, 5th District Representative

1.4. Philip C. Cleveland, Ed.D., Interim State Superintendent

1.5. Mary Scott Hunter, State School Board Representative

1.6. E. Casey Wardinski, Huntsville City Schools Superintendent

1.7. Huntsville City School Board: Laurie McCaulley, Beth Wilder, Elisa Ferrell, Walker McGinnis, Mike Culbreath

1.8. The Finnish Education System

1.9. Finland has some of the best test scores on math. science, and literacy.  Finland has made a concentrated effort to make education accessible to all its children.  They have abolished nearly all forms of standardized testing, and uses formative evaluation in its place.  Teachers and students engage in oral and written dialogue to chart progress.  The only standardized test used is a college entrance exam.  Teachers are held in high regard and paid their worth.  Finland experiences high teacher retention.  Teachers have small classes and are given time to develop curriculum with other teachers that is beneficial to all students.

2. Curriculum and Pedagogy

2.1. Developmentalist Curriculum

2.2. Focuses on the needs and interests of the students and not societal needs.

2.3. Based on the theories of John Dewey and the developments in psychology by Piaget.

2.4. Emphasized the content of being taught, as well as the process of what's being taught.

2.5. Stressed flexibility in teaching methods.

2.6. Influence of developmentalist curriculum has been minor in American public schools.

2.7. Teacher is viewed more as a facilitator, rather than a deliverer of knowledge.

2.8. Functionalist Theory

2.9. Feel that school curriculum should represent the knowledge that students need to become competent members of society.

2.10. Curriculum should ensure social stability.

2.11. Schools should teach the values that are relevant to modern society.

2.12. Schools should prepare students for the complexities of the modern world.

2.13. Schools have a responsibility to teach skills that are useful in the modern world, rather than focus of facts and rote memorization.

3. Equality of Opportunity

3.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment of Women

3.2. Less females drop out of school than males.

3.3. More likely to have levels of higher reading proficiency than their male counterparts.

3.4. More females are attending college than males.

3.5. Coleman Study

3.6. Where an child goes to school can depend on their race or economic status.

3.7. The racial and status make-up of the school has a bigger impact on student success, rather than individual race or status.

3.8. Gaps in student achievement can be related to segregation among schools where race and status are concerned.

4. Educational Inequality

4.1. Cultural Deprivation Theory

4.2. States that lower-class and nonwhite students do not possess the intellectual and social skills needs for success, upon entering school.

4.3. May not have access to books or other materials that aid in academic success.

4.4. Middle class cultures value hard work and delayed gratification, as well as the importance of education.

4.5. Impoverished cultures reject hard work and embrace instant gratification  and schooling is not a means to social mobility.

4.6. Policies and programs have been developed (Head Start Program) that target lower-income families to help prepare students for academic success.

4.7. Curriculum and Ability Grouping

4.8. At the elementary level, students are grouped based on their reading and mathematical abilities.

4.9. At the high school level, students are separated by both curriculum and academic ability.  This can result in different groups of students receiving very different types of education in the same school.

4.10. Research shows that if teachers expect more from students, the better they perform.  Students in lower-performing groups may have low expectations from teachers, thus not perform well academically.

5. Educational Reform

5.1. School-to-Work Program

5.2. Prepares students for high-paying, high-skill careers.

5.3. Allows students to explore different career options and develop the skills needed in those careers.

5.4. High training standards ensure that student is highly trained for their chosen career.

5.5. Program contains three elements:  school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activities.

5.6. State Intervention and Mayoral Control in Local School Districts

5.7. Can provide ample opportunity for state and local lawmakers to pool their resources and improve learning.

5.8. Takeover can be extreme and dramatic.

5.9. Takeover can allow competent staff to guide efforts of improvement.

5.10. Can improve statewide accountability efforts.

5.11. Can provide a healthy environment for concerns to be addressed.

6. Policies of Education

6.1. Conservative

6.2. 1. Rooted in 19th Century Darwinist thought

6.3. 3. Places primary emphasis on the individual and their responsibilities/choices.

6.4. 2. Strong belief in the Free Market/Capitalism.

6.5. Traditional

6.6. 1. Views schools as necessary in maintaining American values (hard work, family, personal initiative, etc).

6.7. 2. Belief that schools should pass on the "best of what was".

7. History of U.S. Education

7.1. Post WWII Equity Era

7.2. 1. Debated the goals of education (academic, social, etc).

7.3. 2. Demanded expansion of educational opportunities for all children.

7.4. 3. Concerned with expanding opportunities to the post-secondary level.

7.5. Radical-Revisionist School

7.6. 1.

8. Sociological Perspectives

9. Philosophy of Education

9.1. Pragmatisim

9.2. Instrumentalism and experimentalism, founded on John Dewey's ideals, was influenced by Darwin's theories.

9.3. Key researchers and founders include George Sanders Pierce (1839-1914), William James (1842-1910) and John Dewey (1859-1952).

9.4. John Dewey contributed the most modern of Pragmatic views, renamed Progressivism.  His philosophy of education "made a conscious attempt to balance the social role of the school with its effects on the social, intellectual, and personal development of individuals" (Sadovnik, 2004).

9.5. In the Progressive approach, the teacher becomes the facilitator instead of the authoritarian figure.

9.6. Dewey felt that learning should begin with the students posing questions on what they want to know.  He felt that teachers and students should work together to develop a student-specific curriculum that caters to the individual  learning styles of each student.  Classrooms using the Progressive approach lack traditional rows of desks and instead encourage partner and group seating.

9.7. Progressive education favors a integrated curriculum.  For example, if the students were studying birds, all core subjects would integrate birds in their lessons.  Curriculum for the Progressive approach is not fixed and changes yearly based on the needs and interests of the students.