What happens if...?

What happens to this course if the grades for the class are restricted the following way?:

A = 2

B = 10

C = 3

Consider this in light of reading Foucault.

Everything You've Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong | Mother Jones

Everything You've Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong | Mother Jones

Education Reform (graphic journalism)

The Disaster Capitalism Curriculum: The High Price of Education Reform (Episode I)

Murky Waters: The Education Debate in New Orleans

The Finnish Alternative: Reclaiming Public Education From Corporate Reform

Education as “Politically Contested Spaces”

Education as “Politically Contested Spaces”

Six Degrees of Insanity: "Reforming" Education | Alternet

Six Degrees of Insanity: "Reforming" Education | Alternet

Alternative Assignment: Education Advocacy Assignment

Education Advocacy Assignment:

1)    Identify three education-related bills on the federal level about which you have some interest and/or concern.  Submit those three choices by the due date to the instructor.  The instructor will then assign you one of those three options on a first-come, first-serve basis.  No more than two students will be permitted to analyze the same bill.

2)    Next, answer the following questions about the bill (2-3 double-spaced pages minimum).  Make sure to attach a copy of the first page of the proposed bill to your paper. 

a)     Summary of the bill (a paragraph will suffice).

b)     What does this bill propose to do?

c)   Do you favor or oppose the bill?  Explain.

d)   What might be some of the opposing viewpoints (to your own) regarding the bill?

e)   Does this bill illustrate any awareness of community or cultural diversity?  Why or why not?

3)   Identify a United States senator or representative from South Carolina (or your home state) and prepare a letter telling him/her whether you think he/she should or should not support the bill.  Be clear and concise in your reasoning (1 single-spaced page maximum).  Attach a copy of your letter to your paper.

4)   Identify a newspaper in South Carolina (or your home state) and write a letter to the editor regarding your viewpoints about the bill. Give your letter a brief title.  Do no exceed 250 words.  Attach your letter to the editor to your paper.

It is your decision whether to actually submit your letter to a senator/representative and/or a newspaper editor.

Useful websites for this assignment:

Search Current Legislation

Use the subject/keyword “education” for best results:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issuesaction/bill/

http://thomas.loc.gov/

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/legislation.xpd

How Can I Contact my Legislators?

Use your zip code to find your legislator.  Click on the names listed to read a bio and see contact information:

http://www.votesmart.org/

Sample Letters

http://www.scstatehouse.gov/studentpage/Who/sample_letters.shtml

Greenville News tips for writing a Letter to the Editor (can be applied generally to all newspapers)

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/99999999/OPINION/50715007/Tips-For-Getting-Published

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/99999999/OPINION/50715008/What-You-Should-Know-About-Letters-To-The-Editor

5 People Who Bravely Fought Christian Takeover of America | Alternet

5 People Who Bravely Fought Christian Takeover of America | Alternet

Evolution as Design | National Education Policy Center

Evolution as Design | National Education Policy Center

Topic 7: Current Issues and the Future of Education

Topic 7: Current Issues and the Future of Education

Recommended by Larry Cuban

CCSS

See Susan Ohanian's collection of CCSS posts

"Rotten to the (Common) Core," James Arnold

Assorted blogs related to CCSS by P. L. Thomas

TFA

Collected research/commentaries on TFA at PEN

Assorted blog posts on TFA by P. L. Thomas

NCLB, RTTT, Opting Out of NCLB

Assorted research/commentary on accountability at PEN

Assorted blog posts on NCLB by P. L. Thomas

Blog posts on RTTT by P. L. Thomas

Charter schools

Research/commentary on charter schools (and school choice) at PEN

Numerous blog posts about charter schools by P. L. Thomas

Merit Pay

"The Folly of Merit Pay," Education Week, September 17, 2003, Alfie Kohn

"Against 'Competitiveness,'" Education Week, September 19, 2007, Alfie Kohn

Topic 6: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Topic 6: Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Curriculum

National Curriculum or National Standards?

Preparing for Today and Tomorrow, Elliot W. Eisner

What Students Need to Learn (Educational Leadership)

Curriculum and Consciousness, Maxine Greene (1971)

Diversity and Inclusion, Maxine Greene (1993)

Schooling as if Democracy Matters (Journal of Educational Controversy)

Instruction

Busting Myths about Differentiated Instruction, Wormeli, Rick

Response: Several Ways To Differentiate Instruction, Larry Ferlazzo

Alfie Kohn:

"Poor Teaching for Poor Children...in the Name of Reform," Education Week, April 27, 2011

"It's Not What We Teach; It's What They Learn," Education Week, September 10, 2008

"Unconditional Teaching," Educational Leadership, September 2005

"Getting-Hit-on-the-Head Lessons," Education Week, September 7, 2005

Assessment and grades

"The Case Against Grades," Educational Leadership, November 2011, Alfie Kohn

Alfie Kohn on Standards and Testing: https://www.alfiekohn.org/essays-standards-testing/

"The Trouble with Rubrics," English Journal, March 2006, Alfie Kohn

Textbooks

Textbook Selection and Respect for Diversity in the United States, SUSAN WATTS-TAFFE

How Do Teachers Use Textbooks

How Texas Inflicts Bad Textbooks on Us, Gail Collins

Teaching content v. teaching students

Hidden curriculum

Technology in education

State and national assessment

Popham

Topic 5: Legal, Political, and Financial

Topic 5: Legal, Political, and Financial

The Constitution and Federal Jurisdiction in American Education, Kerry L. Morgan

Role Of Federal Government In Public Education: Historical Perspectives, Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins and Margaret Hawkins Hill

The Evolving Federal Role in Education: An Introductory Essay, Don Wolfensberger (2005)

CATO Institute: Refuting Federal Role in Education

Key Issue: Prayer in School (Religion and Education)

An old debate over religion in school is opening up again 

Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, USDOE (February 7, 2003)

ACLU Resources

Key Issues: School Choice, Private Schools, Homeschooling, Charter Schools

Charter Schools Not the Answer, Especially if We Fail to Identify the Question, Thomas

Comparing Private Schools and Public Schools Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (NCES, USDOE, 2006)

Private School Costs, Bruce Baker

Charter Schools, Bruce Baker

Liberals, Don’t Homeschool Your Kids, D. Goldstein

See related: Response to Goldstein, The Atlantic

Multiple Choice (CREDO, 2009)

Topic 4: Diversity, Multiculturalism, Poverty/Privilege, Class, and Race

Topic 4: Diversity, Multiculturalism, Poverty/Privilege, Class, and Race

Unlearning Deficit Ideology and the Scornful Gaze:Thoughts on Authenticating the Class Discourse in Education, Paul Gorski

Good Intentions Are Not Enough, Paul Gorski

Equality of Educational Opportunity: A 40-Year Retrospective

“Poverty and Education: A Critical Analysis of the Ruby Payne Phenomenon,” Jennifer C. Ng & John L. Rury (July 18, 2006), TCR

“Poverty and Testing in Education: ‘The Present Scientifico-legal Complex,’” Thomas (2011)

“The Myth of the Culture of Poverty,” P. Gorski (2008)

“Return of the Deficit,” C. Dudley-Marling (2007)

Key Issue: At-Risk Students

Helping At-Risk Students Meet Standards: A Synthesis of Evidence-Based Classroom Practices (2002)

Helping at-risk students succeed: A psychologist-designed program that supports learning among at-risk kids gains nationwide momentum, Tori DeAngelis(February 2012, Vol 43, No. 2, page 46) [APA]

Key Issue: LGBT Students and Education

ACLU: LGBT Students and Education

Students defend gay right, P. Slevin (2005)

Sexual Orientation and Human Rights

Students: Know Your Rights (Southern Poverty Law Center)

Debunking Education Myths About Blacks

MLK on Poverty in America - YouTube

A Talk to Teachers, James Baldwin

James Baldwin on Education

Topic 3: Historical Foundations of Education

Topic 3: Historical Foundations of Education

120 Years ofAmerican Education:A Statistical Portrait

Thomas Jefferson on education

Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1841)

Historical Foundations (PPT)

Key Issue: Corporal Punishment

“Is Corporal Punishment an Effective Means of Discipline?” (APA)

“Perspectives on the Effects of Corporal Punishment: Comment on Gershoff (2002),” G. W. Holden (2002)

Key Issue: Single-Sex Education

Single-sec education: Pros and cons

“The Pseudoscience of Single-Sex Schooling,” Halpern, et al. (2011)

NYT related coverage of Halpern, et al.

Progressive education: An overview

Recommended: “Progressive Education: Why It’s Hard to Beat, But Also Hard to Find,” Alfie Kohn (2008)

John Dewey’s Theories of Education, W. F. Warde (1960)

Experience and Education, John Dewey

Key Issue: Parental Public School Choice

“Fixing the Milwaukee Public Schools: The Limits of Parent-Driven Reform,” David Dodenhoff (2007)

Topic 2: Educational Philosophies

Topic 2: Educational Philosophies

Overview (Oregon State University)

Theories of learning (OSU)

Learning Theories

Educational philosophies (chart)

Philosophy and Education Continuum

Recommended: “Michel Foucault on education: a preliminary theoretical overview, “Roger Deacon (2006)

“Foucault and Education Reform,” D. M. Cheshier

Michel Foucault. Discipline & Punish (1975), Panopticism

Topic 1: The Teaching Profession

Topic 1: The Teaching Profession

History of teacher education

Diane Ravitch, Ph.D.—A Brief History of Teacher Professionalism

Only a Teacher: Teaching Timeline (PBS)

Merit pay, VAM evaluation: Resources

VAM evaluation of teachers, Bruce Baker

Recommended: Getting Teacher Evaluation Right: A Background Paper for Policy Makers

“Of Rocks and Hard Places—The Challenge of Maxine Greene’s Mystification in Teacher Education,” P. L. Thomas

Is teaching a profession?

“Is Teaching a Profession?” G.M. Inlow (1956)

“Making Teaching a Profession,” J. Epstein (2010), Inside Higher Ed

What Teacher Tenure Is — And What It’s Not, neatoday

“Is teacher tenure a myth?,” V. Strauss, The Answer Sheet, The Washington Post

Teachers’ Unions: An Overview

NCTQ, Bruce Baker