Deck 11: Differentiated Schooling, Labor Market Preparation, and Contemporary School Reform: The Postcold

Question 1

Some defend the idea that schools should prepare students for the world of work, and they lament the decline of vocational and technical education in contemporary schools. This is an issue of particular relevance for schools that do not have significant populations of working- or lower-class students. In your view, does this type of education have a place in our contemporary system? In all educational environments, regardless of student demographics, or in just some? Explain your position using examples and reasoned argument.

Answer 1

No answer

Question 2

Think about the perspectives that should be considered in the process of school reform. Who should have a voice? Students? Teachers? Community members? Local school board members? State and/or federal level politicians? What is the level of impact that each of these stakeholders has on the system as we know it? What are the moral, philosophical, and social ramifications of the power, or lack thereof, of each of these voices? Support your perspective with evidence and reasoned argument.

Answer 2

No answer

Question 3

The school choice, charter school, and voucher movements in contemporary American society have been touted as highly democratic solutions to the problem of low-performing public schools. However, they have also been criticized as unconstitutional initiatives that have the potential to harm the poor as well as the health of public schools. Think about this contradiction in terms of the mission of public schooling and its responsibility to society as a whole. On which side of this debate do you find yourself? Explain your position with evidence and reasoned arguments.

Answer 3

No answer

Question 4

In the 1980s, many American political and business leaders argued that American industry was failing in world markets because American schools were doing their jobs poorly. Educator Frank Margonis offered an alternative perspective by stating that the poor performance of the American economy was due to economic factors apart from the schools. Reflect on these perspectives in terms of the political-economic origins of the contemporary school reform movement. Which perspective do you support? Explain your position with reasoning.

Question 5

John Dewey's respect for school shops, laboratories, and occupational activities

A) was successfully embodied in progressive era vocational education programs.
B) did not reflect a belief in "education for the workplace."
C) had little or nothing to do with his respect for academic achievement.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 6

Historically, liberal education tends to emphasize

A) both breadth and depth of study.
B) preparation for the world of work.
C) general learning without specialization.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 7

School reform agendas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries were dominated by

A) citizenship goals.
B) national defense goals.
C) socialization and economic goals.
D) legal and political goals.

Question 8

Identify a true statement about school reform in American society in the first half of the 20th century.

A) Schools infused into their academic programs the practice of teacher-centered learning.
B) Government leaders began supporting small, decentralized educational institutions directed by scientifically trained experts.
C) School reform was driven by the idea that classrooms should reflect the reformers' view of the "real world" of work and citizenship.
D) School reform was motivated largely by fear of an external military and political threat.

Question 9

The authors' examination of the future of the workplace reveals that

A) in the high-technology workplace of the future, there will be little employment for people without advanced training and education.
B) service employment, like industrial work, is rapidly disappearing from the workplace.
C) there is no reason to believe that in the foreseeable future, most jobs will be high-technology jobs requiring advanced training and education.
D) high technology is putting the future of teaching positions at risk.

Question 10

Research seems to indicate that general literacy skills

A) are a significant contributor to workers' success in the labor market.
B) are not as important in getting employment as specific vocational skills.
C) are desirable, but they won't help you get a job.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 11

When Dewey wrote, "the only training for occupations is training through occupations," he was advocating

A) an activity-oriented and project-centered curriculum.
B) occupational preparation.
C) intellectual and moral growth.
D) both an activity-oriented and project-centered curriculum and intellectual and moral growth.

Question 12

School reform movements can be analyzed effectively by examining

A) schooling as a response to new social and economic conditions.
B) the achievement of a social consensus on educational values.
C) school restructuring.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 13

In the 1980s, American political and business leaders began pointing to changing social and economic conditions that they felt necessitated school reform. One of the new economic and social realities most frequently cited was

A) the decline of service industries as the economic base of the United States.
B) the declining ability of the United States to compete in world markets.
C) the image of the United States as the world's leading creditor nation.
D) the decreasing proportion of Latino and African American students in American schools.

Question 14

James B. Conant argued that a comprehensive high school

A) should provide liberal education rather than vocational education.
B) should categorize its education programs based on gender, providing home economics courses for boys and trade courses for girls.
C) should offer an extensive elective program that prepares students for college, rather than the workplace, immediately after high school.
D) should offer different kinds of curricula under the same roof.

Question 15

National defense can be seen as a primary goal in which period of school reform?

A) The progressive era
B) The post-World War II
C) The common school era
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 16

The contemporary school reform movement, like earlier school reform movements in this country,

A) was in part a response to new social, economic, and ideological conditions.
B) was aimed mainly at preparing citizens to think more critically for a more democratic society.
C) was largely driven by teachers' perceptions of changes needed in schools.
D) was aimed largely at providing greater teacher authority and autonomy in schooling.

Question 17

In the context of the historical perspectives on education, Aristotle argued that

A) public schools should focus solely on vocational education and disregard philosophy, music, and literature.
B) one of the roles of the teacher, and of good government, is to see that the appetites of the young are cultivated toward wisdom and virtue.
C) young people should be left to their own devices to choose their studies wisely and realize their full potential.
D) liberal education should be provided to all members of the Athenian society, including Athenian citizens, women, and the non-Athenian workforce.

Question 18

The goal of the "excellence" movement in American education was to

A) enable parents and children to choose which public school to attend.
B) provide more educational resources for students who were "at risk" than those who were gifted.
C) upgrade the academic skills of all students for the workplace of the future.
D) provide tax vouchers to low-income families to help with their children's education in public or private schools.

Question 19

Which of the following are major themes of contemporary school reform?

A) Tension among concerns for "excellence" and "diversity" and "equity"
B) "Educational excellence" defined in terms of academic achievement
C) School choice
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 20

In terms of contemporary school reform, "school choice" can be understood as

A) the ability of parents and students to select a school based on the perceived quality of the school.
B) the ability of parents and students to select a school based on their personal educational goals.
C) the ability of parents and students to select a school not in their neighborhood.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 21

The concept of "restructuring" in school governance, curriculum, or teaching

A) is unique to the current school reform movement and was not found in early movements.
B) is found in one way or another in each of the reform movements discussed throughout this book.
C) has been rejected by most contemporary school reform advocates.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 22

A basic economic factor by which Margonis shows how the business sector has contributed to the economic decline in the United States is

A) corporate flight from one location to another, including abroad, to obtain the most profitable plant locations.
B) the international economy.
C) federal regulation of corporate activity.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 23

Understanding the political economy of the origins of the contemporary school reform movement in America requires recognition of several factors. Which of the following is one such factor?

A) The sources of the nation's economic problems resided primarily in economic and political policies, not in schooling policies.
B) Insofar as business is intervening to help fund advanced learning, the "high-tech" rationale for school improvement cannot justify concentration of resources only in a relatively small minority of skilled students.
C) Most new jobs require advanced understanding of math, science, and technology.
D) The establishment of new standards of course taking in the 1980s with the Nation at Risk significantly reduced dropout rates and increased college attainment of the student cohort affected by these changes.

Question 24

Which of the following states passed the first charter law in the United States in 1991?

A) Minnesota
B) Massachusetts
C) Florida
D) Virginia

Question 25

The "cult of business" was accompanied by an ideology of

A) anti-intellectualism.
B) social conformity.
C) political conformity.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 26

David Angus and Jeffrey Mirel believe that the most significant development in schooling in the 20th century is

A) the general track.
B) the dominance of liberal education.
C) the influence of the "cult of business."
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 27

The custodial mission of schools is based on the need to

A) prevent teenage incarceration.
B) keep young people out of the labor market.
C) train all students to be ready to enter into some type of vocation.
D) promote compulsory schooling.

Question 28

The characteristics that employers are looking for in workers

A) are skills that are emphasized in academic programs.
B) can mostly be learned on the job.
C) are taught primarily in vocational education programs.
D) can be taught by employers so long as employees are flexible and have good work habits.

Question 29

The authors point out that teachers in "academic" classrooms

A) should teach vocational teachers how to academically motivate students.
B) need to stick to conventional teaching methods.
C) can learn from vocational instructors the motivational value of activity-centered teaching.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 30

Under the Deweyan approach,

A) all aspects of vocational education would be phased out of schooling.
B) non-college-bound students would be prepared for specific occupations.
C) vocational instruction would begin in elementary school.
D) vocational education would become a useful alternative approach to a student's education.

Question 31

According to Aristotle, education

A) should be guided so that young peoples' highest capacities can be served.
B) should be done for both vocational ends and ends that are useful for their own sake.
C) should foster the quality of mind and character needed to perform good and useful acts.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 32

In the 1980s, school reform was promoted

A) to maintain the global position of the United States as a major lending nation.
B) because of a decline in the academic skills of American students.
C) because of the increase in manufacturing and the subsequent need to produce more skilled workers.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 33

William A. Sampson compared two sets of regular high schools against two sets of charters. He then compared each set of regular and charter schools on four achievement measures: mathematics, reading, science, and composite scores. Which of the following statements is true of the results of his comparison?

A) Charter high schools substantially outperform their regular counterparts in mathematics.
B) Regular high schools perform the same as their charter counterparts in reading.
C) Charter high schools substantially outperform their regular counterparts in composite scores.
D) Regular high schools perform the same as their charter counterparts in science.

Question 34

The "choice movement" in American public schooling has its roots in

A) the anti-intellectualism ideology of the 1910s and 1920s.
B) the "excellence" movement of the 1980s.
C) the "free school" movement of the 1970s.
D) the "cult of business" that dominated public education in the early 20th century.