Deck 4: Social Diversity and Differentiated Schooling: The Progressive ERA

Question 1

What does the phrase "equal educational opportunity" mean in terms of both the "social-efficiency" and "developmental democracy" progressives? Discuss the difference in perspectives and evaluate the degree to which one or the other concept, in your view, was a better response to the needs of American society in the decades following the turn of the century. What does "equal educational opportunity" mean to you in terms of education today? How will you, as a teacher, seek to actualize this "equal educational opportunity" vision in your practice?

Answer 1

No answer

Question 2

In what respects did various strands of the "new psychology" emerging in the progressive era provide support for innovations in schooling, including differential curricula and extracurricular activities? Do you think these innovations were adequately justified by these new interpretations in psychology? Defend your position.

Answer 2

No answer

Question 3

Charles Eliot and other social-efficiency liberals believed that they were serving the interests of democracy with their vision of progressive education. Explain their point of view according to their conception of democracy. Next, evaluate their educational and political points of view by your definition of the educational requirements of democracy.

Answer 3

No answer

Question 4

The debate about education for its own sake versus education for a particular role in society continues today. What are some of the ways you see this disagreement being played out in today's educational environment? In your experience, how do you think schools today tend to orient themselves-toward a classical educational model or toward a more vocational one-and what are your thoughts about this?

Question 5

During the progressive era, enormous changes were occurring that seemed to threaten the widely held belief that America was a land of opportunity, with plenty for everyone. The new immigrants were seen as part of this threat because it was believed that they

A) took away jobs from the old immigrants.
B) were polluting the genetic stock of America.
C) had no valuable job skills.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 6

Jefferson feared that urbanization would wreak havoc on the nation. Progressives saw an increase in crimes associated with urbanization. These two points are

A) related because both Jefferson and progressives feared that poverty, one of the components of urbanization, would breed crime.
B) unrelated because Jefferson feared for the loss of agrarian values while progressives feared for the loss of capitalistic values.
C) unrelated since progressives viewed urbanization as necessary to progress.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 7

The rise of the factory system brought with it

A) a system for easily replaceable workers.
B) higher pay for workers.
C) increased self-direction for workers.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 8

The introduction of Taylor's scientific management in industry was aimed at

A) increasing production.
B) diminishing workforce autonomy.
C) controlling knowledge.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 9

Workers' resistance to scientific management in industry was primarily based on

A) the fear that mechanization was shortening the work week.
B) the issues of worker autonomy.
C) the fear that production costs would be less than wages.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 10

Opposition to the scientific management of workers came from several perspectives. Among these were advocates of

A) agrarian localism.
B) industrial democracy.
C) trade unionism.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 11

Centralization of economic and political power in the progressive era is

A) a feature of the political-economic change.
B) a clear way to achieve democratic ideals.
C) synonymous with socialism.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 12

The establishment of commissions that regulated the new giant corporations and monopolies

A) resulted in regulations that protected consumers from abuse by monopolistic practices.
B) tended to further erode the public accountability of government agencies.
C) contributed to the decentralization of monopolistic power.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 13

The results of progressive economic reforms largely

A) brought a market-driven economy under more government/business control.
B) protected the rest of society from abuses by the privileged few.
C) prevented the government from meddling in the affairs of business.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 14

Centralization of urban government was advocated in part as a way to overcome the abuses of the ward system. This change in city government had the effect(s) of

A) further marginalizing minority groups.
B) reducing social class stratification.
C) strengthening populism.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 15

Progressives' advocacy of centralization of decision-making reflects their stated or implied belief in

A) social Darwinism.
B) a humanitarian attitude toward employees.
C) depoliticized expertise.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 16

Modern liberal ideology included a concept that the world around us was functioning organically. This concept is in sharp contrast to which of the following ideas?

A) Truths are unchanging.
B) Decisions about social goals should be made by specialists.
C) Truths can change with changes in methods of determining these truths.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 17

Application of the scientific method for reaching reasonable conclusions

A) was an extension of social Darwinism.
B) increased faith in the common person's ability to form valid opinions.
C) enhanced acceptability of views of qualified people.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 18

Reliance on experts to determine the best courses of social programming

A) weakened the political efficacy of the common person.
B) strengthened participatory democracy.
C) ensured the protection of the least powerful from abuses of the ward system.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 19

Classical liberal emphasis on individualism was reflected in the desire for what we have termed "negative freedom." In contrast to this, the modern liberals desired

A) government regulations to protect certain freedoms.
B) a noninterventionist laissez-faire government.
C) individual autonomy to survive difficult times rather than government support.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 20

Progressives viewed schools, to some extent, as the appropriate place to solve problems associated with industrialization, immigration, and urbanization because

A) schooling could produce experts.
B) nonschool institutions couldn't be trusted to instill values.
C) the superiority of scientific methods could be demonstrated more widely in the schools.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 21

The influence of the "new psychology" that rose to prominence during the progressive era can be seen today in the method(s) of

A) positive reinforcement (rewarding approved behaviors).
B) school-sponsored extracurricular activities.
C) "time-out" boxes.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 22

The belief that people learn best through physical activity is most associated with

A) transfer-of-training assumptions.
B) vocational education assumptions.
C) liberal education assumptions.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 23

Educators and others who advocated progressive education reforms held a view that the "new" students

A) needed to learn through emotions more than intellect.
B) required guidance toward their eventual professional place in life.
C) improved their learning by pursuing their own interests.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 24

Dewey's concept of a free individual as one who can frame and execute his or her own purposes is in sharp contrast to the concepts embedded in

A) progressive vocational education.
B) participatory democracy.
C) classical liberalism.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 25

Dewey advocated bringing activities based on occupations, with which students were familiar, into the curriculum. He favored this because

A) the industrialization era required children to learn trade skills as early as possible.
B) he wanted education to be more relevant to the nonschool life of students.
C) he wanted education to be centered on society, not on children.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 26

Eliot and others saw schooling as a way to teach students to respect experts. This can contribute to social stability because it

A) increases the number of proposals for planning social programs.
B) decreases the probability that ineffective social programming will be pursued.
C) encourages people to accept their lot in life.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 27

It has been said that the classical curriculum aimed to prepare all students to be president of the United States. Because this is an unrealistic goal for most people, it was argued, the country needs a curriculum that will help students get jobs in the existing, and predicted, economy. This line of argument represents

A) support for vocational education.
B) a manpower model of schooling.
C) an economic justification of schooling.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 28

Social-efficiency progressives cited society's need for a curriculum that

A) was designed around the perceived needs of a student.
B) encouraged respect for experts.
C) reflected social conditions.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 29

"Equal educational opportunity" aimed to provide a student with an education most appropriate for his or her potential and

A) historically offered a way to overcome societal differences resulting from economic class, ethnicity, and gender.
B) did not expect everyone to be able to master the same basic material.
C) relied to some extent on predicting an individual's future.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 30

Which of the following statements best expresses the idea of new liberal freedom?

A) A government that governs best is one that governs least.
B) A government needs to intervene in the conditions for freedom.
C) A laissez-faire government demands protection of private property from government regulation.
D) A laissez-faire government demands protection of private property from government regulation, but the conditions for freedom require government intervention.

Question 31

Which one of the following statements holds true for the progressive era's idea of "new psychology"?

A) "New psychology" views the mind as a collection of faculties that could be developed through rigorous exercise.
B) "New psychology" is a revised view of human nature that was influenced by several new approaches to psychology.
C) "New psychology" is a new view of human nature that replaced scientific psychology.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 32

The progressive reform of city governments at the turn of the century can be seen as a

A) victory of the blue-collar and ethnic majority over professional and business class interests.
B) victory of experts making decisions over public debate.
C) beginning of the "ward boss" system.
D) concentration of power being redistributed to a majority of the people.

Question 33

Which of the following does not illustrate fundamental resistance to corporate capital industrialization?

A) Populism
B) Socialism
C) Progressivism
D) Trade unionism

Question 34

Components of classical liberalism were modified by new liberals to respond to new social and political conditions. This is best illustrated by

A) nonpermanent, changing ideas of what is moral now becoming one absolute truth.
B) the laws of nature being modified through the discoveries of Darwin and then being applied to the social order.
C) faith in the common man's ability to arrive at reasonable ideas.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 35

The dreams of Jewish immigrants, like the dreams of other new immigrants, were only partially realized because

A) they encountered considerable prejudice from established Euro-American groups.
B) they encountered considerable prejudice from "new" immigrants.
C) education did not play as important a role in the Jewish culture as it did in the United States.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 36

Reflecting on the influence that Darwin had on many intellectuals of his day, Eliot devised a plan of barring unmarried southern and eastern Europeans from immigrating to the United States. What could have been his reason?

A) The immigrants belonged to countries that did not have good relations with the United States.
B) Married people were socially more stable and less likely to remain unemployed.
C) Married immigrants would be a lesser threat to the American gene pool.
D) Single immigrants would remit their earnings to their families outside America.

Question 37

Progressive schooling emphasized two new social and educational goals: social stability and employable skills. What was the common belief about achieving those goals?

A) Only white Americans were capable of achieving those goals.
B) Schools had to offer a set curriculum to meet those goals.
C) Only black and immigrant children were able to achieve those goals.
D) Goals could be achieved by pursuing both academic and vocational courses of study.

Question 38

Charles Eliot said, "There is no such thing as equality of gifts, of powers, of faculties, among either children or adults." What kind of schooling was he promoting when he said those words?

A) Liberal education for all students who weren't immigrants
B) Vocational education for all students who were academically experts
C) Liberal and vocational education for poor and immigrant students
D) Vocational education for the majority and liberal education for the academically outstanding

Question 39

The European system of education found it easier than the American school system to foster vocational instruction in the elementary schools because

A) Europe's college systems are worse than those in the United States.
B) historically the Europeans lacked the strong democratic ideals that the Americans had.
C) it is harder to go to colleges in Europe than in America.
D) Europe's economy has more demand for vocational education than America.

Question 40

Dewey wanted occupational activities to form an important part of elementary school operations to

A) provide concrete motive and meaning to teaching.
B) ensure positive and lasting results for instruction.
C) bring about a vital relation between life within and outside the school.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 41

Ellwood Cubberley wrote that "a thoroughly democratic ladder has everywhere been provided" in the nation's schools. This "ladder" was meant for

A) students from only wealthy families who could hope to rise to the top.
B) every student enrolled in a school to rise to the top as a result of equal educational opportunity.
C) the truly deserving student who could rise to the top as a result of equal educational opportunity.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 42

IQ tests were believed to be accurate tools for

A) assessing the probable and evident destinies of students.
B) making schools more democratic.
C) measuring a student's abilities.
D) All of these answers are correct.