tinkering toward utopia

BEV BRICKERCOURTNEY DOUSSETT

Tinkering Toward Utopia

How Schools Change Reforms

Ways reforms can be judged

1. fidelity to the original design2. effectiveness in meeting

outcomes3. longevity

John Dewey

……thought concepts should be evaluated on the basis of practical effects. Whether those effects are positive or negative, adjustments can and should be made to continue to improve.

Aims and practices should have continuous interaction.

The Unintended Consequences….. Reforms gone badHome Ec was supposed to stop divorce…

Girls did learn how to make white sauce….and tuna casserole

The Good High School reform pushed larger schools. Alienated, anonymous students and isolated staff

NCLB and previous attempts at testing students has resulted in teaching to the test, no higher order thinking skills taught

When educators are faced with reforms created by elite policymakers they respond in several ways:

1. adapt innovations to the local circumstance2. comply - often in minimal ways3. sabotage the movement

If the reform is vague or unattainable, educators make it concrete and into what they know how to do.

Reforms Defined

Usually reforms are not clearly mandated policies but rather concepts to be evaluated on the basis of their practical effects

Seeing a need……

Elizabeth Peabody thought there should be a place where children could be spontaneous, curious, and active.

1848 Kindergarten Introduced

Teachers were child gardenersPreventative Charity (child saving)

Provided food, hygiene, parenting skills and moral development to underprivileged children.

Teachers visited homes to support families Hoped to solve the race problem Tame the unruly children

of the cities.

Kindergarten Assimilated into the Mainstream

Kindergarten evolved to be a part of the first-third grade continuum.

The mission became to redeem society through compensatory socialization of the misfits.

5 year-olds were prepared for first grade in a scientifically developmental way.

One Room School Houses

InefficientUnprofessionalMeager in

curriculum offeringsMade the teacher be

subordinate to community members as they were in control.

School Structure – 1858

Most schools in cities could have a student teacher ratio 200:1 with one or two assistants. Students recited their learning.

Graded School Reform

Specific classroomsPromotion RetentionAlienated students

1860 Graded Schools Introduced By 1870 the idea spread to practically all cities.

More efficientEasily reproduced method of educating large

populations. Resulted in sorting of students from 'normal'

and 'retarded'. Good for the students whose culture matched

the requirements, but failed the minority students.

Differing Views on Educational Purpose

Traditional educators saw high school as a college preparatory institution.

Others believed the high school should serve more as a people's school, offering a range of practical

courses.

NEA - The Committee of Ten - 1892

recommended eight years of elementary educationfour years of secondary education

It defined four different curricula for high school. The first two followed a classical trend: classical and Latin-scientific. The second two were more contemporary: modern language and

English. Courses that are now considered basic like foreign languages,

mathematics, science, English and history were included in each curriculum.

The goal of high school was to prepare all students to do well in life, contributing to their own well-being and society's good, and to prepare some students for college.

1906 Carnegie Unit Introduced to standardize High

School.

Meant to improve preparation for college, it instead created departments, test driven content, 50-55 min periods.

Eliot (Harvard) Wilson (Princeton) Hadley (Yale) Jordan (Stanford)

Timing of Reforms – Jr High School

1920 – 1930 Child labor laws enacted Social promotion

encouraged Vocational Education

funding money went to schools (Smith Hughes Act)

Laws requiring school attendance adopted

The Great Depression – adults needed work and took jobs from children

1916 Junior High Schools Introduced

Concerns over graduation rates:K-5 100%6-8 50%9-10 10%

This was proof that something was wrong with the middle grade instruction.

Moved from developmental (elementary) to social, vocational, ethical and health needs of older students.

Jr. High School Lingering Influence on the System

Team teachingGuidance for studentsSpecialist teachers were moved to

elementary upper gradesPathways for Studies were developed.

An empty shell of what it should have been

In 1922 Thomas Briggs proclaimed Jr. High schools nothing more than Potemkin villages

Dalton Plan – 1920s

Rose as a counter to the Graded School Reform

Eliminated: self-contained classrooms Recitations 50-55 minutes periods Promotion Retention.

The Dalton Plan

aiming to achieve a balance between each child's talents and the needs of the community

Ideas taken from Montessori and DeweyEncouraged freedoms, responsibility,

cooperation, time budgetingKept curriculum and textbooks Students

worked on contracts paced themselves in academic subjects able to take art, music and P.E.

The Dalton Plan

1930 - 8600 secondary schools (2%) were Dalton Plan schools

By 1949 only 1 school was still practicing this philosophy – The school run by Parkhurst herself

1930 Social Promotion introduced By 1940 it is mainstream practice

Graded schools had made it painfully obvious who was successful and who was not.

In order to move students through the system, it was simpler to move them with others manufactured on the same date.

Timing of Reforms – 8 Year Plan

Colleges had room as low college enrollment due to the Depression was threatening their livelihood.

There were no jobs so staying in school made more sense.

Democratic Administration (FDR) 1933-1945 allowing for less rigid educational reform ideas.

Eight Year Plan 1933-1941

An agreement to admit students to college who did not meet "normal" requirements was given.

Students were able to complete community service, artistic productions, create publications, participate in decision making.

Eight Year Plan 1933-1941

Integrated work program with student generated questions students drove the inquiry.

More individualization, student centered education.

They performed better in college academically and were more involved in social, artistic and political events than the traditionally educated students.

The war and the depression ended and colleges no longer needed a boost to their enrollment.

The program faded away……..

1970s

Vietnam War EndingScramble to keep federal fundsConservative Tone to the Country

The high school dropout rate declined steadily in the years prior to 1973.

Average SAT scores in USA have declined since 1967 Backlash from the 1960s…..

Teach the basics……Raise Student ScoresBusiness Reformers

New management systems Schools as a marketplace

Planning, budgeting, competition, incentives

Corporations Become Educators

The Office of Economic Development under Pres. Nixon provided federal dollars to 31 companies to raise student achievement.

No pay if students did not achieve.

Behavioral Learning Centers - Dorsett Educational System

Behavioral Research Labs

1980-1990s

A Nation At Risk Promoted excellence ‘lazy students’ ‘incompetent teachers’

Excellence Cannot Be Coerced Restructuring to mirror the business world

“Assume the schools we have inherited so not exist. Do not be content with incremental change.”- New American School Development Corporation (NASDC)

The Constants in Education

Students

and

Teachers

Challenges to the Teaching Profession

Single salary schedule 1920 Unions fought to create them Intrinsic equality of all good teaching

Merit Pay Fought to defeat this in 1950, 1960, 1980 Previous support also came form other unions (UAW) If enacted could curtail collaboration as competition

moves inCareer Ladders

To continue to provide opportunities for educators who do not wan tot go into administration

The Influence of a Teacher

Challenging studentsMaking subjects excitingListening when you need

someone to talk to

What motivates teachers?……………seeing their students grow

intellectually and mature as persons.

Structuring Reforms for Educator Acceptance

Reforms should make encounters between students and teachers more common.

The aim of reform is to improve learning – rich intellectual, civic and social development.

Teachers embrace reforms they saw as useful, interesting incorporating them into their daily routines – there must be adaptability to local circumstance.