Episode 4: 1980-2002

Abstract

This episode covered the most recent years of school from the 1980s to 2002. There were a lot of trends happening in education during this time period. In the early 1980s everything seemed to be going well. We were educating the majority of youth and 85% of students graduated from high school, which was the highest percentage it had ever been. The government tried to blame the poor economy on schools, and the report A Nation at Risk was published. This called for higher standards in schools, which led to standardized testing in all grades. The annual cost for standardized tests was 500 million dollars. The idea of school choice was introduced to try to get students more interested in their education, and schools in Wisconsin tried a voucher program where low income students were able to attend private/non-religious schools at the public schools expense. Charter schools were also introduced during this time as a public school that did not have a superintendent. The government provided more than 80 million dollars to improve charter schools. In 2002, 90% of children were enrolled in public school. After all the experiments with different types of schools, we found that all students need excellence and equality.

Reflection

It is amazing to see how many educational trends and programs were developed in the 1980s and 90s. I think most of these trends were just experiments in an attempt to fix our schools. A Nation at Risk probably scared a lot of people into believing that the educational system was failing, but pushing for higher standards and No Child Left Behind was not the way to address the problem. However, some of the trends like magnet schools seemed to benefit students. I would be interested in looking at school systems in other countries and compare them to those in the U.S.

Episode 1: 1770-1890

Abstract

This episode focused on the beginning of public schools. In the early 1770’s, only towns in New England built schools that students could attend. In 1776, the average lifetime school attendance was 82 days. To make the newly established country more Americanized, British textbooks were replaced by American textbooks; the most popular of these was known as Webster’s Speller, which taught American words and spelling. Thomas Jefferson came up with the idea of providing three years of public school known as elementary school, where those who excelled were allowed to go on to secondary school. Jefferson thought public education was essential for democracy. However, there was no education for slaves and only a few years for women. Horace Mann, who lead the Massachusetts State Senate and served on the board of Education, found that school varied from town to town. He visited over 1,000 schools and wrote about their physical appearance saying that we take more care of our livestock than our schools. African-American schools began to emerge, however they remained segregated well into the 1900’s. There was a law passed abolishing segregation in Massachusetts, which was the first law of its kind. Katherine Beecher stated that it was a “woman’s calling to teach” and as the west expanded, an “army” of women teachers headed to the west.

Reflection
I’ve never actually stopped to think about when and how public schools began. It is obvious that education was very important to the country when we declared our independence, but not many counties had a school system set up. Once schools were established, I was surprised to hear about all of the religious debates. I never realized that public schools followed any one religion in particular, and it is unfortunate that Catholics and others were isolated because of their religion. Watching the history of education helps me understand why the educational system is the way it is today. A lot has happened in schools since the 1700’s, but they are still no where near perfect.

Episode 3: 1950-1980

Abstract

This episode reviewed the history of school between the years of 1950-1980. There were many inequalities between race and ethnicity, gender, and students with special needs. Segregation was legal in the 50’s because people believed that as long as facilities were equal that it didn’t matter, but the facilities between black and white schools were anything but equal. After Brown vs. Board of Education was passed, schools began to integrate students in classes, but sports teams, proms, and student governments in the school remained segregated by color. Lyndon Johnson used to be a school teacher and he believed that an equal chance of education is equal chance of life. During his presidency he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which meant that schools may loose federal funding if they refused to integrate schools. After eight years of its implementation, 91% of black students attended integrated schools. The amount of disabled students not enrolled in school totaled 72%. The average amount of years Mexican-Americans spent in school before they dropped out was about 5 years. Students were not aloud to speak Spanish in school, and their culture was misrepresented in many textbooks. Once Mexican-American culture was accepted in schools, 68 million dollars was given to schools who taught bilingual learners. In the early 1950’s only one percent of medical and law degrees were awarded to women. There were many limits put on women in school including sports and scholarships. In 1972, Title 9 addressed discrimination on gender. Once this was enforced, courses and sports became co-ed and 42% of high school athletes were female.

Reflection

This was a really interesting time period in the history of school because so many changes occurred in the span of 30 years. I sometimes feel like this happened such a long time ago, but it really hasn’t been that long. All of my grandparents and parents have lived through the inequality and segregation. I am interested in interviewing my grandmother on this issue because she grew up in Mississippi and must have some stories about what it was like to grow up in the south. It was a time for reaching equality between race, gender, and special needs. I couldn’t imagine going to school in this time period when all of these issues going on. I am very thankful that women now have equal rights and I have just as many opportunities as men.

Episode 2: 1900-1950

Abstract
Schools responded to immigrants by “Americanizing” them, where almost all classes were taught in English. Only Christian holidays were celebrated even though most students in NYC were Jewish. In the beginning of the 1900’s, eighty percent of children would rather have worked in a factory than go to school because at this time schools were considered dirty and full of disease. Schools soon became more student-centered when John Dewey tried to focus on the health of the students. Educators exposed students to work places and nature and there was a focus on physical activity and keeping students moving between classes. Schools even built swimming pools to give some students a chance to bathe. Children enjoyed going to schools like this because they focused on work, study, and play. In 1920, the percentage of 17 year olds graduating was 17%, which then reached 45% in 1945. Also around in this time period, the IQ test was created and soon began to rise in popularity. A pilot test was used on American soldier and they calculated the average age for American adults to be 13 years old. Around one million students were tested each year from their home economics skills to citizenship.

Reflection
I thought this documentary was really informative and it helped me understand why the school system is the way it is today. As a health major, I really enjoyed learning about John Dewey and the focus on health in schools. It was surprising how quickly immigrants had to adjust to the American lifestyle, even in cities where immigrants were the majority. Another part of this time period was the beginning of the IQ and standardized tests. I found it interesting that even after estimating the average adult age at a low 13 in the pilot test, it did not stop schools from issuing the test to students. There is obviously still a controversy over standardized tests today, and I don’t think the problem will be addressed and solved for a long time.