Tinkering Toward Utopia

1. Tinkering Toward Utopia Bev Bricker Courtney Doussett

2. How Schools Change Reforms Ways reforms can be judged 1. fidelity to the original design 2. effectiveness in meeting outcomes 3. longevity

3. 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.

4. The Unintended Consequences….. Reforms gone bad • Home 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

5. When educators are faced with reforms created by elite policymakers they respond in several ways: 1. adapt innovations to the local circumstance 2. comply - often in minimal ways 3. sabotage the movement If the reform is vague or unattainable, educators make it concrete and into what they know how to do.

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

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

8. 1848 Kindergarten Introduced • Teachers were child gardeners • Preventative 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.

9. 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.

10. One Room School Houses Inefficient Unprofessional Meager in curriculum offerings Made the teacher be subordinate to community members as they were in control.

11. School Structure – 1858 Most schools in cities could have a student teacher ratio 200:1 with one or two assistants. Students recited their learning.

12. Graded School Reform Specific classrooms Promotion Retention Alienated students

13. 1860 Graded Schools Introduced By 1870 the idea spread to practically all cities. More efficient Easily 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.

14. 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.

15. NEA - The Committee of Ten - 1892 • recommended eight years of elementary education • four 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.

16. 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)

17. 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

18. 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.

19. Jr. High School Lingering Influence on the System Team teaching Guidance for students Specialist teachers were moved to elementary upper grades Pathways for Studies were developed.

20. An empty shell of what it should have been In 1922 Thomas Briggs proclaimed Jr. High schools nothing more than Potemkin villages

21. Dalton Plan – 1920s • Rose as a counter to the Graded School Reform • Eliminated: • self-contained classrooms • Recitations • 50-55 minutes periods • Promotion • Retention.

22. The Dalton Plan • aiming to achieve a balance between each child's talents and the needs of the community • Ideas taken from Montessori and Dewey • Encouraged freedoms, responsibility, cooperation, time budgeting • Kept curriculum and textbooks • Students • worked on contracts • paced themselves in academic subjects • able to take art, music and P.E.

23. 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

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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……..

28. 1970s • Vietnam War Ending • Scramble to keep federal funds • Conservative 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 Scores • Business Reformers • New management systems • Schools as a marketplace • Planning, budgeting, competition, incentives

29. 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

30. 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)

31. The Constants in Education Students and Teachers

32. 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 in • Career Ladders • To continue to provide opportunities for educators who do not wan tot go into administration

33. The Influence of a Teacher Challenging students Making subjects exciting Listening when you need someone to talk to What motivates teachers? ……………seeing their students grow intellectually and mature as persons.

34. 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.