For this assignment, you will be defending a choice in the current education battle that is playing out in our contemporary society. Two of the most prevalent questions about education is, “What is the best type of education for children? AND “Where should it be delivered?” We didn’t get to these questions by accident. We got here very intentionally. All that you have read/watched/discussed/understood in this semester has led you to being able to pick a “side” in this battle.

To state it simply, “What’s the best form of education: Public/Private/Charter?” It’s both an easy and difficult question to answer. How do you define best? Best for whom? Who’s paying for it? Why do we have to choose? Who benefits from each system? Who suffers? Who gets to decide who goes where and why? The questions are endless. The answers are too.

PART 1 (15 POINTS)

In a written response of a MINIMUM of 1000 words, choose a winner in the Public/Private/Charter ED Battle. You should use as much course content as possible to write your response. Additional research may be necessary and is always appropriate. Address the following:

• Why did you choose that winner?
• How is it connected to the various ideas of the course?
• How would various thinkers respond (Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, Booker T. Washington, etc.) to your choice?
• What is the philosophical/ideological/political connections to this decision?
• Who benefits from this choice? Who suffers?
• What will happen if your winner stays the winner?
• What will happen when/if ideologies change?
• How does society as a whole benefit from your winner?
• How does society as a whole suffer?
• And any other issue/idea you deem relevant

PART 2 (5 POINTS)

For Part 2 of the exam, you’re going to record a video using Zoom, a tool embedded in this course. You will use the resubmission option to submit your video. Please do NOT use any external links to youtube or other recordings. This isn’t going to be a lengthy recording. You should consider the following scenario:

You’re at dinner with friends/family/co-workers/some combination of that group and someone says, “HEY……if you had to choose Public/Private/Charter education for your child, what would you pick?” You’ll record your response, based upon what you wrote. Because the winner of your battle should be where your child goes to school.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/04akqimWDq532G7jBRW3jfb4w

African-Americans and Education

Required Reading:

• Kenneth Clark, How Children Learn About Race
• Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483
• Brown v. Board of Education, 349 U.S. 294
• Rury, Chapter 5

School Desegregation and “Compensatory” Programming

Required Reading:

• Rury, Chapter 6
• Watch: Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later
• The Origins of Progressive EducationRequired Reading:The Common School Reform Movement
  • Watch Video on Horace Mann
  • Horace Mann, “Twelfth Annual Report” (1848)

  Progressive Education

  • Watch ED Battle Video
  • Booker T. Washington, “Speech at Atlanta Exposition” (1895)
  • W.E.B. Dubois, “The Talented Tenth” (1903)
  • Mintz, Ch. 8

  Social Reform and School ReformRequired Reading:

  • Mintz, Ch. 9
  • Rury, Chapter 4
  • Committee of Ten