School Reform

Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Hochschild ◽  
Nathan Scovronick

AMERICANSGIVE A GRADE OF “B PLUS” to the schools attended by their own children, a “B minus” to the public schools in their community, and a “C” to the public schools nationally. Incumbent politicians extol the impact of the educational reforms they have sponsored while insurgents point to the problems that remain. Some analysts call for an “autopsy” on public education, others insist that such rhetoric represents a “manufactured crisis” comprised of “myths [and] fraud.” The American public education system is not in crisis. Some public schools are impressive and many are doing a good job, although most are not as good as they should be. In a few places, chiefly in poor urban districts (and in some poor rural districts as well), schools are failing miserably; they provide the evidence for people who see a crisis. Once again the most serious problems result from inequality. In part because of home and community influences, poor children often come to school less ready to learn than others, and they face more obstacles to educational success as they grow up. Parents and communities can and must contribute to alleviating this problem, just as social policies such as full employment, universal health insurance, and family allowances could help. As we have seen, however, it is the schools to which we have given the central responsibility to make the American dream work, to provide the structure and tools that all children need to pursue their dreams and maintain democracy. America has chosen to invest in schools rather than these other social policies to try to equalize opportunity; if our nation allows public education to fail the children who most need its help, then the dream is merely a sham. We cannot simultaneously substitute schools for other policies to alleviate poverty and permit schools to shirk the tasks needed to do the job. School reform can help poor children, and others, improve their performance. The movement for high standards has created a mechanism that can help all students to learn more. Preschool, summer school, and small classes can help them.

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (Especial 2) ◽  
pp. 572-577
Author(s):  
João Gomes Moreira ◽  
Fernanda Aparecida Augusto ◽  
Irene Caires da Silva ◽  
Maria Elisa Nogueira Oliveira ◽  
Tatiana Veiga Uzeloto

This article aims to discuss the dismantling that the neoliberal proposals have been making in relation to social policies, which the State, in fulfillment of its duty, should provide for the wellbeing of the population, in a democratic way. It was sought to clarify that the public-private relationship is nothing more than a major strategy of capital to create and expand new market niches to overcome the cyclical crisis of capitalism, always presented with new clothes in the mutations that are processed, to reduce the effects of the inevitable in the social asphyxiation that eventually generated great revolutions recorded in its historical process. This article is of bibliographic character, where information was sought in doctrines, periodicals, specialized magazines, official websites and others. Finally, it was a brief diagnosis of the current situation of the Brazilian public education that, from the third way, has been incorporating new forms of action based on the logic of the market.


2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 984-1007
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Flores-Koulish ◽  
Jessica T. Shiller

The purpose of this article is to discuss the possibilities of public education. We argue that public schools, despite their flaws, still provide necessary spaces of civic engagement. When major social and/or political events happen, young people have few outlets to discuss, process, and understand implications. In this article, we share the experiences of Baltimore’s teachers after the death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed Black man, who lived in Baltimore and died in police custody. Following his death, the city exploded in protest, both violent and peaceful. We interviewed eight teachers and collected curriculum samples to make sense of how they used the public school classroom as a space of critical care, social justice, cultural relevance, and anti-racism to contextualize current events in their city. There are implications here for school district professional development and teacher education.


2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-142
Author(s):  
Russell Arben Fox

Michael J. Apple$quoteright$s book constitutes, among many other things, an ambitious rethinking of what will be necessary to make the ideal of egalitarian public schooling more appealing to those parents who have, in recent years, found their beliefs and criticisms most readily responded to by various `conservative modernizers' and other enemies of public education. Rather than treating all those who make attacks on public schooling in the same way, Apple proposes that educators develop ways to alter the structure of public schools so as to draw in the support of at least some of their critics, particularly those whose criticisms arise from concerns about the perceived opposition between public schooling and religious and parental authority. The question then becomes how to accommodate such charter and community schools within the public education ideal.


Numen ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Camurça ◽  
Sueli Martins

RESUMOA partir de um estudo de caso de escolas municipais na cidade de Juiz de Fora, este artigo visa discutir a questão de fundo da laicidade no Brasil. Tomando a perspectiva do debate internacional atual que analisa este processo de uma forma plural e não como via única que tem como modelo os países europeus e os EUA, busca-se aqui estabelecer uma tipologia - três casos paradigmáticos - que nos aproxime das formas diferenciadas e informais de regulação do religioso no ambiente público escolarPalavras-chave: Chave: Escolas públicas, laicidade, regulação, religiões, BrasilABSTRACTDrawing upon a case study on public schools in the city of Juiz de Fora (MG), this article aims to discuss the substantive issue of secularism in Brazil. The paper builds on the current international debate that analyzes the process of secularization under a plural and multidimensional, rather than one-imensional perspective, which has been modeled on European countries and the United States. We seek to establish a typology based on three paradigmatic cases that may bring us closer to the differing forms and informal regulation of the religious phenomenon in the public education environment.Keywords: Public schools, secularism, regulation, religions, Brazil 


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Felix Barbosa Carreiro

Cabe ao Estado garantir o direito a uma educação pública com qualidade socialmente referenciada. A julgar pelos indicadores educacionais publicados a partir dos resultados do Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (Ideb), esse direito, no que se refere ao acesso, à permanência e ao sucesso escolar dos alunos que frequentam as escolas públicas, não está sendo sufi cientemente garantido. Apontamos como causa desse fracasso escolar a inexistência de políticas públicas educacionais focadas na aprendizagem escolar. Vale lembrar que as escolas públicas que apresentam o Ideb para além da meta, não significam necessariamente qualidade da educação. Reconhecemos que as avaliações em larga escala têm a potencialidade de subsidiar as políticas em educação com vistas à melhoria dos indicadores de qualidade do ensino e da aprendizagem, sobretudo quando os resultados são problematizados e sistematizados pelos sistemas educacionais e pelas escolas. Compreendemos que a qualidade na educação pública implica a efetivação da aprendizagem, ou seja, que o aluno aprenda, seja aprovado tenha garantido um futuro promissor. No contexto de uma escola pública de orientação emancipadora, é preciso que algumas condições objetivas sejam satisfeitas, a saber: gestão escolar democrática, compromisso docente com a escola pública, razoabilidade da infraestrutura escolar, materiais pedagógicos adequados consolidação das mediações escolares de participação.Palavras-chave: Qualidade. Educação. Escola pública.Elements for a public education with social qualityABSTRACTIt is the State’s responsibility to ensure the right of a public education with quality socially acknowledged. Judging by the educational indicators published as from The Brazilian Education Development Index (Ideb), this right, in relation to the access, the stay, and the school success of the students that attend the public schools, are not being suffi ciently guaranteed. We point as the cause of this school failure the lack of educational public policies focused in school learning. It is worth remembering that the public schools that present the Ideb above the target do not necessarily mean educational quality. We recognize that the evaluations of large scale have the potential of subsidizing the policies in education in order to the improvement of learning and teaching quality indicators, mainly when the results are questioned and systematized by the educational systems and the schools. We understand the quality in public education implies the learning realization, in other words, that the student learn, can be approved, and ensure a promising future. In the context of a public school with na emancipating orientation, it is necessary that some objective conditions must be satisfied, such as a democratic school management, teaching commitment with the public school, the reasonableness of the school infrastructure, appropriate teaching materials, and the consolidation of the educational mediations of the participation.Keywords: Quality. Education. Public School.Elementos para una educación pública con calidad socialRESUMENPuede el Estado garantizar el derecho a una educación pública con calidad socialmente valorada. A juzgar por los indicadores educacionales publicados a partir de los resultados del Índice de Desarrollo de la Educación Básica (IDEB), ese derecho, en lo que se refi ere al acceso, a la permanencia y al éxito escolar de los alumnos que frecuentan las escuelas públicas, no está siendo suficientemente garantizado. Apuntamos como causa de ese fracaso escolar a la inexistencia de políticas públicas educacionales enfocadas en el aprendizaje escolar. Es preciso recordar que las escuelas públicas que presentan el IDEB como meta, no significa necesariamente calidad de educación. Reconocemos que las evaluaciones a gran escala tienen la potencialidade de subsidiar las políticas de educación con vistas a el mejoramiento de los indicadores de calidad de la enseñanza y del aprendizaje, sobretodo cuando los resultados son planteados y sistematizados por los sistemas educacionales y por las escuelas. Comprendemos que la calidad de la educación pública implica la efectividad del aprendizaje, osea, que el alumno aprenda, sea aprobado y tenga garantizado un futuro prometedor. En el contexto de una escuela pública de orientación emancipadora, es preciso que algunas condiciones objetivas sean satisfechas, a saber: gestión escolar, infraestructura escolar, materiales pedagógicos adecuados, consolidación de las mediaciones escolares de participación.Palabras Clave: Calidad, Educación, Escuela Pública.


Author(s):  
Sarah M. Stitzlein

Not only is the future of our public schools in jeopardy, so is our democracy. Public schools are central to a flourishing democracy, where children learn how to deliberate and solve problems together, build shared identities, and come to value justice and liberty. As citizen support for public schools wanes, our democratic way of life is at risk. While we often hear about the poor performance of students and teachers, the current educational crisis is at heart not about accountability, but rather about citizen responsibility. Yet citizens increasingly do not feel that public schools are our schools, that we have influence over them or responsibility for their outcomes. Citizens have become watchdogs of public institutions largely from the perspective of consumers, without seeing ourselves as citizens who compose the public of public institutions. Accountability becomes more about finding fault with and placing blame on our schools and teachers, rather than about taking responsibility as citizens for shaping our expectations of schools, determining the criteria we use to measure their success, or supporting schools in achieving those goals. This book sheds light on recent shifts in education and citizenship, helping the public to understand not only how schools now work, but also how citizens can take an active role in shaping them. It provides citizens with tools, habits, practices, and knowledge necessary to support schools. It offers a vision of how we can cultivate citizens who will continue to support public schools and thereby keep democracy strong.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Jacob ◽  
Leilani Sabzalian ◽  
Joana Jansen ◽  
Tary J. Tobin ◽  
Claudia G. Vincent ◽  
...  

This article advocates for the necessity of Indigenous Knowledges in furthering Indigenous self-determination in public schools, as well as furthering the broad aims of public education. Drawing attention to past efforts across the United States to transform the public school curriculum and analyzing data from testimonies given at Oregon State Legislature Hearings, we argue that Indigenous Knowledges offer an important resource for educating all students responsibly and improving relationships within and across communities. Framing these ideas as gift-giving logic, we argue that if educators and policy-makers are open, they can learn a great deal from Indigenous Knowledges and advocacy efforts.


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