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HSED-UE 1005 / HIST-UA 93

Introduction to American Education:

Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Spring Semester, 2019

Monday/Wednesday 12:30-1:45

SILVER 408

Instructors:

James W. Fraser

Kimball Hall-Room 307W--3rd floor

212 998 5413

jwf3@nyu.edu

Adrienne Nguyen Melissa Bonaparte Ray Mitic

adrienne.nguyen@nyu.edu melissa.bonaparte@nyu.edu rrm385@nyu.edu

Daniel Olson Amy Wilson

daniel.olson@nyu.edu amy.wilson@nyu.edu

A Word on this Syllabus

A syllabus is always a work in progress. While the basic assignments, and especially the due dates will stay as they are, it may be important to make other changes as the semester progresses. If an important new topic emerges in education (always a possibility in today’s volatile climate), we will make changes to address it. If student interest dictates a change, we will make it. Please feel free –and more than free, please feel a sense of obligation—to tell all the instructors what you want to study. We have flexibility and the course will work best if all participants own a sense of responsibility for its content.

Course Description and Objectives

Introduction to American Education: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives is, as the name implies, a history course. Throughout the semester we will look at a number of important issues in contemporary American schooling through the lens of history. How have these issues developed over the last two hundred years? What has changed? Who have the prime change agents been? But we will also discuss all of these issues as they are in actual schools in the twenty-first century. What is happening now? What should happen? What are the forces for change—for the better or for worse?

For those who are preparing for careers in teaching, or who are pondering such careers, but also for students who are interested in the education as a field of study—who may want to be journalists or researchers or activists in the field—this course should provide important background and far more knowledge of historical context than many in education have today. But also for students of history or politics or who bring a general interest to the questions of this course, Introduction to American Education is designed to help us understand current political, pedagogical, and economic debates with a level of sophistication sadly lacking from many contemporary discussions.

An important message regarding your rights:

Any student attending NYU who needs an accommodation due to chronic, psychological, visual, mobility and/or learning disability, or is Deaf or Hard of Hearing should register with the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212.998.4980, 726 Broadway, 2nd floor, nyu.edu/csd.

Important Additional Policies that all students need to be aware of:

NYU Steinhardt’s Grading Policies



Statement on Academic Integrity:



Policy on Religious Holiday Observance:



Student Complaint Procedure: (see page 14-15)



Assigned Readings

All participants in the course will read:

James W. Fraser, The School in the United States: A Documentary History (Third Edition, New York: Routledge, 2014) NOTE: There are specific units from the book assigned for each of the six sections of the course.

Ashley Berner, Pluralism in American Public Education: No One Way to Go to School (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). Read Preface, pp. 1-6, in Pluralism in American Public Education (available on line through NYU libraries or in bookstore)

Diane Ravitch, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools (New York: Vintage, 2014).

In addition, there are a number of short readings assigned for the class which you will note under the weekly assignments or which we will discuss in class. Happily, all other readings except the above will be available in NYU Classes website and do not need to be purchased.

Course Schedule

Introductions

Monday January 28— First Class: Introductions to each other and to the course.

What Do We Mean by Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on American Education?

Plans for the semester—review of syllabus

Ground rules for our class

Wednesday January 30—Why study education historically? What is the context in which we will be working?

An historical overview to help provide framework for future specific topics.

Monday February 4— Defining the Expectations. What Do We Mean by a College Essay? CLASS WILL MEET IN TA GROUPS, NOT FULL CLASS. EACH GROUP WILL HAVE AN ASSIGNED PLACE TO MEET. BE SURE YOU KNOW THE LOCATION IN ADVANCE. Review expectations for the course, for writing, and especially the first writing assignments. Defining the terms and expectations. Getting to know each other in the group.

First Question—How has the job of teaching changed over time and how have teachers helped change it?

Wednesday, February 6— Overview Lecture—The changing teaching profession

Assignment due February 6: Read the following documents:

• John Adams, Diary, 1756 (In Classes)

• Catharine E. Beecher, An Essay on the Education of Female Teachers for the United States, 1835, p. 50

• Charlotte Forten, The Journal of Charlotte Forten, 1862, p.102-104

• Margaret Haley, Why Teachers Should Organize, 1904, pp. 210-204

• Herb Kohl, Thirty-Six Children, 1967, p. 256-264

• U.S. Department of Education, Executive Summary of No Child Left Behind Act, 2002, pp.360-364.

Monday, February 11—Panel Discussion: What is the Job of a Teacher Today? How Has it Changed Over the Course of My Career? Veteran teachers discuss their experiences.

Panelists

Elizabeth McDonald, NYU, former Massachusetts teacher and principal

Rosa Pietanza, NYU, former NYC teacher and principal

Robert Wallace, NYU, former NYC teacher and principal

Audra Watson, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, former NYC teacher, principal, and central office administrator

Wednesday, February 13—Student Panel—Teaching today. What is the job of teaching from a student perspective? What do we wish the job included?

Students from Essex Street Academy, a NYC public school, will present their views.

Monday, February 18—President’s Day Holiday—No Class

Wednesday, February 20— SECOND MEETING IN TA GROUPS. In-group discussion of the question and peer-review and discussion of Paper #1, by TA group

First Paper—Changes in the Job of Teaching due Friday February 22

Second Question—Are Schools Fair? What Does Should Fairness in Schooling Look Like?

Monday February 25— Civil Rights and School Integration

Assignments due February 25: Read Chapter 10. Civil Rights, Integration, and School Reform, 1954-1980, pp. 270-301.

Wednesday, February 27—School Integration: Urban and Suburban—The Recent History, 1980-2017

Guest Lecture: Guest Lecture: Sean Drake, Assistant Professor of Sociology of Education

Assignment: Be sure you have read the documents in chapter ten and come prepared to ask Professor Drake questions based on the historical record with which you are familiar.

Monday, March 4—Broadening the Discussion and Expanding Civil Rights

Assignment due March 4: Read Chapter 11. Rights and Opportunities in American Education, 1965-1980, pp. 302-330.

Wednesday, March 6—Guns, Shootings, Students, Teachers, Government

A whole class discussion of what happened in Florida, the many other school shootings, student activism and teacher roles (human shield, armed defender, or something else).

Assignments due March 6: Read the following articles, all available on Classes

• Emma Gonzalez on Shootings in Parkland, Florida, 2018

• President Donald Trump, Governor Jay Inslee (D-Washington), Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) on Guns in Schools, 2018

Monday, March 11—Case Study: Special Education, What Is the Debate?

Guest Lecturer: Rachel Fish, Assistant Professor Special Education

Assignment: Reading TBA

Wednesday, March 13- MEETING BY TA GROUPS. In-class peer-review and discussion of Paper #2, by TA group

Second Paper—Fairness and Rights in Education due Friday, March 15

March 18-22 Spring Break!!!

Third Question—Which Schools Are Public? Tax Money, Public Funding, Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools? Who Pays for Schools? Who Decides What to Do with the Money?

Monday, March 25— Who Has and Has Not Paid for Schools in the Past? Who Has Decided to What to Do with the Money?

Assignment due March 25: Read the following documents:

• Horace Mann, Tenth Annual Report, 1846, pp. 44-46

• Petition of Catholics of New York for a Portion of the Common School Fund, 1840, pp. 59-65

• William Jennings Bryan, Who Controls (In Classes)

• The Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Great Society, 1965, pp. 305-308

• U.S. Supreme Court, “San Antonio v. Rodriguez,” 1973 (In Classes)

• Alfie Kohn, NCLB and the Effort to Privatize Public Education, 2004, pp. 370-373

Wednesday, March 27—Privatization: What is happening to public schools? What does school choice really mean?

Guest: Professor Diane Ravitch, Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities

Assignment for March 27, Read chapters 32 and 33 and Afterword. pp. 300-330 of Ravitch, Reign of Error (available on Kindle or in bookstore) and prepare one written question for Professor Ravitch. Questions will be collected at beginning of class.

Monday, April 1— The Case for School Choice: No One Way to Go to School

Guest: Professor Ashley Berner, Johns Hopkins University

Assignment for April 1: Read Preface, pp. 1-6, and Chapter 7, pp. 135-154 in Ashley Berner, Pluralism in American Public Education: No One Way to Go to School (available on line through NYU libraries or in bookstore) and prepare one written question for Professor Berner. Questions will be collected at beginning of class.

Wednesday, April 3—THIRD MEETING OF TA GROUPS. In-class peer-review and discussion of Paper #3, by TA group

Third Paper—Which Schools Are Public? Due Friday April 5

Fourth Question-- What Gets Taught? What Should Get Taught? Hidden and Overt Curriculum?

Monday, April 8—What Has Gotten Taught at Different Times in American History?

Assignment for April 8—Read:

• The New England Primer, 1768, pp. 10-16

• Noah Webster, The American Spelling Book, 1783, pp. 35-37

• McGuffey’s Sixth Eclectic Reader, 1836, pp. 74-75

• The Freedman Reader (In Classes)

• The Scott Foresman Readers, 1955, pp. 247-249

• Sonia Nieto, Affirming Diversity, pp. 344-349

• Arthur M. Schlesinger, The Dismantling of America, pp. 349-355

Wednesday, April 10—What Do We Mean by Curriculum Today? How Does a Teacher Decide What to Teach?

Guest: Professor Diana Turk, Director of Teacher Education for Steinhardt

Assignment: TBA

Monday April 15—Technology and Curriculum. The issue is not new but has a new role

Readings for April 15

• Thomas Edison, motion pictures will transform schools, 1923 (In Classes).

• Seymour Papert, The Children’s Machine, 1993 (In Classes)

• Neil Postman, Technopoly, 1993 (In Classes)

• Arthur Levine, Digital Students, Industrial-Era Universities p. 378-380

• Ed Week, Technology in Education: An Overview, 2016 (In Classes)

Assignment: Read all five of the above articles, but bring a one paragraph paper to class—hard copy please—describing if you agree with Papert, Postman, or neither. We will use these for class discussion.

Wednesday April 17—School Site Visit—What do you see being taught—The official curriculum? The hidden curriculum?

Monday April 22—Earth Day: What Does This Mean for What Schools Should Teach?

Wednesday April 24— MEEING BY TA GROUPS In-class peer-review and discussion of Paper #4, by TA group

Fourth Paper—Curriculum due Friday, April 26

Fifth Question-- What Is the Purpose of Public Schools? How Has the Purpose Changed Over Time?

Monday April 29—The Many Purposes of Schooling Throughout U.S. History

Assignment for April 29:

• Thomas Jefferson, A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge, 1779, pp. 20-22

• Horace Mann, Twelfth Annual Report, 1848, pp. 46-50

• Booker T. Washington, The Future of the American Negro, 1899, pp. 110-114

• W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk, 1903, pp. 115-125

• Marcus Garvey, Lessons from the School of African Philosophy, 1937, pp. 126-127.

• John Dewey-David Snedden debate on Industrial Education, 1914, p. 145-153

• National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk, 1983, pp. 331-332.

Wednesday May 1—What About Teacher Unions, Strikes, Etc.?

Guest Lecture: Christina Collins, United Federation of Teachers

Assignment for May 1: (all except interview with Karen Lewis are in Classes)

• Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Talks to Students, 2018

• AFT Resolution, “Defeat the DeVos Agenda,” 2018

• Josh Eidelson and Sarah Jaffe, “Defending Public Education: An Interview with Karen Lewis of the Chicago Teachers Union”

• Frederick M. Hess, The Facts Behind the Teacher Strikes, 2018

• Randi Weingarten, Hope in Darkness, 2018

Monday May 6—The Current Debate About Purpose

Guest Lecture: Brittney Lewer, Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science, and Humanities

Assignment—Review documents from April 29.

Wednesday May 8— In-class peer-review and discussion of Paper #5, by TA group

Fifth Paper—The Purpose of Schools due Friday, May 10

Monday, May 13—Last Class Session/ Discuss Themes of the course/ Wrap Up and Evaluations

Course Assignments and Grading

1) All participants in the course are expected to be in class and on time, read regularly and participate actively in the course. More than three unexcused absences will reduce your grade one full grade level. More than five unexcused absences will mean an automatic F for the course. In addition you are expected to schedule a one-on-one appointment with your TA some time before the March Spring Break. (TAs will have more information on these meetings.) Please note—one class session will be off campus. If you do not have 15 minutes travel time before and after class, please let your TA and the instructor know as soon as possible. We can make alternative arrangements. But we need advance warning. Participation in all class sessions is essential as is evidence of participation being informed by the assigned readings. [25% of the final grade.]

2) At the end of each of the five units of the course a written assignment is due through the NYU Classes system. [Each paper will count as approximately 15% of the final grade—together they are 75%.]. The five papers will each have the same basic requirements but related to the six topics of the course.

Basic Requirements for each paper

• Each paper should be 3-4 pages long.

• Each paper should include your answer to the question of the unit, for example how do you think the job of teaching has changed over time and how do you think teachers have influenced those changes? Or who do you think pays for schools and who do you think should decide the use of school funds? A good paper makes a clear argument (your opinion), based on specific evidence. This means, for example, that in answer to the first question, a paper should clearly state your opinion about how teaching has changed, why it has changed, and also be clear on what interpretation you are rejecting. Your point of view must be clear. But so must the evidence on which your point of view rests; “just because I think so” is not sufficient. The argument may either be about historical interpretation of the documents or about current events but it must be clear and specific.

• Each paper must include

o A specific citation from at least one primary source among those assigned for the unit—that is from a historical document in The School in the United States. (Using more than one source or making comparisons among primary sources is encouraged.)

o A specific citation from at least one other source, besides those in The School in the United States, either assigned or that you find elsewhere.

o A specific citation from class discussion—this may be something that was said in a lecture by the instructors or by a guest, something another student said in discussion, or that in another way came up in class.

Topics and Due Dates

1. How Has the Job of Teaching Changed and How Have Teachers Helped Change It? Due Friday February 22

2. Who Pays for Schools? Who Decides What to Do with the Money? Due Friday March 15

3. Are Schools Fair? What Does Fairness Look Like? Due Friday April 5

4. What Gets Taught? What Should Get Taught? Hidden and Overt Curriculum? Due Friday April 26

5. What Is the Purpose of Public Schools? How Has the Purpose Changed Over Time? Due Friday May 10

Grading Criteria

• Class participation will be graded on three things: attendance, active participation in class—may be the large class, TA sessions, or email exchanges with instructors—and informed participation in class (i.e. does it seem like you have done the reading?). I understand that some people are shy in a large gathering. If this is true of you, please be sure to let the instructors know and we will find other ways to address the requirement. If you need to miss a class, please send an email to Professor Fraser and your TA in advance.

• The five short papers will be graded on the following criteria

o Does the paper have a clear and specific point of view? Does it answer the main question of the unit? Does it consider alternative answers?

o Does the author use evidence to argue a point of view (but not just summarize data)? Evidence must include all three forms: at least one primary source from the documentary readings, at least one other source, and at least one quotation from class.

o Is the paper clear and well written?

In general grades will be as follows:

A Paper reads like graduate level work; strong in all areas

A- Paper is strong in covering all criteria

B+ Paper covers most criteria well

B Solid paper but something missing—clarity, evidence, or thesis

B- More than one aspect missing

C+ Several aspects missing

C Tries to address the assignment but not ready for prime time

C- Really not ready for non-prime time

D Paper weak in all areas

F No paper, plagiarism problems, or completely misses the point

The same basic criteria will apply to all papers and class participation.

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