American Education Policy What Works Link to Education data

Chapter 9 key terms n Expanding the federal role race\religion n Unequal funding –states serano v priest; San Antonio v Rodriquez n Equality outside the US n Merit pay, Bilingual ed n School vouchers, pro and con n Charter schools | NCLB

The Coleman Report n James S. Coleman, et. al., Equality of Educational Opportunity, 1966 n surveyed 600,000 students, 60,000 teachers, 4,000 schools n study required by 1964 Civil Rights Act, n purpose: to measure the lack of equal educational opportunity in the U. S.

Findings: n schools serving black pupils not physically inferior to schools serving white pupils. n money spent, class size, laboratories, guidance counseling, teacher salaries, teacher qualification had no effect on academic achievement.

Findings n Students with parents with high socio- economic status (SES) had higher scholastic achievement. n Students who went to school with students whose parents had high SES had higher scholastic achievement.

Thomas F. Pettigrew n reanalyzed Colemans data: n Black students attending mostly white schools averaged two grade levels higher achievement than black pupils in segregated schools. n White students in integrated schools no worse than white students in segregated schools.

Policy Implications: n Stop worrying about money? n Family background: compensate with: HEAD START. n Peer Group Influences: SCHOOL BUSING

David Armour: n The Evidence on Busing, 1972 n study of the effects of a Boston School Busing program

Findings: n Black students bused to white schools did not improve their performance relative to those who were not bused. n Bused students were more likely to go on to better colleges n other studies generally support these findings.

Coleman Report II n Trends in School Desegregation n Private schools more integrated than public schools (sort of) n School Busing causes White Flight n (not a very good study)

What about HEAD START? n 1968 Ohio-Westinghouse Study n No long-term cognitive gains for Head Start pupils compared to similar non- Head Start pupils. n subsequent studies equally divided.

Perry Pre-School Program (controlled experiment) n 66 students in long-term high quality program. n no long-term improvement in cognitive scores. n BUT.. n more likely to be employed, go to college n 20% fewer drop outs, n less crime n fewer special education assignments

Other studies: n Compensatory education program show no effect n Worker training programs show no effect. n Whole Language learning (vs. phonics) n Bilingual Education

So, What Does Work?

Coleman Report III n High School Achievement, 1982 n Compares students in public high schools with students in private (Catholic) high schools. n Measures changes in Reading, Science and Math during high school. n Comparison based on students with similar family SES

Findings n Private school students do better n BECAUSE: ä more academic course work ä more homework ä better attendance ä stricter discipline n Public Schools can do the same thing

Other studies: n Project STAR (1990) – small class size in early grades has long term positive effect. (controlled experiment) n Vouchers: Harvard study (2000) finds 9% gain for black students after two years on school vouchers (experiment in New York, Washington and Dayton).

Other Possibilities n Single-Sex Education n Longer School Days \ School Year n Standardized Testing n Ending Social Promotion n Merit Pay n Home Schooling n Parenting skills

Liberal Programs n Bilingual Education n Affirmative Action n Multicultural Education n School busing n Whole language learning n Teacher salaries n Finance equity n Social promotion n Self esteem n Student rights n Critical thinking (sort of) n New math n Sex education

Conservative programs n Higher standards n Local control n School Vouchers n School Prayer n Discipline n Home schooling n Higher teacher standards n Phonics n Back to basics n Merit pay for teachers n Old math n Abstinence education n Standardized test n Local standards

Neither Liberal nor Conservative n Longer school day n Longer school year n Same sex schools (con?) n Smaller class size (lib?) n Smaller schools n School uniforms (con?)