High expectations : the cultural roots of standards reform in American education / William A. Proefriedt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Proefriedt, William A.

Series:

Advances in contemporary educational thought series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Educational change--Social aspects--United States.

Education--Standards--Social aspects--United States.

Education--Standards.

Social aspects.

Educational change--Social aspects.

Educational change.

United States.

Physical Description:

vii, 193 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Teachers College Press, [2008]

Summary:

This fascinating historical account sheds much-needed light on the ideas and assumptions of the current standards and accountability movement by focusing on essential questions in education: Who is to be educated? What knowledge is of most worth? How shall we teach? How do students learn? And education toward what ends? The author then compares and contrasts how present reformers have answered these questions and how educational thinkers, including Emerson, Du Bois, and Dewey, have addressed them. By placing today's reforms in historical perspective, educators will be better able to respond thoughtfully to current educational policies and practices.

Providing a thorough understanding and critique of today's standards movement, this book: Argues that schools are not the only institution in our society that should be held responsible for the failure to close the achievement gap. Encourages educators to step outside of their day-to-day practice to see that there are other ways of "doing schooling" based on our past. Offers new paths for reformers to address issues such as curriculum, approaches to learning, testing, and school finance practices.

Contents:

Four Fundamental Questions 2

Three Underlying Assumptions 4

1 Market Street and Monticello 8

Origins No Longer Matter 8

Different Purposes, Different Knowledge 10

How We Learn: Open-Mindedness 14

Who Is to Be Educated? 15

Jefferson's Dream and Ours 18

Different Times, Different Purposes 23

Who Is Left Out? Progress and Persistence 25

2 Founding Schools, Creating a Culture 30

A Theology for Schools 31

Schooling Will Save Us: Then and Now 33

Blind to the Needs of Those We Teach 38

Shaping a More Compassionate America 39

Learning from Our History 44

3 Sailing on the Pequod: Horace Mann 47

Fighting Immorality and Social Anarchy 48

From a "Common Faith" to a "Higher Purpose" 51

Individualism Amended 54

Sailing Alone in a Smaller Craft: Emerson 58

We Are the Children of Mann 61

4 Blindness and Understanding: Washington and Du Bois 63

Denying Reality 64

Selling Our Souls in the Marketplace 65

Invisible Man: Performance and Manipulation 71

Ignoring Du Bois: Then and Now 76

Finding Ourselves: A Different Path 79

Du Bois's Despair: No Easy Answers 85

5 Inquiry, Not Recipes: John Dewey 91

Rethinking American Individualism 91

Questioning What Knowledge Is of Most Worth 94

The Quality of the Learning Experience 98

Questioning Our Educational Aims 101

The Influence of John Dewey 103

6 Excellence and Opportunity in a Time of National Needs 106

Seizing the Democratic High Ground: Arthur Bestor 107

Study Hard or Live on the Fringes: Hyman Rickover 113

Excellence and Equality, Too: James Bryant Conant 118

Toning Up a Whole Society: John Gardner 126

Helping the Poor, Helping the Nation: Francis Keppel 131

7 American Nightmare/American Dream 136

Refusing the Pill 136

The Attack on the Schools: A Marxist Critique 138

The Schools Join the Revolution 144

Restoring the Dream: A Can-Do Attitude 147

8 High Expectations in Historical Perspective 153

A Political Consensus on Standards Reform 153

Extending the Language of American Individualism 154

American Individualism and Self-Deception 158

The Outsider in the Locker Room 162

Thinking Differently About Some Old Educational Questions 165

Critical Writings 176.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-179) and index.

ISBN:

9780807748749

0807748749

OCLC:

192135694