Exam 15: Education

Jim has done some research about education in other countries and is appalled at what he sees when he compares the United States. He is most concerned about the amount of time U.S. schoolchildren spend in school. He is a proponent of __________ as a part of school reform.

The authors of the text recommend a(n) __________ college education for all qualified students.

How do schools encourage conformity?

Discuss the claim that American education is the "great equalizer." Is it now? Has it ever been? Does it need to be? Ideal

Taxpayer-funded charter schools and school vouchers go against the American value of competition.

Local control of education is often a social problem because of __________.

Discuss the pros and cons of "tracking." Would you want to be in an education system with a lot of tracking? What do we gain and lose with such a system? Ideal

At the highest tier of higher education it is __________ that matters much more than sheer ability.

The failure in school of poor and minority children can be said to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Schools today tend to be __________.

Explain how local control of education influences the quality of public schools. What would be the effects of removing local control? Do you think we should remove local control? Ideal

Programs that work to hold educators accountable by instituting standardized exams often lead to slow learners being encouraged to drop out of school.

The data presented in the text show that U.S. schools tend to block the chances of minority and economically __________ children in their quest to be successful.

A powerful negative social label that affects a person's social identity and self-concept is a __________.

In the past, the school year was developed around the __________ calendar.

As cited in your text, about what percentage of American adults are high school graduates?

Empirical studies have demonstrated conclusively that investing in preschool programs for the poor __________.

Megan has been placed in an advanced learning track and her teachers begin to expect more from her. Additionally, she has more resources available to her to help with the more difficult material. With the extra attention and help she scores very well on her exams and gets admitted to good colleges. This illustrates __________.

Education is the great equalizer in U.S. society.

Josie agrees with the results from the Project Star initiative and other research about the importance of school and class size. She would be in favor of efforts to __________.