ED 545 - American Education: the Search for the Public Good

Interactivity: None

Final Assessment: None

Course Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to do the following:

• Understand the social and political implications of the knowledge taught in schools.
• Expand your knowledge of the complex historical and cultural forces that have shaped the development of American public schools.
• Discuss the ongoing tension between issues of freedom and social control in American public schools.
• Recognize the history of the philosophy of education.
• Describe the influence of social Darwinist thought on the development of public education and the resulting influence of the industrial and/or corporate elite on educational goals.
• Compare and contrast the views of Washington and Du Bois over the education of African-Americans.
• Analyze the causes and consequences of race, gender, and class inequality in schools.
• Evaluate the impact of contemporary school reforms, including standardized testing and other educational mandates.
• Assess the current challenges to American schools, such as equitable funding, multiculturalism, resegregation, school choice, homeschooling, school violence, etc.
• Predict the future of American education in the twenty-first century.