Understanding Educational Reform

by Horn, Raymond A., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9781576078082
• ISBN10: 1576078086
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-11-01
• Publisher: Abc-Clio Inc

Summary

The only handbook of its kind to bring together materials from a wide range of authoritative works, providing the reader with a comprehensive overview of reform in American education.

Author Biography

Raymond A. Horn, Jr. is assistant professor of education at Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg.

Table of Contents

Series Editor's Preface	xi
Preface	xiii
The Essential Questions about Educational Reform	1	(30)
Defining Educational Reform	1	(5)
Educational Reform, Change, and Progress	1	(3)
The Political Context of Defining Reform	4	(2)
Using a Post-Formal Method to Understand Educational Reform	6	(1)
The Need for Educational Reform	6	(6)
Arguments Supporting the Need for Reform---and Some Caveats	6	(4)
Going Beyond Reform---School Choice and Deschooling	10	(2)
Reform and the Purpose of Education	12	(7)
Functional Purposes	12	(1)
Philosophical Purposes	13	(2)
The Importance of a Critical Approach	15	(4)
The Sustainability of Educational Reform	19	(6)
The Persistent Failure of Educational Reform	19	(1)
Messy Problems and Educational Dilemmas	20	(1)
The Need for Time to Fully Implement Reforms	21	(1)
Reasons That Some Reforms Should Not Be Sustained	22	(2)
When Do You Give Up on a Reform?	24	(1)
Historical Responses to These Questions	25	(6)
The History of Reform in American Education	31	(34)
The Mid-1800s to 1900	31	(1)
The Late 1800s	32	(2)
The Committee of Ten and the Humanist View of Curriculum	33	(1)
The Child Study and Child Development Movement	34	(1)
1900 to 1950	34	(6)
The Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education	34	(1)
Vocational Education	35	(1)
The Social Efficiency Movement	36	(1)
Progressives, Social Reformers, Social Meliorists	37	(2)
Essentialist Education Movement	39	(1)
The Eight-Year Study and the Tyler Rationale	39	(1)
Life Adjustment Education	40	(1)
The 1950s	40	(4)
Sputnik and a Return to Humanism	41	(1)
James Conant and the Reform of the American High School	41	(1)
The National Defense Education Act and the National Science Foundation	42	(1)
Reform Outcomes and Patterns of the 1950s	43	(1)
The Beginning of the Quest for Equity	44	(1)
The 1960s and 1970s	44	(6)
Striving for Equity in American Education	45	(1)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Compensatory Reform	45	(1)
Continuing Federal Reform into the 1970s	46	(1)
New Reforms, the Fate of Previous Reform, and the Critics of Education	47	(3)
The 1980s and 1990s	50	(15)
The Influence of Business in Educational Policy	50	(1)
Compensatory Education	51	(1)
Commission Reports and Reform Initiatives	51	(6)
Restructuring, Educational Standards, and Accountability	57	(2)
Outcomes of the Reforms of 1980 to the Present	59	(6)
Chronology	65	(16)
The Politics of Educational Reform	81	(28)
Conservative, Liberal, and Radical Perspectives on Education and Reform	81	(9)
The Conservative View	81	(3)
The Liberal View	84	(3)
The Radical View	87	(3)
The Culture Wars	90	(4)
Market-Based Reform	94	(7)
Total Quality Management	95	(1)
The Influence of Business Consultants on Education	96	(1)
The Privatization of Public Schools	96	(3)
The Deeper Issues of the Privatization of Public Schools	99	(1)
Channel One: Students as Consumers and Schools as New Markets	100	(1)
School Choice and the Politics of Educational Reform	101	(2)
Teacher Unions and the Politics of Educational Reform	103	(6)
The Process of Educational Reform	109	(48)
Initiating Educational Reform	109	(5)
Implementing Educational Reform	114	(22)
Implementation of Educational Reform by State Governments	114	(3)
Implementation of Educational Reform by Universities	117	(2)
Implementation of Educational Reform by Professional Organizations	119	(2)
Implementation of Educational Reform through Professional Development in Schools	121	(5)
Implementation of Educational Reform by Textbook Publishers	126	(5)
The Influence of Mass Media on the Implementation of Educational Reform	131	(5)
Two Basic Elements of the Reform Process---Conversation and Stakeholder Participation	136	(8)
Conversation	136	(4)
Participation	140	(4)
The Dilemma of How to Deal with Change	144	(13)
The Complexity of Educational Change	144	(5)
Approaches to Educational Change	149	(4)
Conclusion	153	(4)
The Dilemma of Educational Research	157	(40)
The Dueling Philosophies of Research Methodology	160	(5)
The Purpose of Educational Research	160	(2)
The Origins of Knowledge and Educational Decision Making	162	(3)
The Current Condition of Educational Research	165	(7)
The Current Condition As It Is Assessed	166	(2)
Creating and Implementing Quality Research Standards	168	(2)
Political Pressure on Educational Research	170	(1)
The Inadequate Funding of Educational Research	171	(1)
The Quandary of Quantitative and Qualitative Research	172	(14)
Quantitative Research	172	(4)
Qualitative Research	176	(10)
The Contentious Relationship of Theory and Practice	186	(11)
Defining the Relationship between Theory and Practice: Dewey and Thorndike	186	(4)
Attempts to Recombine Theory and Practice	190	(7)
Reform in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment	197	(32)
Defining Curriculum	198	(4)
The Differing Manifestations of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment	202	(27)
Curriculum	203	(11)
Instruction	214	(5)
Assessment	219	(5)
The Standards and Accountability Movement	224	(5)
The Role of the Public in Education Reform	229	(18)
Defining Community	230	(4)
Public Understanding of and Participation in Educational Reform	234	(2)
The Relationship between the School and the Public	236	(8)
Public Involvement through Site-Based Reforms	241	(2)
Public Involvement through School Choice	243	(1)
Conclusion	244	(3)
Resistance to Reform	247	(20)
The Cultural Context of Resistance to Reform	249	(7)
The Personal Context of Resistance to Reform	256	(7)
Resistance and Accountability	263	(4)
Selected Print and Nonprint Resources	267	(30)
Print Resources	267	(19)
Curriculum, Educational Change, and School Reform	267	(16)
History of Education	283	(2)
Reform in School Administration	285	(1)
Nonprint Resources	286	(11)
Glossary	297	(18)
Index	315	(24)
About the Author	339