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Foreword | |
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Preface | |
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Introduction: Critical Issues and Critical Thinking | |
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Introduction | |
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Democratic Vitality and Educational Criticism | |
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The Political Context of Schooling | |
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A Tradition of School Criticism and Reform | |
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Whose Interests Should Schools Serve? Justice and Equity | |
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School Choice: Family or Public Funding | |
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Is family choice of schools in the public interest? | |
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For Family Choice in Education | |
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Against Vouchers | |
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Financing Schools: Equity or Disparity | |
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Is it desirable to equalize educational spending among school districts within a state or across the nation? | |
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For Justice in Educational Finance | |
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Against Centralization in Educational Financing | |
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Gender Equity: Eliminating Discrimination or Accommodating Difference | |
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Is it ever necessary to create schools or classroom settings that separate students by gender? | |
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Eliminating Discrimination | |
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Accommodating Differences | |
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Standards-Based Reform: Real Change or Political Smoke Screen | |
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Will the standards-based reform movement improve education or discriminate against poor and disadvantaged students? | |
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Standards-Based Reform Promises Quality Education for All Students | |
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Standards-Based Reform is a Political Smoke Screen | |
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Religion and Public Schools: Unification or Separation | |
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How do schools find a balance between freedom of religious expression and the separation of church and state? | |
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For Religious Freedom in Schools | |
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Against Violating the Separation between Church and State | |
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Privatization of Schools: Boon or Bane | |
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What criteria are most suitable for deciding whether schools are better when they are operated as a public or private enterprise? | |
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Public Schools Should be Privatized | |
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Public Schools Should be Public | |
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Corporations, Commerce, and Schools: Complementing or Competing Interests | |
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Does school support become corporate support? | |
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Businesses are School Partners | |
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Commercializing the School | |
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New Immigrants and the Schools: Unfair Burden or Business as Usual | |
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Should schools offer free opportunity to all children of new immigrants? | |
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Schools Should Offer Educational Opportunities to All Children of New Immigrants. | |
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Bad Policy Overburdens Schools | |
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What Should be Taught? Knowledge and Literacy | |
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The Academic Achievement Gap: Old Remedies or New | |
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Are already existing policies and practices reducing the academic achievement gap or are new measures needed? | |
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For Maintaining Existing Programs | |
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For Innovative Solutions | |
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Values/Character Education: Traditional or Liberational | |
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Which and whose values should public schools teach, and why? | |
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Teach Traditional Values | |
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Liberation Through Active Value Inquiry | |
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Multicultural Education: Democratic or Divisive | |
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Should schools emphasize America's cultural diversity or the shared aspects of American culture? | |
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Multiculturalism: Central to a Democratic Education | |
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Multiculturalism is Divisive and Destructive | |
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Technology and Learning: Enabling or Subverting | |
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What technology deserves significant school attention and who should decide? | |
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Technology Enables Learning | |
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Technology Can Subvert Learning | |
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Standardized Testing: Restrict or Expand | |
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Should the use of standardized school tests be increased or decreased? | |
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For Restricting Testing | |
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For Expanding Testing | |
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How Should Schools Be Organized And Operated? School Environment | |
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Discipline and Justice: Zero Tolerance or Discretion | |
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What concept of justice should govern school and classroom discipline? | |
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Zero-Tolerance Disciplinary Policies Provide Justice in Public Schools | |
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Zero-Tolerance Discipline Policies are Fundamentally Unjust | |
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Teacher Unions and School Leadership: Detrimental or Beneficial | |
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Should teachers and their unions be given a larger role in running public schools? | |
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Teachers and Teacher Unions Should Play a Major Role in School Leadership | |
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Teachers and Teacher Unions Should Not Play a Role in School Leadership | |
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Academic Freedom: Teacher Rights or Responsibilities | |
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How should the proper balance between teacher freedom and responsibility be determined? | |
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For Increased Academic Freedom | |
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For Teacher Responsibility | |
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Inclusion and Mainstreaming: Common or Special Education | |
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When and why should selected children be provided inclusive or special treatment in schools? | |
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For Full Inclusion | |
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Special Programs Help Special Students | |
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Violence in Schools: School Treatable or Beyond School Control | |
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Can schools deal effectively with violent or potentially violent students? | |
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Schools Can and Should Curb Violence | |
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The Problem of School Violence is Beyond School Control | |
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Index | |