| |
| |
| Foreword | |
| |
| |
| |
| Preface | |
| |
| |
| |
| Introduction: Critical Issues and Critical Thinking | |
| |
| |
| Education as Controversy | |
| |
| |
| A Tradition of School Criticism and Reform | |
| |
| |
| The Political Context of Schooling | |
| |
| |
| Educational Criticism and Democratic Vitality | |
| |
| |
| |
| Whose Interests Should Schools Serve? Justice and Equity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Family Choice in Education: Public Interest or Private Good | |
| |
| |
| Is family choice of schools in the public interest? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Choice Creates Competition That Improves Outcomes for Individual Students | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Choice Limits Public Schools' Ability to Achieve Social Goals | |
| |
| |
| |
| Financing Schools: Equity or Privilege | |
| |
| |
| Should government make educational spending equitable within and among school districts? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Equitable Educational Spending Is a Matter of Justice | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Privileged Educational Spending Is Necessary in a Free Market Economy | |
| |
| |
| |
| Privatization, Commercialization, and the Business of School: Complementing or Competing Interests | |
| |
| |
| Should schools be more like business? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Privatizing and/or Corporate Support Can Improve Education | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Public Schools Should Be Public | |
| |
| |
| |
| Religion and Public Schools: Free Expression or Separation | |
| |
| |
| How do schools balance freedom of religious expression and the separation of church and state? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Freedom of Religious Expression Must Be Protected in Public Schools | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: The Separation of Church and State Must Be Maintained in Public Schools | |
| |
| |
| |
| Gender Equity: Eliminating Discrimination or Accommodating Difference | |
| |
| |
| Should schools or classrooms separate students by gender or sexual identities? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Separate Schools or Classrooms Perpetuate Discrimination | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Separate Schools or Classrooms Are Necessary | |
| |
| |
| |
| New Immigrants and the Schools: Unfair Burden or Business as Usual | |
| |
| |
| Should we require schools to teach the flood of new immigrants? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Schools Have Always Served to Help New Immigrants | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Bad Policy Overburdens Schools | |
| |
| |
| |
| What Should be Taught? Knowledge and Literacy | |
| |
| |
| |
| Standards-Based Reform: Real Change or Badly Flawed Policy | |
| |
| |
| Will the standards-based reform movement improve education or sacrifice teachers' decisions and individual assessment to national standards and standardized testing? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Standards-Based Reform Promises Quality Education for All Students | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Standards-Based Reform Is Flawed Policy and Misdirected Reform | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Academic Achievement Gap: Old Remedies or New | |
| |
| |
| Do current policies sufficiently address the academic achievement gap or are new measures needed? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Current Programs Have Been Successful and Should Be Maintained | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: New Programs Are Needed | |
| |
| |
| |
| Values/Character Education: Traditional or Liberational | |
| |
| |
| Which and whose values should public schools embrace and teach | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Teach Traditional Values | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Liberation through Active Value Inquiry | |
| |
| |
| |
| Multicultural Education: Democratic or Divisive | |
| |
| |
| Should schools emphasize America's cultural diversity or the shared aspects of American culture? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Multiculturalism: Central to a Democratic Education | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Multiculturalism Is Divisive and Destructive | |
| |
| |
| |
| Technology, and Learning: Enabling or Subverting | |
| |
| |
| What technology deserves significant school attention, and who should decide? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Technology Enables Learning | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Technology Can Subvert Learning | |
| |
| |
| |
| The School Community Individuals and Environments | |
| |
| |
| |
| Discipline and Justice: Zero Tolerance or Discretionary Practices | |
| |
| |
| What concept of justice should govern school and classroom discipline? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Zero Tolerance Policies Provide Justice in Public Schools | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Discretionary Discipline Policies Promote Justice in Public Schools | |
| |
| |
| |
| Violence and Bullying in Schools: School Treatable or Beyond School Control | |
| |
| |
| Can schools deal effectively with violent or potentially violent students? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Schools Can and Should Curb Violence and Bullying | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: The Problem of School Violence Is Beyond School Control | |
| |
| |
| |
| Inclusion and. Disability: Common or Special Education | |
| |
| |
| When and why should selected children be provided inclusive or special treatment in schools? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: For Full Inclusion | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Special Programs Help Special Students | |
| |
| |
| |
| Teacher Unions and School Reform: Advocate or Adversary | |
| |
| |
| Do teacher unions support or subvert the nation's school reform agenda? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: Teacher Unions Are Champions of Teachers -and School Reform | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: Teacher Unions Stand in the Way of School Reform | |
| |
| |
| |
| Academic Freedom and Censorship: Teacher Rights or Responsibilities | |
| |
| |
| How should the proper balance between teacher freedom and responsibility be determined? | |
| |
| |
| Position 1: For Increased Academic Freedom | |
| |
| |
| Position 2: For Teacher Responsibility | |
| |
| |
| Index | |