Category: Writing

1. After the United States won its independence, the common
school movement led to the establishment of public elementary schools
throughout the country.
2. The emergence of the public high school in the nineteenth
century completed the American educational ladder that connected public
elementary schools to state colleges and universities.

The European colonists in North America re-created
conventional European educational institutions based on social-class patterns.
Primary or vernacular schools for the lower socioeconomic strata of society
provided a basic curriculum of reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion.
Preparatory schools, such as the Latin grammar school and the colonial college,
reserved for upper-class boys and men, provided a classical curriculum to
prepare them for leadership roles in church, state, and society.

Teachers’ rights regarding freedom of expression and
academic freedom depend on a balance between individual and governmental
interests.Teachers have rights guaranteed to individuals under the
Constitution, but school boards have obligations to ensure the “proper” and
“regular” operation of the schools, taking into account the rights of parents,
teachers, and students.

1. How is bilingual education a reaction against the
assimilationist policy of the past and linked to the contemporary issues of a
common culture versus multiculturalism?
2. What is your position on bilingual education? What facts
support your stance?

Tenure protects teachers from dismissal except on such specified grounds as incompetence, immorality, insubordination, and unprofessional conduct. Teachers accused of such conduct are entitled to due-process protections.

What would you need to know about the history of American
education, especially Americanization, to better evaluate the viewpoints
expressed by Maria and Nichole? Note the difference in attitude and historical
perceptions of Maria Manuel and Nicole Knesek in the dialogue.