Evaluative Works Cited: Topics in education

DaCosta, Kneia. "Dress Codes Blues: an Exploration of Urban Students' Reactions to a

Public High School Uniform Policy." Journal of Negro Education. 75.1 (2007): 49-59. Print.

This article from a journal talks about why a uniform policy was put into a particular Public

high school and how the students reacted to the policy. Often times, uniform policies are

implemented due to the belief that they seemingly decrease violence and theft over clothing,

prevent gang members from wearing gang paraphernalia to school, help students concentrate

better in school, and help the school to recognize intruders. Opposition to uniform policies are

due to the belief that uniforms constrain students' expressive rights, prohibit normal identity

exploration and development, represent intrusive control of group behavior, and financially

burden families. To get some prospective on uniforms, the authors of the article performed an

interview study on 22 African American magnet high school students who attended a school with

a uniform policy and focused on asking student what they thought about their uniform policy and

how they reacted to it. Turns out, the majority of students were opposed to the policy. Those

who opposed the policy opposed it because it restricted their freedom, thought it was pointless,

and did not like the price of the uniform. Out of the 22 students only 2 said they consistently

followed the policy. To deal with the policy, the students behaviorally did anything possible to

undermine the policy and stated that if they could they would remove the policy. The article

notes that if a uniform policy is to be implemented that students should have a say in the process

and that the policy should be enforced to all students. This article makes me believe that a strict

uniform policy would be met with a lot of non-compliance and makes me realize that I was told

to wear a uniform I personally would try to find ways around the policy.
 This article to me confirms the role that a dress code plays in schools, but tells me that a

specific uniform policy would not be a very ideal idea for my ideal education because it

statistically would be met with noncompliance. This source relates to my other source on dress

codes because they both give the same reasonings regarding the support and opposition for dress

codes. I think that this source has helped me see what direction I need to go in.

This source is credible because the author Kneia Dacosta is a professor at Ursinus college

where she is the Associate Professor of Psychology / Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs. She

has a Ph.D human development and her research has focused on urban adolescents and how they

develop in different social and cultural contexts. One of her notable works include a study that

focused on the transition to high school for early adolescents in Chicago called The Student Life

in High Schools Project. . From the above, I know that she knows a lot about the human mind,

human development, and children/students which are beneficial to what I am trying to create.

Flavin, Brianna. "The Ultimate Guide to 13 Different Types of Schools Across

America." Rasmussen College - Regionally Accredited College Online and on Campus. N.p.,

4 July 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

This article essentially just gives a brief overview of four types of public schools, and nine

private schools. Overall, public schools are operated and funded through local, state, and federal

government and have to follow a set curriculum that is decided by the state and local

governments. Private schools on the other hand, are not funded by the government and therefore

students have to pay tuition to attend the school and can create their own academic curriculums

to follow. The four types of public school include traditional public school, charter school,

magnet school, and virtual school. In traditional public schools, kids go to schools based off

where they live. Charter schools and magnet schools are similar in that students have to apply to
get in, and the curriculums are specialized to the schools likings. Public virtual schools are all

online and students have access to their schooling all day, all hours, and all year. The nine types

of private school include traditional private school, boarding school, language immersion school,

Montessori school, private special education school, parochial school, religious school, Reggio

Emilia School, and Waldorf schools. Boarding schools parallel with the college system in which

students live at their schools for the duration of the school year. Language immersion schools are

used to immerse their students in a second language. Montessori schooling follows the traditional

schooling curriculum, but also focuses on the individuality of each student and all learning is all

through hands on activities. Private special education school focuses on teaching students with

special needs. Both parochial and religious school are private schools with religious affiliations

either with a church or association. Reggio Emilia School is more of a style in which teachers

keep a record for each of their students that documents moments of learning, emotion and

expression. Waldorf School focuses on child development and the corresponding academic

curriculum that comes as students age. Overall, I think that this was a great way to give me an

overview of what is out there education wise.

This source really relates to my time for action book source because this source lists schools

that specifically have a mission to let students to be engaged and self-directed in their learning

just like the book calls for. I think that this source was straight to the point and very concise and

gave me just enough information to where I could make simple judgements and form slight

opinions about the particular schooling type which will help me when I am deciding what the

overall structure will be for my theoretical ideal education system.

Although this source is a blog, it is credible because Brianna is the writer for the college of

Education at Rasmussen College and writes student based articles on behalf of the university.
Also, the particular article when read is written from a factual stance and not an opinion based

stance. Basically, the point of the article was used to give information not to convince, and so it

can be trusted in this case.

AFT. "Nationwide Poll: Parents Overwhelmingly Choose Strong Neighborhood Public

Schools over Charters, Choice, Vouchers." American Federation of Teachers. N.p., n.d.

Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

This source/article was actually a press release about a national poll that was done in 2013 by

Hart Research Associates. The poll was conducted on 1,003 parents with all different

backgrounds. The topics of the poll included the best approach for improving education, rather

education should be variable in nature or focus more on the more academically rigorous subjects,

rather education should focus on the whole child or just on academics, testing issues, what

parents support on the academic agenda, what parts of education parents disprove of, and who

has the right ideas about education. Based off the poll, parents believe that the best way to

improve education is by ensuring that kids have access to good public schools. Parents also

believe that education should be variable in nature and focus on academic subjects as well as the

arts. Parents also think that it is important that schools focus on the whole child and not just the

academics of the child. When it comes to testing, parents believe that there is too much emphasis

on testing. Parents approve of turning around struggling neighborhood schools, providing more

support/training for struggling teachers, improving new-teacher mentoring, and reducing class

sizes. When it comes to education disproval, parents believe that staff layoffs, increased class

sizes, school closings, high turnover rates, and cutbacks in art education as wells as physical

education are negatives to the system. The poll also showed that parents in the poll trusted

teachers, administrators, and other parents to come up with ideas for schools as opposed to
politicians and business executives. I dont really have an actual response to what the article and

poll results said but all I can say is that the results were very eye opening and really told me what

parents are looking for in education.

This was probably my favorite source I have read so far. Not only did it tell me exactly what

parents statistically want for their childrens education but it also numerically confirmed to me

why standardized testing should be eliminated. My other sources have given me reasons to why

standardized testing is not the ideal way to go, but now I have statistics to back up what others

have been saying. Everything that I have read about what kids need and want in education is

now really coming together very clearly for me to see.

Although this source is from an organization, I know that this source is credible because the

AFT has written and done many press releases about education related topics. Therefore, I know

that what I am reading is coming straight from someone from the education field and I know that

I can gain some relevant information from what they say because they have been there to see it

all.

Richmond, Emily. "Why School Should Start Later in the Morning." The Atlantic. Atlantic

Media Company, 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

This particular source from The Atlantic basically just talks about why schools need to start

later for middle and high schools and how students health and learning are at risk when they

start school too early in the morning. The article starts by saying that the centers for disease and

prevention are calling for schools to start later in the morning because a lack of sleep has been

linked to higher rates of obesity, depression, and motor-vehicle accidents among teens. A study

done by the University of Minnesota proved that a shift in school start time proved beneficial for
the students with better attendance, test scores, and academic grades. There was also a decrease

in tardiness, substance abuse, and symptoms of depression. Another study done by Brown

University found that when students didnt get the recommended amount of sleep, they became

sleep- deprived during class and that the students were pathologically sleepy. Even with all of

the science behind the fact that schools should start later, schools are often reluctant to do so

because school districts dont have the funding necessary to do so, parents worry that kids will

not have time for their extra- curricular activities and or rely on their teens to watch younger

siblings. With such opposition, the article proclaims that it is very possible to switch school times

without creating too many problems and that school districts just have to be creative in how they

implement and plan out the time change. After reading, I can totally see how schools should have

a later start time because there is scientific evidence that proves why it should be later, but at the

same time I also worry about what a later time change can mean for student extra curriculas.

This article is very important to my research, because it is the first source that I have found

that addresses what time schools should start. From the article, I can believe that there is a

serious health issue involved, but I dont quite know if a later school start time would just mean

that students would go to bed later than they did before or would they really use the extra time to

sleep? I have a suspicion that even with a later start time, students would just adjust their bed

times to be later.

This source is credible because Emily Richmond is the public editor for the National

Education Writers Association and has written a plethora of articles on different topics related to

education. I also know that the source is credible because the website/magazine The Atlantic

has been known to be one of the best magazines for discussing foreign affairs, politics, the

economy, and cultural trends and has been said to have a moderate worldview.
Strauss, Valerie. "Class size matters a lot, research shows." The Washington Post. WP

Company, 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.

This article came from the answer sheet section of the Washington Post daily newspaper. The

article tells how a lot of people say that class size doesnt matter in schools, but that there has

been research and evidence done that has proven the class size does indeed matter. A review of

the research that has been conducted on class size by Northwestern University Associate

Professor Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach has found that Class size is an important determinant

in student success and that increasing class sizes will harm student outcomes, will harm

childrens test scores in the short run, and will result in more substantial social and educational

costs in the future. The evidence also shows that class size reductions are very powerful in low-

income and minority children, and that increases in class size will be very harmful to fragile

populations. Diane Schanzenbach believes that smaller class sizes equal higher achievement in

school because with a smaller class, kids are more engaged, get more time to work on tasks

given, and that teachers are allowed the ability to tailor to the individual needs of each student.

This article in a short burst makes me believe that as I suspected class size does matter and that

the future of education should really focus on class size policies.

This is the first source that I have found that acknowledges class size as an important factor in

a childs education. This source essentially tells me why class size reductions are possibly

necessary for the betterment of childrens development and lets me know that there is research

out there and evidence that proves just how beneficial class size reductions can be on the child

population. So now that I know class size does indeed matter, I now wonder how many kids

should actually be in the class.

 This source is credible because Valerie Strauss is the main writer who covers education related

issues for the Washington Post newspaper. Strauss is no stranger to writing articles on the topics

of education and this lets me know that she has experience with reporting articles when related to

education. Also I know that this source is credible because the Washington Post newspaper is the

most widely used newspaper in Washington, D.C., and has won 47 Pulitzer prizes for its work.

Wurdinger, Scott D. Time for action: stop teaching to the test and start teaching skills.

Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2012. Print.

This book provides five main ideas about education. The first idea is that academic success is

has become based on high standardized test scores and that the education curriculum only

focuses on teaching kids what is going to be on the test when education should be about

engaging the children and eliminating standardized testing in order to allow teachers to have

more academic freedom and to keep students engaged. The second idea that the book creates, is

that core curriculums and benchmarks are somewhat pointless that that students often forget what

they have learned throughout the year after taking a benchmark, which is non beneficial in the

end. The third idea of the book, is that there needs to be varying teaching approaches to learning

and that learning should be active and not passive. The book then gives five alternatives to

lecture styled learning that keep kids completely engaged in what they are learning, and they

include cooperative/collaborative learning, challenge based learning, project based learning,

problem based learning, and service learning. The fourth idea that the author creates is that

instead of using multiple choice tests, the education system should move to performance based

assessments because unlike MC tests, performance based assessments dont just focus on the

simple memorization of facts and instead allows students to show off what they really know to

teachers. The last idea that the books makes, is that teacher preparation programs only really
prepare future teachers on how to teach using the traditional lecture to test learning approach

whereas preparation programs should work on teaching teachers varying teaching approaches so

that they can better improve their classrooms. Overall, this book really just opened my eyes to

the fact that there needs to be some changes within the system.

This book is the best source that Ive found so far about the drawbacks of standardized testing

as well as the current education system. I really appreciate this source because although it calls

for a shift in learning from memorization to actually doing, it doesnt discredit the fact that kids

do indeed need to be tested on different skills and subjects. This is the first source that Ive read

that gives logical solutions to the statistically proven disengagement of school students and I feel

it 100% in my heart.

This is a credible article because Scott Wurdinger is a professor at Minnesota State University,

Mankato where he teaches experiential education and leadership studies. Wurdinger has been a

teacher for 24 years and his main research interest has been on experiential learning and how

they develop skills. He has also written three other books on learning that is experience based as

opposed to lecture based. Wurdinger has had a lot of teaching experience and has done lots of

research to back up what he says, and as a result he knows exactly what he is talking about.