Abstract A detailed discussion of the effects of migration to suburbs on education. The author discusses the negative effects on urban education such as the standard of teaching in comparison to suburban education services that are booming.
From the Paper "As people have shifted so abruptly to the suburbs, the nation's cities have been left to fall apart and so has everything in them?including their schools. And when education is poor, the remaining affluent pack up and leave the city as well, creating a cycle of cause and effect. Urban schools thus are not able to offer the attractive services that suburban schools can."
Abstract In this paper, the author uses various examples to demonstrate the impact television has had on youth violence. The author discusses the problems associated with television viewing, identifies violence on television, portrays the effects of television violence on younger people, and reveals ways to reduce violence on television. This paper explores these topics by using multiple statistics, by including the views of several public officials and authors, and through the author's views as well
From the Paper "A study by Leonard Eron began in 1963 and was one of the longest termed studies to take place. Eron began his study by assessing the development of aggression in third graders, eight year olds, in a small upstate New York Town. In the course of the study, he asked children to report on their television viewing and other things they liked to do, as well as their ratings of aggression of other children."
Abstract This paper studies the practice of "looping" in elementary education, which was introduced in America almost a century ago. It is still not very common but in the last five years the popularity of this system has grown significant in the United States. The paper also takes into account the advantages and disadvantages of multi-year teaching.
From the Paper "Looping is an effective practice in which a teacher advances to the next grade level with his or her class. This is done for two or three consecutive years after which the teacher joins some other group and thus the cycle of looping begins again. Looping is a process, which runs in a cycle form, and this applies to looping in elementary education too. This is done because it is seen that young kids become very close to one teacher in lower grade levels and it is important for them to stay with the same teacher for some time until they reach an age in which they can cope with new teachers and thus the teacher is free to join other group of young kids.
This system of education was developed by an Austrian educator way back in 1900s. He introduced this system in Waldrof Schools, which he had founded for the purpose of providing education to the children of factory workers. (Barnes, 1980) He was f the view that if children developed a good strong relationship with the teacher, they have less anxiety when moving to next grade, as they know there would be one familiar figure around and it significant reduces their anxiety."
Abstract This paper presents a detailed discussion about the need for library media specialists to promote library media programs. The writer argues that specialists need to be proactive in selling the media library programs and services. The argument includes ideas on changing the traditional view of libraries as well library media specialists.
From the Paper "The world of the library has changed in ways that we never imagined were possible. Today with the click of a mouse we can visit nations across the ocean, we can check the price of stock and there is no topic on earth that cannot be researched if we know how to use the Internet. Gone are the days that libraries handed out cards and one was limited to two books a week. Gone are the days in which one went to the library and could not find what they needed because the topic was obscure."
Tags: books, inormation, internet, assistance, media, program, service
Abstract This paper deals with the concept of early childhood development. It provides a history of the research in the field and explains what technological advancement have recently been made. It examines topics such as world view's of early childhood, cognitive development, technology and learning, alternative learning and national curriculum.
From the paper:
"Children in the developmental stage of early childhood (ages 3 through 8) are concrete learners. They are exceptionally sensory; they learn best by touching, tasting, hearing, smelling, and moving their bodies. Children in this age range are active learners. They are interested in experiments, trial and error, representing what they are learning through construction and play, and finding answers in picture books. They like to find things out on their own. As they gradually become more focused on other people and the outside world, children become aware that there are many adult skills that they do not have. In environments where they are encouraged to try out these skills (such as writing) at their own appropriate level, they enthusiastically embrace learning. "
Abstract This paper looks at the sociological concept of group dynamics. It claims that many theories have been written about the topic, but the best way to experience this phenomena is to watch students on campus. This paper is the personal account and observations of a student studying group dynamics.
From the paper:
"Group dynamics is the term given to the scientific study of group behavior, and it is of crucial sociological importance if we wish to advance our knowledge and understanding of the nature of groups, their development and the relationships that exist within and between them. The majority of social scientists examine the concepts of group dynamics through the collation of empirical research and the development of scientific theories. This paper, however, will focus on the application of these theories and issues in relation to specific aspects of everyday life on campus."
Abstract This paper argues that the American school system would be of better quality if it were privatized. The author discusses why the education in private schools is superior to public schooling, looks at the war on drugs, sex education, censorship, and dress codes.
From the Paper "The reason censorship is such a huge issue in a public school system is that a school must strive to please everybody in the community. It must grapple with abiding by the rights of free speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy, while at the same time trying to appease the demands of a variety of parents, all with differing opinions on how their children (and everybody else's) should be educated. The problem is exponentially enlarged in a large school with students numbering in the thousands. With large public schools becoming more common as the population grows, the debating has intensified. Common sense dictates that it is impossible to satisfy everyone in the community. Disgruntled parents do have the option of sending their children to private schools or home-schooling them, but the short supply of private institutions and private tutors puts alternative education at a high price, which many parents are unwilling or unable to pay."
Abstract This paper examines the issue of holding prayers in public schools, whether they are mandatory or not. It examines the legal and moral aspects of this issue from the point of view of the three major religions. It details the First Amendment and several cases dealing with this matter and their outcomes. It details different ways of dealing with this problem and ways that are legal to implement it.
From the Paper "In 1947, when the Supreme Court was debating the issue of the separation of church and state, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black remarked, "The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable." With the case of Lee v. Weisman, the Court drew a distinct line between what is constitutional and what is unconstitutional. The case involved the practice in Providence, Rhode Island, of having a short prayer at the beginning and end of public school graduation ceremonies (an invocation and a benediction). The audience at these ceremonies was made up primarily of students and parents. The Court had to decide whether this short prayer was like the prayers recited to open legislative sessions, or like the daily prayers in public school in front of impressionable schoolchildren. This was not an easy decision to make. Four justices thought that the prayers at public school graduation ceremonies were more in the nature of a formality at a public event. These justices believed that the prayers were part of a long tradition, like prayers at legislative sessions, and could not be seen as an attempt to indoctrinate children in a particular religious belief. The other five justices did not agree and ruled that such prayers violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Justice Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, held that while attendance at public school graduation ceremonies is not required, few students would want to miss the ceremony. While the children could absent themselves from the part of the ceremony that contained the prayer, that would be difficult for them because of the very nature of the graduation process. There would also be peer pressure to participate and to not "make a fuss" about the prayer. The Court ruled that because the graduation ceremony is part of an official public school event, prayers cannot be allowed. (CARELLI 2000)."
Abstract This essay gives advice to the parent or teacher on how to begin the process of literacy in a child through play. The essay begins with Sarah Wilford's five "literacy goals" that can be accomplished by nurturing a child's natural tendency toward play. These are: 1) developing an understanding of the symbolic process, 2) fostering language growth, 3) strengthening the child's problem-solving abilities, 4) motivating children to continue in literacy activities, and 5) helping the child develop a joy in participating in all facets of literacy. The paper then expands on these goals, providing various ways to encourage literacy through play.
From the Paper "By nurturing a child's natural tendency to play, a parent or teacher can nurture the child's growing understanding of literacy. As children begin to understand the concept of props and players being representations of other people or things in their playtime activities, they begin to grasp a basic understanding that written words represent spoken words in the same way. By trying to help others to understand the meanings of their representations, their vocabularies increase. When they attempt to solve problems encountered in play, they are adding to their knowledge of their understanding of the purpose of words, and their uses."
Abstract This paper is a study of children's behaviour in kindergarten. It includes situations they face, a detailed analysis of their behavior and a plan of how to deal with their behavior, all written by whom they were observed. This paper describes the observations that the author made as well as his conclusions regarding the children's behaviour.
From the Paper "Observed Behavior: It is playtime, and two of the girls are at the art center having a conversation, during which they both decide that they want to do the same thing with the materials. Abby decides that if they share the piece they will both be happier. Heaven does not think that this is a good idea, for she had the piece of material first, so she argues with Abby telling her that whoever had it first gets the siding (the piece of material). Then as they are fighting, and I think that intervention will be needed, Abby decides to explain the concept of sharing to Heaven and then asks her if she understands. Heaven slowly but surely, nods her head ?yes.? They cut the piece, the person who did not actually cut, got to choose which piece of the siding she wanted in order to make it fair. Then afterwards when I came back, both girls were playing happily."
Tags: analysis, behavour, children, educations, observation, observations, plan
A review of David Tyack's "The One Best System" discussing school reform as it pertains to the centralized educational system from the beginning of the century.
Abstract The first part of the paper deals in depth with two of Tyack's arguments on school reform prior to the establishment of a centralized educational system in the United States: The social evolution argument and the balance-of-power argument. It goes through them in four distinct ways: by showing that educational policy is in turmoil, by questioning the need for reform, by concentrating on differentiating policy implications, and by examining varied policy outcomes. The second part of the paper follows the guidelines established by the first, but focuses on modern educational problems, rather than the problematics of the centralized educational system. The paper concludes that the educational crisis in the U.S. is not so much the result of bad public school education as it is the result of the inability to reach a compromise on the mode of education; that social and economic factors require diverse models of teaching; that societal value shifts bring about school policy changes.
From the Paper "In "The One Best System", David Tyack focuses on the origins of schooling in America and the emergence of mass education. He starts with an analysis of the problems of rural education during the 19th century and presents his readers with an explanation of how the changing nature of religious, moral, and secular institutions in urban areas affected the institutionalization of educational practices. From there on, he traces the development of the idea of "the one best system", and how differing political interests came together to form a consensus on future educational policies. The main questions he answers include: which were the forces that wanted to centralize the control of public schools and why, what were the arguments of the opposition, how school structure changed as the result of centralization, and why the system ultimately failed to address the needs of the masses."
The following essay critically compares two books, "The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" by Dr. Benjamin Spock and , "Caring For Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5", edited by Steven P. Shelov.
Abstract This paper discusses Dr.Spock's book which tends to adopt a more relaxed and common sense approach, while Steven Shelov's book makes use of the recent advances in medical, psychological and technological knowledge to offer advice which embraces a more scientific and calculated strategy to childcare.
From the Paper ?During the last fifty years the world has witnessed many social, political and economic changes, and this has been mirrored in the advice and guidance offered to parents on the subject of child development. The world into which a child is born today is vastly different from that of 1946, when Dr. Benjamin Spock first released his child rearing how-to manual, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, and the nature of the advice offered, and the language with which it is conveyed is therefore far removed from that contained in the 1991 guidebook, Caring For Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5, edited by Steven P. Shelov. Yet, despite the many differences, the two books also contain a surprising number of similarities which suggests that, irrespective of the dramatic changes that may affect the lives of individuals, the fundamental problems associated with child rearing, and the effective solutions, remain constant.?
Abstract This paper discusses the long term benefits of a single sex education in high school. Measured in terms of academic performance, attitude towards academics, discipline while in school, aspiration of students, attraction to non-stereotypical coursework and career success after schooling, single sex schools provide a better education - particularly for girls in high school.
From the Paper "The education system in America is failing. American students test below most industrialized countries in standardized tests of math and science. More frightening than this however, are the various studies, which indicate that female American students are falling behind their fellow male classmates particularly in the areas of math and science. Despite the thirteen billion dollars Congress pored in into education programs in 2000, it is obvious the entire system needs to be transformed. Girls and boys are fundamentally different, and, therefore, it would serve to reason, that they would have fundamentally different learning styles. It would stand to reason that since obviously the world is not segregated by sex, neither should a high school education. Yet the long term benefits of a single sex education in high school, far out way those of a coed education. Measured in terms of academic performance, attitude towards academics, discipline while in school, aspiration of students, attraction to non-stereotypical coursework and career success after schooling, single sex schools provide a better education - particularly for girls in high school."
Tags: adolescence, america, coed, education, high, school, schools, sex, single
Abstract The writer explores how schools in the United States are becoming centers of criminal activities as youth gangs are rapidly emerging in public schools nationwide. He points out that increase in violent activities on school property is directly related to gang presence and summarizes that it is therefore important for school authorities and communities to work closely together for the eradication of this evil because it is leading to increased use of drugs, alcohol, guns and violence on school campuses all over the country.
From the Paper "The presence of gangs in schools is having a negative impact on the school environment and it has been noticed that most children in public schools fear becoming victims of violence because of the anti-social activities of these powerful gangs. Because gangs in schools are usually well organized, their presence on school property often causes terror among other students. Drug trafficking and violence are the two most significant areas of activity for gangs and they usually try to influence school children and authorities by use of force, which is one of the primary reasons behind rising trend in violent activities on school property. In 1992 Bureau of Justice reported that drugs are more readily available in schools where gangs exists than schools without gang problems. This shows that the anti-social activities of the gangs can affect every child as it increases peer pressure because of the availability of drugs and alcohol on school campuses."
