Module 1-4 Blog Assignment

Carol McLean

New Jersey City University 

Going Public: Literature & History American Education

Deborah Woo 

February 8th, 2025

Module 1 Blog Assignment

Public schooling in the US has often created conflict, even though it's meant to bring people together. In Part I of School: The Story of American Public Education, we see how early leaders like Horace Mann and Noah Webster helped create the school system by focusing on education to grow informed citizens. Differences in quality and access have led to ongoing unfairness. Today, it's important to talk about how to balance teamwork and individual work in American schools. Noah Webster, the author of Webster's Dictionary, greatly impacted schooling in America. He thought that schooling was important for national identity and unity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Webster supported a common American English that was not influenced by British culture to encourage loyalty. After it was released in 1783, his Blue-Backed Speller became the most famous textbook in early American schools, teaching moral ideals, writing, and speech to many students.

Webster contributed more than just language-related work. He argued that a standard program was necessary to teach social duty and political ideals. He focused on creating a unique American education system, which helped start public education. This idea emphasized that education should not only prepare people for jobs but also encourage them to be involved members of their communities. We can still see his influence today in the common use of standard writing and grammar rules, as well as the continued importance of education in bringing the country together.

Webster strongly felt that public education should bring together people from different backgrounds and teach them shared values. It was thought that schools were the great equalizer, where all kids, regardless of their financial situation, could learn the skills needed to take part in democracy. Horace Mann's common school program in the 19th century encouraged everyone to have access to free education, helping to make this idea stronger. Education helped refugees fit into American society by teaching them English, social duties, and American history. This method was helped a lot by efforts from Webster's book to create a standard language. Public schools bring together children from different backgrounds, helping them share ideals and develop a sense of national identity.

Public schooling has created division even though it aims to unite people. Instead of accepting different cultures, Webster focused on having a shared language and education, which often ignored the diversity of languages and cultures in America and encouraged people to fit in. This approach pushed Native Americans and other minority groups to conform to normal American ideals, leaving them feeling excluded. Education has also contributed to separation in the country through segregation. Racial and economic differences still existed after school segregation was officially ended in 1954 by the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Schools in low-income, mostly black areas faced a lack of funds and overcrowding, while schools in wealthy, mostly white neighborhoods had more money and tools. These differences are still clear today because the way schools are funded through local property taxes creates unequal educational opportunities. 

Education influences both people's lives and society in general. Webster helped establish America's public education system and believed that education could unite the country. This led to talks about which cultures and information should be prioritized. The school has shown me the unfair differences in society but has also provided me with possibilities. Going to school has helped me, but I've also noticed that tools can vary a lot in different areas. Webster and other early reformers' dreams of equality and chance are still just thoughts. Our goal today is to make sure that all students, no matter where they come from, get a good education by bridging the gap between what we want and what exists. Noah Webster's work in education highlighted how important education is for democracy. He helped create a common language and a national school program. The past of public education shows clear gaps that still need to be fixed. Schools can bring people together, but they have also been places where race, class, and gender issues clash. Creating a system that truly provides fair opportunities for everyone will be a big task in the future.

Carol McLean 

New Jersey City University 

Going Public: Literature & History American Education

Deborah Woo 

February 22rd, 2025

Module 2 Blog Assignment

Opportunity and structural inequity have shaped American public education. Education has always been a means of success, but segregation, underfunding, and Cardinal Principles biased tracking systems have removed vulnerable individuals from it. Part II of School: The Story of American Public Education examines how race, class, and immigration have affected education. These components demonstrate how public education, supposed to integrate and uplift, sometimes upheld social hierarchies, most famously among Black Americans and other underprivileged groups. 

Progressive education pioneer John Dewey valued practical learning and critical thinking above memorization. His ideology stressed hands-on learning and democratic participation as ways to educate students living in complicated environments. As history has shown, segregation and institutional racism denied Black pupils access to these revolutionary ideas. Black schools were purposely underfunded, denying them Dewey's educational achievements. While white kids in better-off districts had more resources and classes with more materials, black kids often had old books and schools that were too crowded. 

These inequalities were worsened by IQ testing and tracking systems, which were often justified as tools to measure aptitude but instead reinforced social hierarchies. Progressive education reformer John Dewey believed that education should prepare students for democratic participation through critical thinking and hands-on learning, yet these opportunities were largely inaccessible to marginalized groups. For example, Black students in the early 20th century were systematically placed into industrial education programs rather than college-preparatory courses. Influenced by Booker T. Washington’s philosophy of vocational training, schools like the Tuskegee Institute promoted skilled labor rather than higher education, limiting career mobility. Meanwhile, David Tyack highlighted how intelligence tests, introduced in the early 1900s, were culturally biased and used to justify placing immigrant, Black, and low-income students into lower academic tracks. Racial preconceptions about intellectual aptitude were reinforced by the instance of the 1917 Army Alpha and Beta IQ tests, which showed lower scores for immigrant and nonwhite recruits because of language hurdles and cultural differences. Similar restrictions on access to further education and professional jobs resulted from school monitoring systems of the 20th century assigning minority children to remedial courses. The ramifications of these discriminatory behaviors went beyond the classroom.

  Redlining, financial inequality, and institutional neglect guaranteed that minority-serving schools remained underfunded and segregated even after Brown v. Board of Education (1954) made legal segregation unlawful. Predominantly Black neighborhoods, systematically excluded from home loans due to racist redlining policies, had lower property values, which directly impacted school funding. Public schools rely on local property taxes, meaning that wealthier, predominantly white districts continued to thrive while Black and immigrant communities struggled with overcrowded classrooms, outdated materials, and fewer qualified teachers. Further ingrained educational disparity was white flight and the rise of private schools in the late 20th century, which let white families avoid integration initiatives while Black pupils stayed in underfunded institutions. Consequently, the exact tracking systems that had branded Black and immigrant pupils as less competent became self-fulfilling prophecies as underfunded schools lacked the means to help break the cycle of poverty and limited opportunity. 

Redlining, financial inequality, and institutional neglect kept many schools unequal after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling outlawed segregation. White flight and the rise of private schools revived segregation, ensuring that many Black youngsters attended impoverished schools. Even after legal barriers were removed, economic and social structures maintained educational inequality. Public schooling can exacerbate racial and social inequality.

There are gap-bridging programs in spite of these challenges. The college-bound program assists minority and low-income youth in becoming ready for college. These initiatives help disadvantaged students get over institutional hurdles to higher education by offering them financial aid, academic support, and mentorship. These initiatives helped reduce poverty and underrepresentation in higher education by assisting young people in enrolling in prestigious universities. These initiatives help disadvantaged students get over institutional hurdles to higher education by offering them financial aid, academic support, and mentorship. Although these actions are significant, educational inequality cannot be fully addressed by them. These inequalities violate fairness and democracy, which have moral consequences. Society perpetuates poverty and disenfranchisement by denying disadvantaged students quality education. This unfair system damages more than simply people; it weakens social cohesion, economic mobility, and democratic participation by limiting informed civic engagement. If education is a right, denying students equal chances based on ethnicity or income is wrong. Public education should give every child, regardless of circumstance, the skills for success. Wealthier, mostly white areas benefit from well-funded schools, while poorer, mostly Black and immigrant communities struggle. This difference raises ethical questions concerning public education in a democracy.

A truly equal educational system requires more than surface-level integration. Increasing financing for underrepresented schools, eliminating biased tracking systems, and expanding college-prep programs are crucial. More importantly, governments must realize that education is about creating an informed, critical-thinking population as much as economic prosperity. Without decent education for vast portions of the population, a democracy cannot function.

Educational equity goes beyond improving schools to sustain democratic ideals like equal opportunity and informed citizenship. Unequal education limits underprivileged people's knowledge and critical thinking, reducing civic involvement and social mobility. Providing quality education to all students, regardless of race or status, is moral and social. Public education won't achieve its promise, and society's divisions will widen without genuine reform. Understanding education as a right rather than a privilege is the first step to transformation.

Carol McLean 

New Jersey City University 

Going Public: Literature & History American Education

Deborah Woo 

March 8th, 2025

Module 3 Blog Assignment

Even though there have been legal victories to desegregate schools, American public education is still very unequal because of systemic racism, economic inequality, and laws that favor wealthy communities while hurting students from poor families. Realizing true educational equality calls for tearing down these institutional obstacles, guaranteeing fair financing, and supporting locally led change. As noted in the PBS Frontline series Separate and Unequal, School: The Story of American Public Education (Part III), and Candice Summer's TEDx talk, American public education still exhibits ongoing racial and socioeconomic inequalities. These sources show how disproportionately impoverished pupils, especially those of color, suffer from systematic injustices such as school segregation, unfair funding, and lack of resources.

Brown v. Board of Education challenged segregation. (focusing on the children in the case.)

The PBS documentary shows how, in practice, segregation still exists even with Brown v. Board of Education's legal triumphs. It looks at a scenario in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where mostly white, middle-class citizens aimed to establish St. George, a separate city with its own school system, thereby furthering resources in affluent areas while leaving impoverished schools to fight for funding and quality education with limited resources. In the same way, Candice Summer's TEDx talk questions the idea that property taxes should pay for education. She says that this way of doing things will ensure that areas with higher incomes remain underfunded while areas with lower incomes remain underpaid, which will keep inequality going. To close the learning gap, she supports changes to the way things are set up, such as fair distribution of resources and community-led projects. In order to reduce the learning gap, she is in favor of structural adjustments, including equitable resource distribution and neighborhood-based programs. 

The fight for educational equality has been intimately entwined with civil rights campaigns. Efforts to desegregate schools encountered strong opposition between 1950 and 1980, sometimes resulting in policies that turned back advancement. Legal requirements for integration notwithstanding, white flight and the establishment of new educational systems let segregation continue in reality. Many underfunded, mostly Black and low-income schools have fewer resources, bigger class sizes, and fewer amenities than their affluent counterparts. The issue extends beyond racial segregation; economic inequality has a significant impact on educational disparities. Higher property taxes help rich schools be able to fund projects, hire more teachers, and repair their buildings. On the other hand, schools in low-income places have to deal with old equipment, a lot of teacher turnover, and not many extracurricular activities. Because of this economic inequality, it is hard for students from disadvantaged families to get out of cycles of poverty. This also keeps social injustice going. Community involvement is necessary in the fight for educational equality. 

Policy reforms and more public school funding have historically been driven in great part by grassroots movements, lobbying groups, and local organizations. Community-led debates on school district reorganization in Baton Rouge brought attention to how local decisions affect educational equity. Likewise, teachers such as Candice Summer stress the need for group efforts at the macro, meso, and micro levels to remove institutional obstacles. She advocates laws that provide need-based funding as a top priority instead of property-based funding so that every student, from whatever ZIP code, has sufficient educational chances. Educational equality calls for tackling structural inequalities and using focused interventions to assist historically underprivileged groups, not only about giving every student the same resources. This covers curriculum diversification, hiring and keeping top-notch teachers in underprivileged areas, and putting policies meant to destroy discriminatory practices, including the school-to-prison pipeline, into effect. Clearly, moral and ethical obligations exist to guarantee educational equality. A nation claiming democracy and justice cannot let its educational system support inequity. Real transformation calls for constant community involvement in addition to government intervention to support laws that give equality above privilege first priority.

The continuous fight for educational equality mirrors more general racial and economic inequity in society. The promise of equal opportunity remains unmet until the United States pledges systematic adjustments, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education. Policy changes, community activity, and a dedication to justice help one to design an educational system that fairly and equally serves every student.

Carol McLean 

New Jersey City University 

Going Public: Literature & History American Education

Deborah Woo 

March 30th, 2025

Module 4 Blog Assignment

Brown Vs Board of Education (Thurgood Marshall)

For decades, competitive exams have been an important part of the U.S. school system, and they are said to make teachers accountable and show how well students are doing. But putting too much stress on it has caused huge problems, especially for Black Americans and immigrants who are having trouble with English as a Second Language.  These assessments are to render the evaluation of academic progress more just and transparent. Nevertheless, the harm done to those already deprived reveals the injustice of the system. In the book “School: The Story of American Education Part Four: The Bottom Line,” makes the case that IEP and Standardized Testing Public schools rely too much on high-stakes testing; they hurt the moral foundation of education, making it harder for Black Americans and immigrant students to succeed, especially in school and socially, and making the system more unequal over time. People first thought that measured results were needed to raise educational standards, which is where high-stakes tests came from. However, studies show that relying too much on standardized tests changes the way people learn. In order to help students pass tests, schools often limit their courses to test topics. This means that Black American and foreign students, especially those who go to schools that don't have enough money, miss out on a well-rounded education. The tests do not take into account how race and culture affect learning. This makes a moral dilemma: even though the school system says it supports equality, it really only helps the rich by limiting the chances of students who are already at a disadvantage. 

This strict focus on tests makes things worse for Black Americans, who often go to schools with fewer resources, and immigrant students who have trouble communicating because of language barriers. It also limits their future possibilities. High-stakes tests also have a big effect on students' emotions and mental health, especially those who are from underrepresented groups. Immigrant kids are severely disadvantaged by standardized assessments that fail to account for the particular challenges they confront. This is due to the fact that they frequently have to cope with the strain of acclimating to a new language and culture. The same is true for Black pupils, who suffer more than their fair share, many of whom are from low-income households. Standardized tests push these pupils behind in their studies rather than demonstrating their true intelligence. When these tests don't take into account the problems that immigrant and Black American students face, like being pushed into a system that grades them unfairly because of things like language barriers and not having family support, that's when there is a moral problem. This goes against the idea that all kids should have equal access to the resources and help they need to do well in school.

Anteroom under "separate but equal" policies.

The rise in "teaching to the test" is another moral problem connected to high-stakes tests. This means that teachers in schools for Black American and immigrant communities spend less time teaching students how to think critically and solve problems and more time getting them ready for the specific material that will be tested. This often means that students don't learn much and aren't ready for problems they might face in the real world. These kids who are already having a hard time in school don't get the extra help or variety of skills they need to be successful in the future. Also, the "test-first" culture doesn't always take into account the needs of immigrant children for language learning, cultural integration, and individualized support. This would seem like the right and correct approach, but deprived of the comprehensive education these children need, it is nothing less than a moral failure; schools that serve these groups need to focus entirely on test prep and memory retention for these instead of helping each student to come into his or her own. 

Segregation in Public Schools

Some of the worst effects of high-stakes testing are seen most clearly in Black boys, who are disproportionately put in special education classes because they do poorly on standardized tests. A lot of the time, these students are given the wrong diagnosis of learning disabilities or mental problems. As a result, they are medicated or put in classes that go slowly without need. This misplacement, which comes from a rigid and narrow view of intelligence based only on test scores, makes these kids even less important. The moral issue is that Black boys are often not given the one-on-one help and chances they need to do well in school. Instead, they are punished for not fitting into a specific academic mold. This pattern of wrong diagnoses and not doing well in school is not only a problem with the school system, but it is also unfair because it keeps racial differences alive and limits people's chances of succeeding. The high-stakes testing system also makes the U.S. school system even less fair than it already is. Students from low-income families, students who are learning English, and students who have disabilities often have more problems when they take standardized tests. It's less likely that these students can get tutoring, help with tests, or other academic help they need to do well. Because of this, they don't have many options for further schooling or jobs. This kind of bias in the system keeps inequality going, making things worse in fields like hotel management, which needs people who can be flexible and open to new ideas. The way things are done now in schools, Black and immigrant kids might not do well on standardized tests, but they have important life skills and different points of view that should not be overlooked. The testing system is morally flawed because it favors students with resources and harms those without. This makes it even harder for students who are already having a hard time. How students are graded needs to be rethought. Standardized tests can show how well a student is doing in school, but they should not be the only way to judge their skills. By using more comprehensive tests, like competency-based tests and performance tests, we can better prepare students for the problems they will face when they start working. This method would work better for Black American and foreign students because it fits their skills and life experiences better. It would also create a welcoming space that values diversity. The moral argument here is that all students, no matter where they come from, should be judged on their full ability and given help to improve their academic and practical skills. Including kids from underrepresented groups would ensure that all students have the same chances of succeeding.

High-stakes testing has made the education system worse by making inequality worse and limiting chances for students who are already at a disadvantage. Because test numbers are too important, education has become more narrow, and the needs of Black Americans and immigrants are not being met. This method goes against the morals of a fair school system where every student should have an equal chance to succeed. Teachers would be able to see the skills of every student, not just those who do well on standardized tests, if tests were more open to everyone and covered more topics. We can make our education system fairer and successful by fixing the moral problems that high-stakes tests cause. This system should prepare all students, but especially Black Americans and immigrants, for success in school and the workplace.