PRELIMINARY SYLLABUS
EDUCATION IN AMERICA
512:230 CROSSLISTED AS 014:381
DR. WAYNE GLASKER
M,W 7:30-8:50 pm
OFFICE: 355 ARMITAGE HALL
PHONE: (856) 225-6220
EMAIL: Glasker@camden.rutgers.edu
Wglasker@aol.com
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is a preliminary syllabus, to get us started, and a more detailed syllabus will follow in a week or so. At the present times the books that we would like to use for this course have not arrived at the Bookstore (located across from Camden County College), but the book are expected this weekend. This course will examine the history of education in the United States, and contemporary issues in education. We will begin with the historical roots of American education and look at religious influences (such as Puritan New England) and an equal and opposite reaction against the role of religion (as evident in the efforts of Thomas Jefferson to maintain a wall of separation between church and state). We will look at the impact of pioneers such as Horace Mann, the school (viewpoint) of progressive education advocated by John Dewey, and critics of that approach. We will look at the role of industrial employers and elites. We will examine issues such as the role of race, class and gender; urban education; educating the children of immigrants; and bilingual education. We will ask questions about the role of public education in reinforcing social hierarchy, inequality and stratification, or in promoting equality and opportunity to achieve upward mobility. We will look at the question of race and intelligence, and the role of standardized testing. Always we will ask how those who possess power are making decisions about what other people's children should learn, and whose interests or what interests are served by these arrangements. We will also look at the New Jersey Professional Teaching Standards and the (federal) No Child Left Behind Initiative.
GRADES AND ASSIGNMENTS
There will be periodic exams, that will count as 80% of the course grade. It is impossible to say at this point how many, but a good guess would be three or four. There may be some writing assignments (such as a brief reaction paper of 2-3 pages to a video or a reading assignment). They will count as 10% of the course grade. Class participation and attendance will count as 10%.
REQUIRED READINGS
1. Joel Spring,
American
Education, eleventh edition (McGraw-Hill)
2. Joel Spring
Deculturalization
and the Struggle for Equality: A Brief History of
3. Leslie Baldacci
Inside
Mrs. B's Classroom
STANDARDS OF CONDUCT
In the past, some students have not understood that being in school is a serious responsibility. It is like a job. Being here is ninety percent of the job. Attendance will be taken. You are here in this class to pay attention to the lectures and to take notes. If you conspicuously chat and converse during the lecture you will be asked to take your conversation to the lobby. No more than FIVE absences are expected (that is an average of almost one every two weeks). Regular attendance is crucial if you expect to do well. If you do not attend regularly you should not expect a grade above a C in this course. If you have been absent for days at a time without prior explanation, or an advisory letter from the Student Advising Office, you will not be re-admitted to class or permitted to take exams. If you have some sort of mishap or illness or emergency that will require you to be absent for an extended period of time, please contact one of the Assistant Deans in the Student Advising Office at (856) 225-6043. The office is located on the second floor of Armitage Hall, past the elevators. That office will require documentation of your situation. If you are enrolled I expect you to be here. If you are not going to be here, or cannot be here, then you should not be enrolled. Rutgers-Camden does not offer correspondence courses. This is not a remedial class.
If you are absent it is your responsibility to get notes from a classmate. The failure to get notes when absent is an even greater offense than the absence itself.
If you are absent MORE THAN FIVE TIMES, your grade for the
course will
automatically be reduced by one letter grade (the equivalent of ten
points).
If it had been an A, it will become a B; if it had been a B, it will
become a
C; and so forth.
Ordinarily, no late exams will be given. Missed exams will automatically count as an "F" unless there is a credible doctor’s note, auto repair receipt ("my car broke down’), funeral card ("my grandmother died again"), or obituary.
CLASS DISCUSSION MUST
BE CIVIL
(POLITE, RESPECTFUL)
The approach that I take in this course is that there is not necessarily one universal truth with which all people would agree. Rather, there may be multiple truths; and truth is in the eye of the beholder; and there are multiple points of view competing in the marketplace of ideas. However class discussion must be civil: that means no shouting, no name-calling, no "shouting people down" or "talking over" people and interrupting; and no personal attacks. We can disagree without being disagreeable; and sometimes we just have to agree to disagree.
ELECTRONIC RESERVE
For this course there eventually will be a few readings on electronic reserve at the library. This means that you access IRIS (the library's computerized system). Go to the Rutgers home page (www.rutgers.edu) and go to the Camden campus. When the page comes up, click on research, and then Paul Robeson Library (not Law Library). Click on Accessing Electronic Reserves. Click the box where it says RESERVE DESK. You can search by instructor, course number or course name. Use instructor name. If you type in glasker, my courses should come up. Be sure to click on Education in America. An alphabetized list of articles will appear. Please note that remote access from your home computer will only work if you use Internet Explorer or Netscape. For most people, the best thing to do is to print the articles from a computer in the library. If you use the computers at the very front of the library, at the entrance, printing is FREE. If you print from other computers in the library you will need a photocopy card (the card costs $1, from the machine next to the Circulation Desk), and the cost for printing is 12 cents per page.
Assignment for Monday, Jan. 26, if textbook is available
Joel Spring, American Education, Chapter 1
W, Jan 28 Joel
Spring, American
Education, Chapter 2