Who gets taught? Are schools fair? What does fairness look like?
Intro/thesis: Be specific here. You may not be able to state exactly what fairness looks like yet but
introduce the concept.
TIP: I like to write the introduction LAST, but the thesis FIRST
Body_paragraphs:
1) Who gets taught?
2) Are schools fair?
3) What does fairness look like?
Conclusion: Tie the entire paper together. If you are having a hard with this, your answers to the three
questions may not speak to each other enough to create a coherent paper.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5
LO
What role has/should the federal government play in ensuring fairness in school districts that are
run on a more local level?
How does special education status, race, class, and gender intersect to produce unfairness in
schools? What can be done to increase fairness for doubly (or triply) marginalized populations?
Given that residential segregation widely exists in the United States, should fairness in schools
look like empowering local communities to determine curriculum and standards or look like
transporting students across neighborhood lines to integrate schools by race/socio-economic
status?
Schools are NOT fair today in many ways, but one primary reason is that there are still significant
inequalities in terms of race and ethnicity despite a history of legal action (Brown v. Board, etc.)
and policies aimed at making school more fair over the last four decades.
Schools are NOT fair today in many ways, but one primary reason is that gender parity is still
elusive today, despite legislation like Title IX, etc. designed to ensure equal funding, etc. because
many students face threats or discrimination based on expressions of their gender identity.
Schools are NOT fair today in many ways, but one primary reason is that students with
additional needs, or students with exceptionalities of many sorts, whether bilingual learners, special
education, or learning disabilities, do not have equal access to schools that can serve their needs
despite legislation.
Sexism and gender stereotypes in schools perpetuate unfairness in education?
Despite a litany of court cases promoting equity in education, schools have resisted calls to
implement reform to ensure fairness.
Requiring school uniforms is the same as demanding that students remove arm bands worn as
a protest. If one is unconstitutional the other should be also.
School integration as defined by the Brown decision is the ultimate example of school fairness.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Your job in this paper is to answer the first question (yes/no/it's complicated) and use a specific example appropriate for a 4-page
paper as a particular lens on this stance, in order to illustrate how or why schools are not fair, and what should be changed in
order to improve on the current state of "fairness.?
.
Sample prompts/ideas:
How does special education status, race, and gender intersect to produce unfairness in schools? What can be done to increase
fairness for doubly (or triply) marginalized populations?
What is the current state of fairness in schools with so much residential segregation in the United States? What should
fairness look like--empowering local communities to determine curriculum and standards or look like transporting students
across neighborhood lines to integrate schools by race/socio-economic status?
Are limits on the free speech rights of students in schools fair or not fair? Why or why not? Be very specific on what rights
you think are fair and what limits if any are fair.
What is the legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education decision? How has the implementation of the decision been fair or
unfair?
Are the extracurricular activities (i.e. sports) provided by schools fair to girls, even after Title IX? Why or why not?
.
.
As always, your paper should:
Indicate a sense of history, i.e. change over time and nuance;
Have a point of view, which is made clear in the first paragraph; and
Be organized to prove your perspective of the issue through the use of evidence
o at least one source from The School in the United States
o at least one source not from The School in the United States (e.g. other readings,
NYT, WaPo, etc.)
Guidelines
.
Focus on a reasonable timeline of events. The question of fairness in schools is
recently new (within last 40-50 years) so your paper should take shape accordingly.
.
Stick to the page limit! You need to balance making a 4-page argument without
glossing over history and making broad generalizations, it's a tightrope to walk! It
means you need to take a narrow approach to answering the question, and if you
cannot fit your response in 4 pages, rethinking the parameters of your response may
be necessary!
Think about the full trajectory of schools, from the Colonial Period, through the
Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, and up to and beyond the Civil Rights
period to today.
.
How can we characterize this trajectory?
• On paper, from exclusive to more inclusive, but in practice major MAJOR caveats
• From local and state-centered to federal oversight, with varying levels of success
Increasingly utilized to fulfill a social public purpose, but how well are schools equipped for this?
The movement for ‘rights and opportunities in American education is a relatively recent phenomenon
(1960s forward) but by the 1980s there was backlash (think A Nation At Risk, concepts of excellence in
education)
What has stayed the same, if anything?
Debates over role of school in society
Uneven and inequitable experiences of schooling depending on a variety of factors
Trade-offs: Federal oversight means more equity and access, but also more standardization
.
What does this history in terms of fairness tell us about schools today, and the prospects for education
going forward? What should fairness be defined as? How does fairness line up with excellence?
Your job in this paper is to answer the first question (yes/no/it's complicated) and use a specific example appropriate for a 4-page
paper as a particular lens on this stance, in order to illustrate how or why schools are not fair, and what should be changed in
order to improve on the current state of "fairness.?
.
Sample prompts/ideas:
How does special education status, race, and gender intersect to produce unfairness in schools? What can be done to increase
fairness for doubly (or triply) marginalized populations?
What is the current state of fairness in schools with so much residential segregation in the United States? What should
fairness look like--empowering local communities to determine curriculum and standards or look like transporting students
across neighborhood lines to integrate schools by race/socio-economic status?
Are limits on the free speech rights of students in schools fair or not fair? Why or why not? Be very specific on what rights
you think are fair and what limits if any are fair.
What is the legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education decision? How has the implementation of the decision been fair or
unfair?
Are the extracurricular activities (i.e. sports) provided by schools fair to girls, even after Title IX? Why or why not?
Think about the full trajectory of schools, from the Colonial Period, through the
Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, and up to and beyond the Civil Rights
period to today.
.
How can we characterize this trajectory?
• On paper, from exclusive to more inclusive, but in practice major MAJOR caveats
• From local and state-centered to federal oversight, with varying levels of success
Increasingly utilized to fulfill a social public purpose, but how well are schools equipped for this?
The movement for ‘rights and opportunities in American education is a relatively recent phenomenon
(1960s forward) but by the 1980s there was backlash (think A Nation At Risk, concepts of excellence in
education)
What has stayed the same, if anything?
Debates over role of school in society
Uneven and inequitable experiences of schooling depending on a variety of factors
Trade-offs: Federal oversight means more equity and access, but also more standardization
.
What does this history in terms of fairness tell us about schools today, and the prospects for education
going forward? What should fairness be defined as? How does fairness line up with excellence?
.
.
As always, your paper should:
Indicate a sense of history, i.e. change over time and nuance;
Have a point of view, which is made clear in the first paragraph; and
Be organized to prove your perspective of the issue through the use of evidence
o at least one source from The School in the United States
o at least one source not from The School in the United States (e.g. other readings,
NYT, WaPo, etc.)
Guidelines
.
Focus on a reasonable timeline of events. The question of fairness in schools is
recently new (within last 40-50 years) so your paper should take shape accordingly.
.
Stick to the page limit! You need to balance making a 4-page argument without
glossing over history and making broad generalizations, it's a tightrope to walk! It
means you need to take a narrow approach to answering the question, and if you
cannot fit your response in 4 pages, rethinking the parameters of your response may
be necessary!
Your job in this paper is to answer the first question (yes/no/it's complicated) and use a specific example appropriate for a 4-page
paper as a particular lens on this stance, in order to illustrate how or why schools are not fair, and what should be changed in
order to improve on the current state of "fairness.?
.
Sample prompts/ideas:
How does special education status, race, and gender intersect to produce unfairness in schools? What can be done to increase
fairness for doubly (or triply) marginalized populations?
What is the current state of fairness in schools with so much residential segregation in the United States? What should
fairness look like--empowering local communities to determine curriculum and standards or look like transporting students
across neighborhood lines to integrate schools by race/socio-economic status?
Are limits on the free speech rights of students in schools fair or not fair? Why or why not? Be very specific on what rights
you think are fair and what limits if any are fair.
What is the legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education decision? How has the implementation of the decision been fair or
unfair?
Are the extracurricular activities (i.e. sports) provided by schools fair to girls, even after Title IX? Why or why not?
.
.
As always, your paper should:
Indicate a sense of history, i.e. change over time and nuance;
Have a point of view, which is made clear in the first paragraph; and
Be organized to prove your perspective of the issue through the use of evidence
o at least one source from The School in the United States
o at least one source not from The School in the United States (e.g. other readings,
NYT, WaPo, etc.)
Guidelines
.
Focus on a reasonable timeline of events. The question of fairness in schools is
recently new (within last 40-50 years) so your paper should take shape accordingly.
.
Stick to the page limit! You need to balance making a 4-page argument without
glossing over history and making broad generalizations, it's a tightrope to walk! It
means you need to take a narrow approach to answering the question, and if you
cannot fit your response in 4 pages, rethinking the parameters of your response may
be necessary!
Think about the full trajectory of schools, from the Colonial Period, through the
Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, and up to and beyond the Civil Rights
period to today.
.
How can we characterize this trajectory?
• On paper, from exclusive to more inclusive, but in practice major MAJOR caveats
• From local and state-centered to federal oversight, with varying levels of success
Increasingly utilized to fulfill a social public purpose, but how well are schools equipped for this?
The movement for ‘rights and opportunities in American education is a relatively recent phenomenon
(1960s forward) but by the 1980s there was backlash (think A Nation At Risk, concepts of excellence in
education)
What has stayed the same, if anything?
Debates over role of school in society
Uneven and inequitable experiences of schooling depending on a variety of factors
Trade-offs: Federal oversight means more equity and access, but also more standardization
.
What does this history in terms of fairness tell us about schools today, and the prospects for education
going forward? What should fairness be defined as? How does fairness line up with excellence?
Who gets taught? Are schools fair? What does fairness look like?
Intro/thesis: Be specific here. You may not be able to state exactly what fairness looks like yet but
introduce the concept.
TIP: I like to write the introduction LAST, but the thesis FIRST
Body_paragraphs:
1) Who gets taught?
2) Are schools fair?
3) What does fairness look like?
Conclusion: Tie the entire paper together. If you are having a hard with this, your answers to the three
questions may not speak to each other enough to create a coherent paper.
Answer: Schools are NOT fair today in many ways, but one primary reason is because there are still significant racial inequalities
despite a history of legal action (e.g., Brown v. Board) and federal policies aimed at making school fairer over the last four
decades in the U.S.
Organization
Intro: Identifies schools as central part of society and a site of much contentious debate over what is fair, how to make schools
more equal, etc.; thesis statement argues that schools today still not fair despite the growth of federal oversight in the latter half
of 20th century because racial inequality and segregation in schools persists due to combination of historical and structural factors
Body: Identify Brown v. Board decision in its historical context; identify the issues of implementation/enforcement and policies
like busing that are problematic; to the growth of residential segregation in 90s and today, ensuring schools are re-segregated via
income; tracking and testing also serve to separate and draw distinctions between students in ways that have strong racial
correlations (third source citation!)
Conclusion: While involvement of the federal government in education in 1950s and 60s was critical in prioritizing questions of
equity and fairness based on race on a national level, enforcement and follow-through on these policies has ultimately fallen very
short of its initial promise. Schools today are still unfair and this is a problem on a broader social level because...
Since your have the readings from class and lecture that are going to provide the historical context for this argument, your third
source is going to be the best way to back up your argument about the state of fairness in schools today,
Think of this paper like a case study in answering the main question!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5
LO
What role has/should the federal government play in ensuring fairness in school districts that are
run on a more local level?
How does special education status, race, class, and gender intersect to produce unfairness in
schools? What can be done to increase fairness for doubly (or triply) marginalized populations?
Given that residential segregation widely exists in the United States, should fairness in schools
look like empowering local communities to determine curriculum and standards or look like
transporting students across neighborhood lines to integrate schools by race/socio-economic
status?
Schools are NOT fair today in many ways, but one primary reason is that there are still significant
inequalities in terms of race and ethnicity despite a history of legal action (Brown v. Board, etc.)
and policies aimed at making school more fair over the last four decades.
Schools are NOT fair today in many ways, but one primary reason is that gender parity is still
elusive today, despite legislation like Title IX, etc. designed to ensure equal funding, etc. because
many students face threats or discrimination based on expressions of their gender identity.
Schools are NOT fair today in many ways, but one primary reason is that students with
additional needs, or students with exceptionalities of many sorts, whether bilingual learners, special
education, or learning disabilities, do not have equal access to schools that can serve their needs
despite legislation.
Sexism and gender stereotypes in schools perpetuate unfairness in education?
Despite a litany of court cases promoting equity in education, schools have resisted calls to
implement reform to ensure fairness.
Requiring school uniforms is the same as demanding that students remove arm bands worn as
a protest. If one is unconstitutional the other should be also.
School integration as defined by the Brown decision is the ultimate example of school fairness.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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