How to Make Schools More Effective Today
Due Saturday
In order to understand the present and predict the future, one must have an understanding of the past. In this week’s introduction, comments were made regarding the work of two well-known and somewhat controversial researchers, James Coleman and Ronald Edmonds. Coleman’s (1966) work focused on the premise that schools do not make a difference in student learning. Edmond’s (1982) work contradicted Coleman’s findings, stating that schools truly do make a difference, if specific qualities are present within the school’s structure. So, thanks to Edmonds, we now believe that, given a school system with certain characteristics, schools can, indeed make a difference! So, what do we do with this in order to make our schools more effective?
Go to the Effective Schools website (Lake Forest College, 1995), and explore it to learn more about Edmond’s work and the current work of the Effective Schools Project. Also, after reading the article, Effective Schools Checklist (Audain, 2007), find information in your reading assignments that will help you answer the following questions: What is the Effective Schools Movement? How did it start and what is its history?
After reading and viewing the history of the Effective Schools Movement, use the information to summarize the elements of the Effective Schools Movement that are present in your school (or if you are not teaching, think back to when you were a student). Note: feel free to use the checklist found in the second article listed above. Also address what you think you can do with this information to make your own classroom or local school more effective.
Post your three to four paragraph responses to the Assignment Dropbox.
Support your statements with evidence from the required studies and your research. Cite and reference your sources in APA style.Do not forget to include your references and citations.
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References
Audain, T. (2007, August 22). Effective schools checklist. Retrieved from http://esperanzaelementary.blogspot.com/2012/12/ef”¦
Coleman, J. S. (1966). Equality of Educational Opportunity (COLEMAN) Study (EEOS). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-04-27. doi:10.3886/ICPSR06389.v3
Edmonds, R. R. (1982). Programs of school improvement: An overview. Educational Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.4aplus.com/download/effective-schools-2″¦
Lake Forest College. (1995). History of the effective schools movement. Retrieved from http://www.lakeforest.edu/library/archives/effecti”¦