FOCUS QUESTIONS

1. What are the goals of America’s schools?
2. What school goals are important to you?
3. Why has school reform become a top national priority?
4. What new school options are replacing the traditional neighborhood public school?
5. What is the role of teachers and students in reforming our schools?
6. What are the characteristics of effective schools?

CHAPTER PREVIEW

Although most of us take school for granted, the proper role of this institution continues to evoke heated debate. Are schools to prepare students for college, for a vocation, or to achieve high scores on standardized tests? Should schools help students develop good interpersonal relationships, patriotism, simply adjust to society or more ambitiously change and improve society?

In this chapter, you will have the opportunity to examine the major purposes assigned to schools and some of the major criticisms that have been leveled at them. The recent emphasis on standards and tests once again raises the crucial question: What’s a school for? Some believe that poor test scores mean that America’s schools are failing, and reform efforts have led to the creation of new schools, quite different from the old neighborhood school that you may have attended. The creation of virtual schools that teach via the Internet has made even a physical school building unnecessary. Some concerned parents are giving up on schools entirely, choosing to educate their children at home. The call for educational reform is not new, but today it is a national issue. Defining the place and the purpose of schools has never been more challenging. And sorting out what makes one school effective and another ineffective broadens the question from what is a school for to what does it take to make a school work well? As we close this chapter, we will look at the factors associated with effective schools.