ENGLISH 101 ­ READING QUESTIONS

For the following, please turn in thoughtful, typed, double-spaced answers in your own words to the following questions (you can format it however you like, numbered, or as paragraphs).

 

Professors Pritchard & Dudley

 

** Remember to put your name on your homework.  And, please staple if it is more than one page (We really don¹t want to lose any of your work).**

 

QUESTIONS FOR WEEKS 1 & 2:

Article: Jonathan Kozol, ³The Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York²

 

  1. What was Kozol¹s method of research?  That is, how did he go about gathering his information?
  2. Which schools did Kozol include in his article, and, where were they located?
  3. What do you think is Kozol¹s opinion regarding why schools have different resources?  Be specific.
  4. Quote one black high school student interviewed by Kozol.  Write if you agree or not.  Write why or why not.
  5. Quote one white high school student interviewed by Kozol.  Write if you agree or not.  Write why or why not.

 

Article: (1) Roslyn Mickelson and Stephen Smith, ³Education and the Struggle Against Race, Class, and Gender Inequality²

 

  1. When did the authors write this article?
  2. What does ³meritocracy² mean?  Make your best guess from the context if you are not sure.
  3. Name two ³misconceptions² mentioned by Mickelson and Smith at the beginning of the article.  Have you seen mention of these before?  Offer an explanation of how misconceptions in 1992 are or are not connected to some of the ideas in Paula Fass¹ article.
  4. What do you think they mean when they contrast ³equality of opportunity² and ³equality of outcome²?  What do most Americans mean, then, when we talk about ³equality² in the U.S.?
  5. Do the authors believe that legal desegregation of schools has succeeded?  How do they test it?  What do they say about the Northeast?  Compare their opinions with what Kozol wrote in his article.
  6. What did the writers of the Coleman Report expect to find?  What did they actually find?  When did they write it?  How many years had passed since the Brown v. Board of Education decision that made illegal segregated schools?

 

 

MORE ON THE OTHER SIDE à

 

  1. What is an example of ³compensatory education²?  What did people with leftist (or progressive) politics think of it?  What did people with right-leaning (or conservative) politics think of it?  Which children were invisible in this debate?  Has it worked?
  2. What is Title IX?  When was it passed?
  3. Do the authors believe that equality of education guarantees equality of income?
  4. What do the terms: ³credential inflation,² ³competitive disadvantage,² and ³hidden curriculum² mean?  Do one or more of these issues also come up in Kozol¹s article?  Which ones?