Education is inherently political. Historical and contemporary analyses of public education, its changing purposes, curricular battles, federal and state policy conflicts, constitutional cases, multicultural issues, and privatization efforts are explored.
Athena Title
Politics & American Education
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EDUC 2500H
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall, spring and summer
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Explain the social policy connections between education and politics in the United States.
Analyze historical and cultural influences and impacts on local, state, and national education, policies, and practices.
Critique the constitutional freedoms and legal protections of students and teachers.
Explain conflicts over education among local, state, and the federal government, Congress, and state legislatures.
Discuss the different and competing ideologies that inform education policy and curricular decisions.
Deconstruct historical and contemporary multicultural conflicts and public schooling.
Analyze conflicts over education and curricula initiated by external interest groups.
Critique the public-school privatization movement, its related interest groups, and the role of state legislatures and philanthropies in education reform.
Topical Outline
A. Topics for Reading
1. Reading and Thinking Critically
2. Learning to Read and Evaluate Historical and Political Arguments
3. Learning Historical Rootedness in Contemporary Problems
4. Ideology Critique
5. Developing Social Justice Arguments
B. Topics for Writing
1. Learning to Write Critically
2. Organization and Development
3. Grammar and Citation Format
C. Content Outline
1. Outside environmental influences on learners, including culture, family structure and background, home language, SES, and peers
2. Institutionally and historically rooted forms of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia in educational institutions and policies
3. Political and cultural conflicts over the purposes and goals of educational institutions
4. Conflicts related to education and the federalist nature of American government
5. Major court cases impacting education
6. Case studies related to state political conflicts over public school curricula
7. How major political and social events affect public schooling
8. How inequalities and inequities are institutionally perpetuated
9. School privatization
