Assignment 3 (Reflection II) - Juvan A. Davis

 PART TWO: As American As Public School (1900 - 1950)


            In this part of the book which is entitled “1900 – 1950 As American as Public School, I have noticed countless things such as child laboir laws, immigrants, immigration and etc, but the main idea of this part of the book was to depict how the education system and structure was in the 1900’s – 1950’s.  This school system had many poor practices and behaviors that caused a negative impact on the school and its impression.  For instance, from what I have, when children drop out of school or quit school and start to work, their parents would approve and support that adverse action.  Hence, causing the graduation rate of the school to be at six percent, and this is the calculated percentages of students who graduate or complete their program within a specified timeframe.

            As time progresses, there was a change for the better.  For the children ended up adoring being in school hence causing them to be more into it and focus that they were advancing into newer grade levels.  This positive impact then started making the school look good and also made it known for the goals it was established and set in place to do.  Another reason why the school system saw so much improvement was because the people then realized that in order to have a successful and well-paying job, they would have to achieve their education.  After a while, the statement in which I made earlier where children were dropping out of school in search of work, and they would be praised and applauded for it.  Now, after the parents and other adults realized how things has evolved, they began to shun and refuse them from quitting school and working in factories, hence making the child labor laws coming around and being enforced strictly and these laws are compulsory in today’s world.  The law states that no minor should be working and they should be attending school and we all should know this.

            To add to the conversation, along with what was said, another notorious drive came across where there was an IQ tests being given to students to determine if they were able to use the resources.  When discussing this mater amongst my group members, we all thought disagreed with the rule that was set in place.  Reason being, is some students including us as a group do not take test easily, we agreed that we as students tend to get really nervous and make poor mistakes and bad decisions on the exam although we fully understood the information and was well equipped with the material that was taught.  So, because of our nervousness in taking exam we can be set at a disadvantage of using resources.  The IQ test was also there to classify each student into what grade they should be in depending on their level of knowledge, which we all came to an agreement with seeing the test only determines where they should start you and see what all you know.  The school system would allow those who ranked and scored high on the IQ test to be looked at more in getting them pursue tertiary education.  By the 1930’s school became compulsory for all minors under the age of sixteen years old.  With that regulation being set in place it was noticed that the graduation had increase by one and a half making it seven and half percent.

            To conclude to my blog, as a group we realize that the education then and now has drastically changed for the better.  Yes, there can be room for improvement but from what it was to now, we are thankful and grateful.  A lesson that we of the present can gain from what happened in the pass is that, 1. having an education is required for you to have a great job to make some good money, 2. more students are staying in school longer to obtain a degree in order to meet the standards for the job and career they are in pursuit of and 3. the more we as the young people indulge in knowledge and information and focus on getting our education, the future that consist of our children and our children’s children will be better off.



Image of the Students Quitting School and Working in the Factory.

US Schools 1900-1950 | Sutori


Image of the Students Taking the IQ Test to Determine their Placement.

As American As Public School 1900-1950 timeline | Timetoast timelines



Comments

  1. prof.KOctober 2, 2022 at 2:24 PM

    Juvan,
    Thanks for your thoughtful reflection about this section and the massive changes that happened in US public schools during this period of 1900-1950. As you pointed out, at the beginning of the period, many children went to work vs. school to help support their families, but by 1930, school attendance became compulsory for all children under age 16, and the number of high schools and high school graduates soared. Your focus on testing and the IQ test as biased was another important theme in this section. Despite educational leaders believing that the IQ test might help make education more efficient and effective, it indeed shut out and harmed many students who might have had better educational outcomes if given more of a chance.
    Thanks for your positive closing and for the pictures.
    Professor Knauer

    ReplyDelete

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