American Dream and Public Schools Book

Public education is supposed to be the means by which all students acquire a chance to realize the American dream, and the place where they learn how to sustain the dream for future generations. In this insightful book, Jennifer Hochschild and Nathan Scovronick examine the American dream and find the source of many educational controversies in its multiple goals and internal contradictions. They show why some schools help children succeed and others do not, and what can be done about it. The book examines desegregation, school funding, standards and testing, vouchers, special education, bilingual education, and ability grouping--all issues that have excited, and divided, Americans for years. These seem to be separate problems, but the authors find that many of the debates come down to the same thing--the apparent need to choose between the individual success of comparatively privileged students and the collective good of all students or the nation as a whole, a conflict rooted in the multiple goals of the American dream. The book also examines issues such as creationism and Afrocentrism, where the dispute lies between those who attack the validity of the American dream and those who believe such an attack has no place in public schools. At the end, the authors examine implications for public education of our nation's vast and rapid racial and ethnic transformation, and recommend ways that schools can better work to help all children reach their goals and become the citizens we need.Read More