In this paper (1250 words not including title or reference page) you will answer a focus question related to the historical and contemporary debate over the purposes of schooling and the role of the teacher.

This assignment will allow you to demonstrate your development and understanding of differing perspectives related to the purpose of public school and the role of teachers in American society. There are 4 categories for grading (each on a 1-5 scale).

The paper should identify and analyze historical and contemporary debates over the role of public schooling and teachers in American society.

The paper should provide support with evidence from course materials and independent research. You are expected to use at least three sources for the paper. At least one of the three sources must be a peer-reviewed research publication, and at least one should be the course text.

The paper should communicate effectively with appropriate writing skill, style, level of abstraction, and APA citation mechanics.

Focus Question:

What do you see as the most important purpose of schooling (or combination of purposes) in contemporary American society, and how does that compare to historic debates and perspectives over the role of public schooling and role of teachers in the U.S.?

You must use course concepts when presenting your position and analyzing the debate. Please see rubric.

Steps to a Good Paper:

Take a position on the initial question.

Think about how folks have historically viewed the purpose of the public school and the role of teachers.

Connect your position to specific course concepts and historical perspectives.

Create a web for your ideas and link them to evidence in the text, films, and independent research from peer-reviewed journals (Links to an external site.).

For this context, the requirement to use peer-reviewed research publications  means the use of/reference to scholarly research articles published in academic journals, including (but not restricted to) the American Educational Research Journal, Sociology of Education, Anthropology of Education Quarterly, American Journal of Education, and Teachers College Record. Short news or opinion articles in either metropolitan newspapers, a publication such as Education Week, or online blog posts do not count as professional research pieces.

Textbook: American Education by Joel Spring

Grading Rubric

Criteria

Ratings

Pts

Differing perspectives of purposes of public schooling

Accurately describes historical debate over purpose of schools relevant to the question, coherent, comprehensive argument tied to relevant concepts; no noticeable conceptual errors.

5.0 pts

Accurately describes historical debate over purpose of schools relevant to question, coherent argument tied to relevant concept; minor factual/ interpretive errors.

4.0 pts

Accurately describes debate over purpose of schools relevant to question, basic connections with important relevant course concepts; minor factual/ interpretive errors.

3.0 pts

No explicit reference to course concepts; moderate factual/ interpretive errors.

2.0 pts

No discussion of course concepts about purposes of schooling; serious factual/ interpretive errors.

1.0 pts

5.0 pts

Differing perspectives of role of teacher

Accurately describes historical debate over role of teachers, coherent, comprehensive argument tied to relevant concepts; no noticeable conceptual errors.

5.0 pts

Accurately describes the historical debate over role of teachers, coherent argument tied to relevant key concepts; minor factual/ interpretive errors.

4.0 pts

Accurately describes debate over role of teachers, basic connections with relevant course concepts; minor factual/ interpretive errors.

3.0 pts

No explicit reference to course concepts; moderate factual/ interpretive errors.

2.0 pts

No discussion of course concepts about roles of teachers; serious factual/ interpretive errors.

1.0 pts

5.0 pts

Research

Cites at least 3 sources of course material (i.e., readings, lectures, or discussions) and at least 1 source of independent research.

5.0 pts

Cites 3 sources of course material (i.e., readings, lectures, or discussions) but no sources of independent research.

4.0 pts

Cites 2 sources of course material (i.e., readings, lectures, or discussions) but no sources of independent research.

3.0 pts

Cites 1 sources of course material (i.e., readings, lectures, or discussions) but no sources of independent research.

2.0 pts

No citation of any course material (readings, lectures, or discussions) or independent research.

1.0 pts

5.0 pts

Effective communication

Paper communicates ideas in a consistently clear fashion, minimal mechanical errors, superior clarity of expression, presentation of ideas, explanation of detail, and/or graceful writing, complete citations, proper APA formatting.

5.0 pts

Paper communicates ideas in a consistently clear fashion, minimal mechanical errors, complete citations, minimal errors in APA formatting.

4.0 pts

Paper communicates ideas in a generally clear fashion, some confusing passages, some slang or informality, some word misuse, grammatical mistakes, and misspellings/ typographical errors, some minor/moderate errors in citations and APA formatting.

3.0 pts

Confusing sequence of concepts, considerable use of slang or informal style; noticeable word misuse, grammatical mistakes, and misspellings/ typographical errors; incomplete citations or noticeable errors in citations and APA formatting.

2.0 pts

Plagiarism; confusing sequence of concepts; frequent and/or extensive word misuse, grammatical mistakes, and spellings/ typographical errors; source material missing citations; considerable APA formatting errors.

1.0 pts

5.0 pts

Total Points: 20.0