Week 2 reflection

 WEEK 2 REFLECTION 

                                                                            Jake Stockling

                                                                    New Jersey City University 

                                    LETD380: Going Public: Literacy and History of American Education 

                                                                                    Dr.Rosen

                                                                                    July 7, 2024

Group 3 and I ranked what we agreed on as a group, what we assumed, and what we had disagreements on. Last week ranking them was a bit difficult, but this week I believe that our rankings complemented each other’s very well. What stood out to me was kids finishing off the 8^th grade, and not attending high school afterwards. The reason why it stood out to me is because today it will not be allowed. I don’t think it’s normalized. I added a few key points to my knowledge. Such as Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) started in 1941.  An interesting fact that stood out to me was on page 67. “Psychological experts believed that the tests were the acme of educational science and that they would make the schools more efficient that rational in their resources.” From this section it was a lot of knowledge that I underlined. On page 68 “The leaders of the life adjustments movement proposed that only 20 percent of students should be prepared for higher education, another 20 percent should be prepared for skilled work, and the remaining 60 percent should get “life adjustment education,” a program concentrated on the basic skills of everyday living, such as family life and consumer choices.”  Something I was confused about was on page 70. “The period from 1900 to 1957 was marked by both triumph and failure for the American public school.” I looked it up on google for better understanding. According to google the year of 1900 34 states were ruled schooling laws. Four were in the South. An immigrant mother from Brooklyn once said “ You Are an American”  “We want our kinder to learn mit der book, der paper, und der pencil, not mit sewing und dep shop!” Eglys from my group topped the rank of what they’ve agreed on. She wrote “I agree with the author’s assessment that the American public school system played an important role in integrating immigrants and offering opportunities for social mobility. The essay uses personal tales and historical evidence to demonstrate how public schools taught English and American norms, assisting immigrants in assimilating into American culture. This function of public schools in developing a sense of national identity and providing upward mobility is crucial, reflecting a core aspect of the American educational system.”  I love this agreement because personally I know a few immigrants whose life turned out to be amazing just because they furthered their education and did not give up. Although it was hard for them to understand the work and be placed in ESL they were able to graduate. Education is the key to immigrants’ life because it can their life around. I was able to adapt into this section. The first section of the book we learned about how the school was formed. Which gender and white only school.  But in this section we learned about immigrants and what they were capable of doing. How easy or hard it was for them to learn. What did the schools do to make sure they had the American dream education they’ve always dreamt about.