reflection paper#12

After Sputnik, the Civil Rights movement and the protest against the war in Vietnam had a huge impact on school's curriculum. Reformers passed judgment on the cold war curriculum that highlighted academics at the expense of social reality. Criticism came from certain individuals who felt school curriculum was not academically sound. Among the foremost critics decrying the ills of progressive education were Hyman Rickover and Arthur Bestor. They called for an end to "student-centered" and "life-adjustment" subjects and return to more rigorous study of traditional courses. While the arguments raged, the launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957 put at least a temporary closure on the debate. The U.S was involved in a space race with the Soviets, a race to educate scientists and engineers, a race toward the first moon landing. Those arguing for a more rigorous, science-and math-focused curriculum won the day. With the new child-centered curriculum called “open classroom” the students in elementary schools were able to decide whatever it was they wanted to learn at the time as long as it was education based. By high school students explored an exciting array of electives such as Multicultural Education, Peace Studies, Ecology, and Women’ Study. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite. Its launching marked a decrease in civilization in the west in the Cold War. American schools were left to blame for the U.S. crash in beating the Soviets into space. Prominent university academics were enlisted to develop a more thorough curriculum, especially in the more challenging subjects such as math, science and foreign languages. Perhaps before Sputniks launching these subjects weren't taken critically by the students or weren’t as effective. After the launching, courses were rationalized so that students would focus not on memorization but on learning to think like mathematicians or scientist. Problems and issues pushed students to develop higher-order thinking skills. The propagation of electives in the 1960s and 1970s led to superficial course options and less rigorous curriculum. Coupled with meager test scores and the publication of decisive reports and books, America’s schools began eliminating electives and increasing the number of fundamental courses mandatory for graduation, sometimes referred to as a core curriculum. In many schools today, the curriculum is defined by the states. School efficiency is determined by standardized tests so that the government can keep track of what’s going on in our public schools. In doing this, the government is said to be more involved and complex towards all schools.