46 8. School Assistance in Federally Affected Areas (Impact Aid) provides funds for construction.47 9. Vocational Educational Amendment of 196848 provides for model, innovative programs for students from low-income areas. 10. Civil Rights Act of 196449 provides for civil rights technical assistance and training. Evaluations. Sometimes it is very helpful to take an overall look at your schools. One way to do this is by conducting an evaluation with a group of parents and other interested people. Chapter 4 gives you some suggestions on how to do a school evaluation. It also gives information on specific issues you are concerned about. You should remember that evaluations are a form of organized action, and the points we make in this chapter should be considered when you start evaluating your school. Things to Remember We have covered many points in this chapter and we would now like to review some of them with you. 1. Do your homework • Who are you dealing with? • What is their authority? • What is their track record? • Who are their friends and supporters? • What motivates them? • What are the facts? • What is the history of the problem? What impact will your recommendations have? • How much time do you have? • Who might support you if you give them special attention? • Who might oppose you under certain circumstances? • Who can make the decisions you want? • What other problems or issues might be triggered by your efforts? What do you do if your first efforts fail (options)? What are the legal issues? • What are you willing to settle for if you can't get everything you want? • What are your weak and strong points? What do you want to accomplish (objectives)? • What do you plan to do first (priorities)? 2. Communicate Make sure everyone in your group knows what's going on. 3. Develop a strategy • Plan what you are going to do. • Look at different ways to get things done. • Decide on using one of the ways. • Have an alternative approach handy, if the chosen strategy doesn't work. • If you change strategy, make sure everyone with you knows and understands the change. • Be flexible when possible, firm when necessary. • Identify the pressure points-where can you apply pressure to get a response without using too much energy, resources, and time? 4. Do things with enthusiasm and do your best • You should want to do things and not be a reluctant participant. • Unless you do your best, you can't honestly ask school officials to do their best. • Have patience; sometimes it pays to wait for results. • Make sure that details are taken care of; don't assume that someone else will take care of them. 5. Respect the people you deal with • Most people honestly believe that they are right, even those who disagree with you. • Listen to what others have to say; they might give you a clue to solutions. • Consider giving honest opponents a way out or a way to "save face." 6. Follow up • Have progress reports. • Have conferences to review results. • Send letters confirming agreements, asking additional questions, and thanking individuals for their cooperation. Notes to Chapter 3 1. 20 U.S.C.A. §1201 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. et seq. (1974). 2. 20 U.S.C.A. §351 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §351 et seq. (1974). 3. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27 as amended (codified in scattered sections of 20 U.S.C.). 4. 20 U.S.C.A. §241c-1 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §241c (1974). 5. 20 U.S.C.A. §241c (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §241c (1974). 6. 20 U.S.C.A. §241c-2 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §241c (1974). 7. 20 U.S.C.A. §241c-3 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §241c (1974). 8. 20 U.S.C.A. §241d (b) (1970). 9. 20 U.S.C.A. §821 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975) amending 20 U.S.C.A. §821 et seq. (1974). 10. 20 U.S.C.A. §86 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §861 (1974). 11. 20 U.S.C.A. §1411 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1411 et seq. (1974). 12. 20 U.S.C.A. §441 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §441 (1974). 13. 20 U.S.C. 1001 (Supp. III, 1973). 14. 20 U.S.C. §1341 (Supp. III, 1973), amending 20 U.S.C. §1341 (1970). 15. 20 U.S.C. §1351 (Supp. III, 1973), amending 20 U.S.C. §1351 (1970). 16. 20 U.S.C. §1241-1391 (Supp. III, 1973), amending 20 U.S.C. §1241-1391 (1970). 17. 20 U.S.C. §1241 (Supp. III, 1973), amending 20 U.S.C.§1241 (1970). 18. 20 U.S.C.A. §1244 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1244 (1974). 19. 20 U.S.C. §1371 (Supp. III, 1973), amending 20 U.S.C. §1371 (1970). 20. 42 U.S.C.A. §1771 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 42 U.S.C.A. §1771 et seq. (1969). 21. 42 U.S.C.A. §1773 (Cum. Supp., 1975). 22. 42 U.S.C.A. §1774 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 42 U.S.C.A. §1774 (1969). 23. 42 U.S.C.A. §1722 (Cum. Supp., 1975). 24. 42 U.S.C.A. §1786 (Cum. Supp., 1975). 25. 42 U.S.C.A. §1751 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 42 U.S.C.A. §1751 et seq. (1969). 26. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27 as amended (codified in scattered sections of 20 U.S.C.). 27. 20 U.S.C.A. §241a et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §241a et seq. (1974). 28. 20 U.S.C.A. §841 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §841 (1974). 29. 20 U.S.C.A. §867 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §867 (1974). 30. 20 U.S.C.A. §880b et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §880b et seq. (1974). 31. 20 U.S.C.A. §887-887a (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §887-887a (1974). 32. 20 U.S.C.A. §900a-1 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §900 (1974). 33. Education of the Handicapped Act, Pub. L. 91-230, 84 Stat. 175 (1970) as amended 20 U.S.C.A. §1402 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1401 et seq. (1974). 34. 20 U.S.C. §1422 (1970). 35. 20 U.S.C. §1422 (1970). 36. 20 U.S.C.A. §1452 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1452 (1974). 37. 20 U.S.C.A. §1461 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1461 (1974). 38. Pub. L. 92-318, 86 Stat. 354 (1972) as amended, 20 U.S.C.A. §1603-1619 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1601–1619 (1974). 39. 20 U.S.C.A. §1605 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1605 (1974). 40. 20 U.S.C. §1606(b) (Supp. III, 1973). 41. 20 U.S.C. §1607(c)(1) (Supp. III, 1973). 42. Higher Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89-329, 79 Stat. 1219 as amended (codified in scattered sections of 20 U.S.C.). 43. 20 U.S.C.A. §1531-1536 (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §1531-1536 (1974). 44. 20 U.S.C. §331-332(b) (Supp. III, 1973). 45. 20 U.S.C. §1091 et seq. (Supp. III, 1973), amending 20 U.S.C. §1091 et seq. (1970). 46. 20 U.S.C.A. §633 et seq. (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending 20 U.S.C.A. §631 et seq. (1974). 47. 20 U.S.C. §640 (1970). 48. 20 U.S.C.A. §1241-1393f (Cum. Supp., 1975), amending U.S.C.A. §1241-1391 (1974). 49. 42 U.S.C. §2000(c)(2)–2000(c)(4) (1970). Chapter 4 Evaluating the School Basic Assumptions What makes a good school? Is the school meeting the needs of all the students? Is it responsive to the needs of the total community? These are difficult questions to answer. If, however, we are to have schools that indeed are committed to the idea of equal educational opportunities, then it becomes necessary that we get the right answers. How to get them in the shortest time possible is the critical task. In many instances, it is not easy for people to detect the difference between a good school and a bad school in terms of its educational program or its response to students and parents. Often the issues involved are complex, and, in some cases, they are hidden under the cloak of day-to-day activities. Unfortunately, it is only when a crisis or confrontation between teachers and students erupts that the real problems come into focus. Yet, in other instances, the problems are obviously so bad that it becomes easy to detect what is wrong with the school. Here, the task is one of getting parents, students, and school officials together to rectify the problems and to achieve meaningful change. The concern with racial and cultural divisions in our society and the growing rejection of the socalled "melting pot" theory are having a strong impact on our schools. Over the last 20 years the primary issue in most schools has been desegregation-trying to bring various racial and ethnic groups together in effective educational environments. The primary lesson learned has been that education must be geared for a pluralistic society and that the school must be able to respond to the needs of the community and its many racial, ethnic, and social groups. The present thrust of the civil rights movement also has made schools more aware of the right that students and parents have to become more involved in school affairs. These important developments have broadened immensely the concept of an integrated education and of the meaning of equal educational opportu nity. They also have awakened an awareness among students and parents as to their rights in dealing with the school. Thus, the question as to the degree to which any school is providing its students with the experiences, orientations, and insights necessary for living in today's society made up of different racial and ethnic groups is not only appropriate, but necessary to answer. We must still face the question of what really constitutes a good school, a responsive school. Earlier, we said this determination is not an easy task. However, it is not an impossible one either. In evaluating schools, some observers place heavy emphasis on the quality of the physical environment in which the educational process takes place. Others examine the availability of hardware items such as teaching machines, audiovisual equipment, and laboratories. A few attempt to study the school's library facilities, textbooks, and curriculum. The intent of these efforts is simply one of attempting to assess the quality of education. Yet, the listing of these items provides only a small part of the total educational process. Hardware items, while important in the sense of providing the students with the means to learn, do not signify quality education or responsiveness. Nor do laboratories and extensive libraries assure, in and of themselves, equal educational opportunities. Of course, this is not to say that they are unimportant. But in evaluating a total school environment more is needed. Probably the best way for you to evaluate any school is to visit it and talk to its administrators, teachers and counselors, coaches and other supportive staff, and above all, to seek answers. This presupposes, of course, that you know what to look for. But do you? This is important because if you do not know what to look for, if you do not have any objectives, you may end up with no answers at all. What do you look for in a school, especially a good school? One educator, M. Donald Thomas, |