ISCUSSION 1 Analysis of High Schools

ISCUSSION 1

Analysis of High Schools

For this discussion, tell us a little bit about the high school you attended:

• Type (public, private, religious).
• Size.
• Socioeconomic composition.
• Curriculum.
• Racial composition.
• Rural, urban, suburban.
• Percentage of graduates attending college.

Reflect on your high school, analyzing your experience using terms introduced in the readings for this unit. Respond to the following:

• Are there any concepts (social reproduction, hidden curriculum) identified in the readings that applied to your high school experience?
• What statistics did you find on the National Center for Education Statistics Web site that relate best to your high school experience? Explain.
• Do you think education is an equalizer or does it reproduce existing inequalities?

DISCUSSION 2

Cultural Differences in Education

A country’s education system is strongly related to its culture. Using the Internet, research the educational system of another country. (It might be interesting to research the same country you studied in Unit 5.)

• What similarities and differences do you note between your chosen country and the United States?
• What do you think explains any similarities or differences?
• How does this relate to cultural differences?
• Based on the studies for this week, what do you feel are the biggest challenges facing education in the United States?
• What solutions for these p

DISCUSSION 3

Discussing Peer Review

A draft of your project is due in Unit 8 for peer review. Peer review gives you the opportunity to have your work evaluated by others and can provide you with valuable feedback for your final project. It also gives you the opportunity to practice constructively critiquing the work of others. Your main responsibility in this discussion is to understand and think about practices that contribute to responsible peer review. It creates a community of writers who establish a conversation by talking to each other in detail about their writing.

Read the Guidelines for Effective Peer Review (see Resources area) and answer the following questions:

• Why do you think peer review is important?
• What are important questions to ask when reviewing a peer’s paper?
• What do you think are important elements of peer review?
• What concerns do you have regarding peer review?