Sociology homework help

/in /by

Sociology 1010 – Educational Reform
Name: _____________________________ Date: ______________ LD_____________
Waiting for Superman Directed by Davis Guggenheim
Preparing for the Film

  1. If you have been in the public-school system, what are the best and worst aspects of your education so far?
  2. If you have experience with a private, charter, or home school program, what are also your favorite and least favorites aspects of that experience?
  3. If you could be superman and make any changes in the education system–regardless of cost or difficulty–what would you change and why?
  4. What have you admired most about a favorite teacher? 5. Where do you think that the United States ranks when compared with other countries in math and language proficiency?

 
Reflecting on the Film

  1. What is the goal of the director in following specific students and their parents in a quest to find and enter a school superior to their local public school? Describe a memorable detail about the lives of these children followed in the film: Anthony (DC 5th grader), Daisy(East LA 5th grader), Francisco (Bronx 1st grader), Bianca (Harlem kindergartner), and Emily (Silicon Valley 8th grader). Why is getting into a charter school so important to each of them?
  2. What are the characteristics of failing schools?
  3. Why does the film focus on the teachers’ unions and on the unions’ position on tenure? In contrast to the film’s depiction of unions, can you think of reasons that unions might be needed for the teaching profession?
  4. Although U.S. schools “have failed to keep pace with the rest of the world” and rank 25th in math and 21st in science among the 30 developed countries, what is the one category that we ranked the highest in–and what is ironic about this?
  5. While serving as Chancellor of the Washington, DC Public Schools, what has Michelle Rhee done to try to improve education in her district? How do you feel about her and her methods?
  6. Although the film acknowledges that “only one in five charter schools are producing amazing results,” what is the appeal of even the unsuccessful charter schools? Why have charter schools eliminated tracking and why is this seen as positive?
  7. When Geoffrey Canada founded the 97-block Harlem Children’s Zone, the Baby College Program, and the Harlem Success Academy, what did he promise the families of Harlem and what has he achieved?
  8. What teaching techniques does the film demonstrate for engaging children from low income families? According to the film, how successful have the Kipp Academies become in the last 16 years?
  9. What are some disheartening realities that the audience can draw from this film?
  10. Although the education “problem is complex,” what does the film suggest are some “simple steps” to improving our school systems?

 
 
 
 
Writing about the Film CHOOSE ONE OF THE ESSAY TOPICS – Response should be a minimum of 50-150 words
 
Short Answer Topic 1. Using details from the film for support, write a short answer response exposing what you see as the most challenging obstacles in education today. Include specific quotations and statistics from the film to document your claims.
 
Short Answer Topic 2. Write a short answer response comparing and contrasting your own experiences in school with the students and situations depicted in the film.
 
 
Works Cited
Waiting for Superman. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Written by Davis Guggenheim and Billy
Kimball. Paramount Vantage and Participant Media. 2010. DVD.
 
Select Film Reviews and Critical Analyses http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/movies/24waiting.html?pagewanted=all http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2010/10/11/101011crci_cinema_denby? printable=true&currentPage=all
http://www.thenation.com/print/article/154986/grading-waiting-superman
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/inconvenient-truth-behind-waiting-forsuperman_n_865962.html
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/11/myth-charter-schools/?pagination=false http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/jan/13/myth-charter-schools/? pagination=false&printpage=true
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0924/Waiting-for-Superman-A-simplisticview-of-education-reform
*adapted from El Camino