James B. Conant
What kind of education system did Conant favor?
Conant favored an educational system from kindergarten to college that would sort students according to their ability, challenge the academically able, and prepare all others for useful places in society.
The first of the two policies to slow down the Soviet juggernaut; the United States declared its intention of taking whatever economic and military means were necessary to stop the spread of communism.
Truman Doctrine
Between 1930 and 1960, what level of education saw significant expansion and/or improvement?
High school or secondary school.
James Conant believed that all high school students should receive a traditional education.
False, Conant believed that talented students should have a traditional college education while "marginal" students should go to Junior/Community College.
What did the U.S. fear the most about the Soviet Union?
Spread of Communism, Nuclear Arms Race, expansion of Soviet Influence
What gas did Conant help develop when he was involved in the Chemical Warfare Service?
Mustard gas.
Aimed to provide a curriculum that would teach “life skills” that would be particularly valuable for students who did not plan to continue on to college or other types of postsecondary training after high school.
What is life adjustment education?
Who were the community/junior colleges created for?
“Marginal” students who were believed to not be fit for a traditional college education
The GI Bill allowed military veterans to attend colleges and universities at government expense.
True
What was the ideology that aimed to stop the spread of communism?
Containment
What did Conant's National Scholarship Program do for high school students?
This program aimed to identify and support talented high school students from across the United States, providing them with the opportunity to attend Harvard and other elite colleges based on their merit rather than financial means.
A notion of freedom that is not absolute, but subject to change, even temporary, depending on changing political contexts.
What is provisional freedom?
What effect did the successful launch of Sputnik have on American education?
A general feeling that the schooling had failed to teach the youth math and sciences. Which triggered the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958, which led to increased funding for science, mathematics and technology education in order to compete with Russian technology
Admiral Rickover was supportive of the comprehensive high school because he believed that all children should be educated together.
False; Admiral Rickover believed that each town should have a school for the academic students and one for vocational training.
The fear of Communism required teachers to do what?
Teachers were required to start doing duck and cover drills, and required to take loyalty oaths and forswear any involvement in the Communist party.
Why did Conant advocate for the SAT?
Conant argued that standardized tests, like the SAT, could provide a fair and objective measure of a student's potential for academic success. He saw them as tools that could help identify talent and academic promise.
An extremely right-wing group particularly active in the southern states; accused government agencies of harboring communists.
What is the John Birch Society?
What impact did the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) have on American education?
The NDEA provided substantial federal funding for the improvement of educational facilities, scholarships for students in critical fields, and support for the development of innovative educational programs, contributing to advancements in science and technology education in the United States.
Conant released a study in 1959 regarding his study on secondary schools titled School and Society: Being Three Lectures
False; his study was called The American High School Today (School and Society was by Dewey)
Name the two policies that the American Government put in place to slow the spread of Soviet influence?
The Truman Doctrine and the Doctrine of First Use
What did Conand think was the only way to beat the Russians?
Education of the youth, nationalistic ideals and a strong economic/militaristic country
A nonprofit organization whose mission is to help advance quality and equity in education by providing fair and valid assessments, research, and related services.
What is the Educational Testing Service?
What role did public schools play in promoting college education to students?
Guidance counselors would assume the important job of selecting students for college preparatory courses. They would sort students by who prevailed academically and should go to college and marginal students who they believed shouldn't.
False; Conant's IQ score cutoff was 115.
What did the Doctrine of First Use do?
This policy initiated nuclear bombing whenever enemy forces, whether nuclear or conventional, threatened American military installations