Reflection 12 Soviet Sputnik

Well basically before the Soviet Sputnik, the visible curriculum such as formal or explicit specified that learning in schools were different from learning in life in that which is formally organized. Formal curriculum is not a steady course of study; it tends to change to reflect the values of the time that is present. In the eighteenth century, they began to focus on building a new nation including education. Studies still included reading, religion, and morality, but also added to this was writing and arithmetic which received more attention. Then after the low point launching of the Soviet Sputnik, America’s schools were made the scapegoat for the U.S. failure to beat the Soviet’s into space. University academics were recruited to develop a harsher and disciplined curriculum, especially in science, math and foreign languages. These courses were organized so that the students would focus to think like mathematicians and scientists. Then the Civil Rights movement had an impact on the school’s curriculum. By high school students would explore an order of electives such as Black Studies, Multicultural Studies, Ecology, and Sexuality which we refer to as today Human Growth and Development. In the 1960s and 1970s the excessive spread of electives led to an apparent rather than real course option and a less harsh curriculum. They had electives that would have replaced a basic course you may have needed, or even shared some similarities in another course. After while the students began doing poorly in the basic courses which were the ones that are the most important, such as reading, writing, math, etc. Then critical reports were being made and books were being written about the poorly test scores the students were making. By these actions taking place they decided to eliminate electives and increase the number of basic courses required for graduation. Unfortunately the electives were much more interesting to the students but these were not a big concern for passing test scores for the basic courses. They made an increase on the number of basic courses required for graduation. Clear academic standard and frequent tests increased and then the scores eventually improved. In today’s society, the school’s curriculum is looked up by the states, and school effectiveness is determined by standardized testing. For example, Florida standardized test is called the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test). This test is a graduation requirement, so if you did not pass this test or the SAT test you would not have fulfilled your graduation requirement. You also need a minimum of twenty four credits to also fulfill this graduation requirement. Graduation requirements vary from state to state some may not need as much as others and their tests may be different. The FCAT test require to be passed in the third, eighth, and tenth grade.