Peter Cookson, School Choice, Discussion questions
Identify Cookson’s main thesis about the school choice movement. He sets up the larger cultural context in which the school choice debate arose in the 1980s. What was changing in the 1980s? What problems was school choice meant to solve and how? What new social values influenced the way reformers and the general public shaped school policy?
What school reforms were posed during the Reagan administration?
How was school choice, and specifically the voucher system, meant to solve problems in public schools? What political values were supported in the voucher plan? What “American” values did some believe the public school system had subverted? Is the public school system a “monopoly”? Why do so many public schools resemble one another?
What are the historical origins of the school choice movement? Who are its most vocal supporters in the 1980s and 1990s?
In this chapter, Cookson examines six schools that have instituted a form of “choice:” two in Minnesota, one in Harlem, two in Massachusetts, and one in White Plains, NY. Characterize the programs. What do they share in common? Why are some successful and some not? What dangers does Cookson see in the proliferation of voucher systems?
This chapter examines researchers’ attempts to measure the effectiveness of choice programs. What do these studies actually tell us about the efficacy of choice in schools? What factors other than choice seem to create effective schools? Why might the act of "choosing" be important in determining the effectiveness of choice?
(p. 97-98) "The further one gets from the technical core of instruction, the more significant the effects of choice appear." What does this mean?
Chapter 5
What is the “New Paradigm”? What is rational choice? How does it work in economic markets? Can it apply to fantasy “education markets”? Why or why not?
What do the experience of other nations’ choice programs tell us about the efficacy of school choice? How does this experience undermine or support the American “ideal” of a “common school”?
This chapter outlines Cookson’s suggestion for reforming education.
What forms of choice does Cookson support and why?