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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Kozol, whose responsibility is it to supply all children with equally good schools?

2. What are the two sources of lead in East St. Louis named in the Life on the Mississippi chapter?

3. What are the major industries in Sauget besides the chemical plants?

4. How many teachers did Kozol's students in the urban Boston school have before he was assigned to teach their class?

5. What was the poem that is memorized by the students in Kozol's class about?

Short Essay Questions

1. What problem exists at Lathrop Elementary School, and what is the source of this problem?

2. Why, in most cities, do the influential people that Kozol meets show little inclination to address the segregation in the pubic school system?

3. Why does Kozol decide to leave teaching and focus on other social issues?

4. Why is employment limited in East St. Louis?

5. Compare Coral Hawkins to the gospel teacher at Mary McLeod Bethune School.

6. How does Kozol describe East St. Louis?

7. What reasons does Irl Solomon give for young teachers not staying at Martin Luther King Jr. High?

8. Where does Kozol go on his journey to speak with students in the public school system? How does Kozol choose the schools that he visited?

9. Why are the major industries that dump waste into East St. Louis not taxed there?

10. Compare the two court decisions, Brown v. Board of Education and Plessy v. Ferguson.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the chapter entitled, The Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York, Kozol travels to two schools that have issues with space. What limitations does the issue of space put on the teachers, students, and administrators? What future issues could arise because of the limited space at the schools? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the urban public school systems in New York and Camden. How are these two urban school systems similar? How are they different? Please use specific examples from the book? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

The book Savage Inequalities depicts the inequalities that exist in the nation's public schools. What two problems seem to be common among the school systems that Kozol describes in the book? Describe these two problems and why they are considered problems. What suggestions would you make to improve these problems? Please use specific examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

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