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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. Why did Kozol stay in Cherry Hill while he was visiting Camden?

2. What is the dropout rate for Woodrow Wilson High School?

3. According to Kozol, what does the city of New York supply each ghetto school with?

4. What does John Coons of the University of California, Berkeley say all children technically are?

5. What type of people does Octovia, a child at the Anacostia elementary school, say that the girls want to be like when they grow up?

Short Essay Questions

1. What three Supreme Court justices wrote dissents for the Milliken v. Bradley case? Why did each dissent?

2. Why does Kozol think that inner city problems would not be totally solved by better schools?

3. How do the children attending public schools in the suburbs of New York that Kozol interviews feel about sharing funding and resources with children at urban public schools?

4. Describe the Milliken v. Bradley case's appeal to Supreme Court.

5. How are test scores in math and reading determined? How do the determination of these scores affect children in poor schools?

6. Where does Delabian Rice-Thurston say the rich and middle class in Washington, D.C. try to send their children to school? Why don't the poor parents send their children to the same schools?

7. What does Tunisia, a student at Anacostia Elementary School, say that she would do if she had money? Why?

8. How does Kozol describe the Anacostia neighborhood where Harper and her mother live?

9. What resources do the teachers at Pyne Point Junior High lack? How do the teachers improvise?

10. How does the court ultimately rule in the class-action suit filed in 1981 by parents of school children in East Orange, Camden, Irvington, and Jersey City? What is the reaction of wealthier tax payers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Kozol visits schools where teachers and administrators admit to sending their children to schools other than the one where they teach. What reasons do they give for sending their children to other schools? What is the significance of teachers at poor inner city schools sending their children to suburban public schools or more affluent urban public schools? What theme does this represent? Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 2

Kozol points out that racial discrimination is the cause of many of the inequalities that exist in the public school system. However, some of the individuals that he interviews think that it's a socioeconomic issue and not a race issue. Based on the book Savage Inequalities, are the problems that exist in urban public schools caused by racial discrimination, socioeconomic status, or both. Why? Provide at least three detailed reasons for your answer. Please use specific examples from the book.

Essay Topic 3

Why is it hard for urban public schools to retain young teachers? Where do the young teachers end up teaching? What changes should the school system to make in order to recruit and retain young teachers? Because the urban school system has many aging teachers, what future issues may arise as the teachers start to near retirement age? Please use specific examples from the book.

(see the answer keys)

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