Chapter 13

Cold War ScareThis chapter begins with a discussion of how the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union forced a change in the direction of education. The increase in emphasis on science and mathematics was a direct result of the American desire to win the Space Race. There is currently an argument that American education is based too deeply in math and science and this period is to thank for that. I really believe that it important to learn math and science but a little bit of everything is good for the students, simply emphasizing on these two subjects gears our population towards certain fields. This time also brought an increase in the college population as the GI Bill gave veterans the incentive to get a college education. Still through the 1960s education was seen important in the war on poverty, the government introudced programs to educate the poor. This chpater also mentioned the SAT which was thought to give everyone an equal opportunity to gain a college education. I disagree with this idea because some people are just not good at taking test or being analytical, I do like the fact that it allows for the United States to see how their students are peforming on a national level. This relates to the early ideas of Jefferson who thought schooling should help the nation identify the elites, as well as the idea that was represented by the eugenics movement which stated that the most intelligent members of society would find their way to the top. The time of the Cold War included a purging of Communists which people associate with the Red Scare and Joseph McCarthy. The chapter ends discussing children’s shows more specifically Sesame Street which we discussed a lot in class.