Deck 10: Education Policy

Question 1

Which statement reflects the Obama administration's stance with regard to No Child Left Behind?

A) States should be given more flexibility and can receive NCLB waivers; offer incentives rather than punishments.
B) NCLB should be eliminated and a new program should be put in place.
C) NCLB should be eliminated and no other programs implemented because education is a state rather than a federal issue.
D) NCLB should be changed to increase punishments for schools and states that do not meet education standards.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The growing cost of tuition at public universities in the United States is directly related to ______.

A) decreasing funding for higher education by states
B) inflation
C) technology
D) decreasing support for higher education from the federal government

Answer 2

A

Question 3

______ is based on the idea that teachers should only receive pay raises for successful student performance.

A) Tenure
B) Merit pay
C) Years-in-service pay
D) Bonus pay

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What is the federal government's role in higher education?

A) The federal government is the primary funder of higher education.
B) The federal government established land-grant colleges and gives grants and loans to categories of individual students.
C) The federal government role in higher education is to run Affirmative Action programs.
D) all of these

Question 5

Which statement best describes the division of responsibility between state and federal governments with regard to K-12 educational policy?

A) The federal government historically has been much more focused on higher education, leaving states and local governments to manage their K-12 programs until recently.
B) Until this century, the federal government has been the dominant force in education policy, while state governments mostly have implemented policy.
C) The federal government funds No Child Left Behind, but all other education funding comes from each state.
D) The federal government approves state educational reforms and provides most of the educational funding.

Question 6

Which policy allows parents to send their children to any public school in a particular area?

A) affirmative action
B) school vouchers
C) school choice
D) charter schools

Question 7

In an attempt to use market incentives to improve school quality, the Obama administration created the ______ program, a competition for significant funding that required states to collect better data, innovate, and enhance teaching.

A) All Children Lifted Up
B) Race to the Top
C) Merit Pay
D) School Choice Voucher Demonstration

Question 8

In the fall of 2016, undergraduate enrollment was over ______ million students.

A) 16
B) 19
C) 20
D) 21

Question 9

The ______ is a national test measuring student performance.

A) No Child Left Behind
B) Educate America Test
C) Secondary Assessment of Quality
D) National Assessment of Educational Progress

Question 10

The ______ was the first federal involvement in higher education; it funded many of the land-grant universities that still exist to this day.

A) National Educational Assistance Program
B) College Institutional Establishment Act
C) Morrill Act
D) Stafford Establishment Act

Question 11

The ______ program is one of the primary federal programs for low-income college students.

A) Pell Grant
B) Race to the Top Grant
C) National Merit Grant
D) HOPE Scholarship

Question 12

In 1965, the ______ was the first major education legislation.

A) Elementary and Secondary Education Act
B) National Secondary Program Development Act
C) Education for All Program
D) U.S. Education Department

Question 13

Education is often cited as something that benefits more than just the person getting the education; it benefits society in a number of other ways. This is called ______.

A) redistributive policy
B) positive externality
C) buoyancy of community funding
D) market-based incentives

Question 14

How is public education (kindergarten through high school, or K-12) funded in the United States?

A) mostly federal funds
B) mostly state funds
C) state and federal funds only
D) mostly from local property taxes

Question 15

Which of the following is one of the most important funding issues for K-12 education?

A) declining funding for school choice programs
B) lack of buoyancy of property taxes when compared to education costs
C) the diminishing achievement gap between poorer and wealthier children
D) the regressive federal financing for education

Question 16

Who has played the biggest role in educational policy through U.S. history?

A) federal government
B) private firms
C) state and local governments
D) advocacy groups

Question 17

Advocates of school choice and school voucher plans argue that ______ will lead to better-quality schools.

A) competition
B) low student-faculty ratios
C) more money
D) higher teacher salaries

Question 18

The issue of ______ has surfaced with regard to the financing of public education due to the fact that ______.

A) equity; poor students receive lower quality education
B) efficiency; property taxes are increasingly buoyant
C) liberty; the federal government funds public education in some states but not others
D) effectiveness; test scores are declining

Question 19

Which policy allows parents with children in low-performing public schools to send their children to private schools at taxpayer expense?

A) affirmative action
B) school vouchers
C) school choice
D) charter schools

Question 20

______ are public schools that serve a distinct population or have a more specialized educational emphasis (such as fine arts, science, or technology).

A) Merit schools
B) Private schools
C) Charter schools
D) Choice schools

Question 21

Explain school choice programs and why they are considered a reform.

Question 22

In ______, President Obama signed a new version of the federal education law (the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) entitled Every Student Succeeds Act.

A) 2008
B) 2012
C) 2015
D) 2016

Question 23

Explain merit pay.

Question 24

School choice and school vouchers are examples of ______.

A) market-based policy alternatives to improve education quality
B) unfunded mandates
C) 21st Century Skills educational quality movement
D) policy alternatives based on the principle of merit pay

Question 25

Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), its first major education legislation, in ______.

A) 1960
B) 1962
C) 1965
D) 1970

Question 26

Decisions about how much to invest in higher education relate to whether one views education as a private or public good. Those who view it as a private good believe that ______.

A) most of the benefits of a college education are bestowed to an individual, and therefore the individual should bear most of the cost
B) there are societal benefits when residents obtain a college degree, and therefore the individual should bear more of the cost
C) most of the benefits of a college education accrue to an individual, and therefore the public should invest in higher education
D) there are societal benefits when residents obtain a college degree, and therefore the public should invest in higher education

Question 27

Explain the GI Bill. Who benefitted from this bill?

Question 28

By most recent accounts, what is the most important issue facing U.S. higher education today?

A) discontinuation of Pell Grant program
B) retirements by baby boomer faculty
C) reduced access to college among low-income students
D) declining quality of educational programs

Question 29

Why is the teacher tenure system considered an issue?

Question 30

What has been the result of Affirmative Action policies in higher education?

A) More minorities are attending college than ever before.
B) Opponents of the policy argue that the policies give unfair preference to minorities.
C) Proponents argue affirmative action has leveled the playing field in terms of diversity
D) all of these

Question 31

How are public schools funded in the United States?

Question 32

What is the most pressing concern about U.S. K-12 education?

Question 33

The issue of equity in financing higher education depends on one's view that education is a public or a private good. Individuals who view higher education as a ______ believe that greater public support is needed to fund higher education.

A) public good
B) private good
C) merit good
D) individual

Question 34

Current trends point to a reduction in college attendance by middle- and low-income college students. This trend causes policymakers to be concerned about the evaluative criteria of ______.

A) cost-effectiveness of a college education (efficiency)
B) political feasibility
C) equity of access
D) effectiveness of college aid programs

Question 35

Explain the Common Core standards? How were they meant to improve education?

Question 36

One of the major criticisms of President Bush's No Child Left Behind educational policy was that ______.

A) students don't have enough study time
B) students are taught differently from school to school
C) there were issues with implementation
D) it does not include high school testing

Question 37

What is a Pell Grant and who qualifies for these grants?

Question 38

No Child Left Behind was enacted in ______.

A) 2000
B) 2002
C) 2004
D) 2006

Question 39

Federal Pell Grants are one program that addresses the needs of low-income individuals. As noted above, these grants provide up to ______.

A) US$4,569
B) US$5,815
C) US$5,987
D) US$6,095

Question 40

At Princeton University, the 2019-2020 comprehensive fee (tuition, room, board, and expenses) was nearly ______.

A) US$64,000
B) US$74,000
C) US$80,000
D) US$85,000

Question 41

What did the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) do?

Question 42

What were some of the provisions in the Race to the Top initiative?

Question 43

Explain the conservative versus liberal debate regarding higher education.

Question 44

Have Affirmative Action programs in higher education been effective? Provide one argument for and one argument against Affirmative Action programs in higher education.

Question 45

Why are school vouchers limited?

Question 46

Explain the causes of growing tuition costs at state colleges. Then explain how this cost increase is an equity concern as well as an economic concern for individuals and employers.

Question 47

What are the typical arguments made to provide public support of higher education?

Question 48

Discuss the concerns about K-12 education and higher education using the evaluative criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, and equity.

Question 49

What did the Morrill Act of 1862 do?

Question 50

Identify some of the responses to poor-quality education.

Question 51

Why are college admissions considered a partial zero-sum game?

Question 52

Why is public education important in a democracy?

Question 53

Discuss the various methods proposed to support and strengthen teacher quality.

Question 54

Identify one way to look at the students in a particular school district?

Question 55

Examine one reason the use of property taxes to fund public schools is a problem.

Question 56

Explain some of the policy alternatives that are being considered to improve the quality of K-12 public education.

Question 57

Identify the first major education legislation.

Question 58

Why is defining a quality education not so easy?

Question 59

Explain how a school voucher program works. How are these programs related to education quality and how do proponents believe voucher programs might improve this quality? What are the negatives associated with this option?

Question 60

Summarize the major problems in public K-12 education that exist today.