Before Brown v. Board of Education: The Fight to Desegregate Elementary Schools in Hillburn, New York
Suggested Teaching Instructions
Compelling Question: How do individuals change society?
Setting the Stage: Discuss the impact of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) What was school segregation and why was a Supreme Court ruling necessary to end it?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9806E3D81F31F93BA25751C1A9639C8B63
Summative Assessment: Write an essay or participate in a Socratic Seminar discussing the influence of individuals in the HIllburn Case. Use evidence from the documents to evaluate the impact individual citizens had on decision of the Commissioner.
Extension: Compare the desegregation case in Hillburn, New York to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) Supreme Court case.
Taking Informed Action: Is there currently inequality in education in New York State? How can you work to bring about equality in education?
8.9 DOMESTIC POLITICS AND REFORM: The civil rights movement and the Great Society were attempts by people and the government to address major social, legal, economic, and environmental problems. Subsequent economic recession called for a new economic program. (Standards: 1, 4, 5; Themes: TCC, SOC, CIV, ECO)
8.9a The civil rights movement began in the postwar era in response to long-standing inequalities in American society, and eventually brought about equality under the law, but slower progress on economic improvements.
A. Gathering, Interpreting and Using Evidence
3. Analyze evidence in terms of historical context, content, authorship, point of view, purpose, and format; identify bias; explain the role of bias and audience in presenting arguments or evidence.
F. Civic Participation
4. Identify, describe, and compare the role of the individual in social and political participation in, and as an agent of, historical change at various times and in various locations in colonial North America and in the early history of the United States.
6. Identify situations in which social actions are required and determine an appropriate course of action.