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Annotated Bibliography

What can we do to improve the elementary education system in America?

Jessica McLeod
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
March 11th, 2015

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Annotated Bibliography
Ed.gov. U.S. Department of Education. Web. 5 Mar. 2015
This government run website is where you can find all the most accurate, up to date
information about the United States current education system. On this website, the
Department of Education lists their mission statement on the home page. It reads Our
mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness
by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. This website has
sections listing laws in education such as the new no child left behind act. Another
tab off the homepage is data, filled with links to statistics about everything involving
American education. For example, here you can find out how many children under the
age of 10 are failing mathematics. The website makes available to the public the action
plans of the government in the area of education and the funding that the government
is giving to this department.
The reason I know that this source is one hundred percent credible is because it is
information coming from direct government sources, written by government personal.
It is a government-funded, government-run website for all things relating to the
governments education system. Statistics and laws cant get more reliable than that! It
will be a useful website for me to use while writing my research paper because I am
wondering what we can do in our current education system to help advance it. In order
to know how we can advance, I have to know where we are at this given moment. This
website has the most current, useful information I will find for my topic.

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Shapiro, Bonnie L. A Case Study of Change in Elementary Student Teacher Thinking
During an Independent Investigation in Science. Science Education. 80.5 (1996): 535560. PDF file.
This very extensive scholarly journal is focused on a case study which is focused on
how we, as future elementary school teachers, can become prepared to teach every
subject comfortably. This study is focused on science in particular. In the first
paragraph of the introduction, the study states that 58 percent of new elementary
school teachers in America felt least qualified to teach science to their students in
comparison to social studies, literature, and mathematics. This statistic calls for change
because we need our American education system and curriculum to be improved in
order to match up with the rest of the world. This study takes student teachers and
gives them a science project lasting 10 weeks, where they develop their own testable
question based on their classroom observations. Through their own research and
observations, they discover how they would be able to teach what they are doing to
elementary students. While learning hands on science for themselves, they are also
involved in a process of learning how to transfer that knowledge to their students.
The reason I evaluate this source as credible is because it comes from the Department
of Educational Research of The University Calgary. The case study is written by
Bonnie L Shapiro, who is an author and professor in the field of elementary education
at this university. Based on the information of this study, I still find the results relatable
and legitimate even though the study was done in 1996 because it is still fully
applicable to todays student teachers. There is no biased opinion in this study from the
researcher/author, it simply presents the topic, the procedure, and the results. From this

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study I learned that in order to prepare to become a teacher, one needs to be able to
have hands on research done on a personal level paired with observations in an
elementary classroom. This case study was very useful because it helped show me that
the first step in positive change elementary school classrooms starts with Americas
future teachers and how they can be supported, encouraged, and developed in
knowledge and understanding.
Tanriverdi, Belgin, and Ozlem Apak. "Analysis of Primary School Curriculum of Turkey,
Finland, and Ireland in Terms of Media Literacy Education." Educational Sciences:
Theory and Practice. 10.2 (2010): 1187-1213. PDF file.
This educational journal article is about the international media literacy education
curriculum that is began in primary schooling. What is media literacy education? I had
no idea until I read about it! I was wondering why on earth the United States is ranked
below the top nations in the world for education (such as Finland) and this must be a
pretty substantial reason: the curriculum. MLE is defined as reaching the original
source of information, and ability to understand the power, limitations, and shape of
the content presented in the media. The article stated that becoming literate is not just a
matter of learning how to decode letters and words, but rather a matter of mastering
processes that are deemed valuable in particular societies. This curriculum teaches
people how to live, function, and react to the culture and media that is around them. It
teaches young children to be positively affected by media rather than negatively.
The reason I think that this source is very credible is that it is a 33 page, developed,
peer reviewed article written by two Turkish education professors. I found it on the
librarys research database and it is originally from The ERIC database, which is an

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initiative of the U.S. Department of Education. There might be a slight bias in favor of
MLE because these professors teach it; but for the most part, it is research based facts
instead of opinions about the curriculum. For my research project, I find this source to
be incredibly useful. Not only for comparison between American elementary education
curriculum and other world nations curriculum, but also for the information about
MLE. I will use this curriculum idea in my project as a potential change for our system
of primary education.
Tillotson, Mary C. "What Is Massachusetts Doing Right? Watchdog.org RSS. Franklin
Center for Government & Public Integrity, 4 Dec. 2013. Web. 3 Mar. 2015.
This detailed news article from watchdog.org is about how and why Massachusetts is
leading the country in every academic area for every grade by far. Massachusetts is
ranked among the highest nations in science, math, and literature, while the rest of
America is not. So what are they doing right? The article talks about how well they
prepare teachers and how they test them before they enter their career. Not only must
they pass tests knowing the content of what they are teaching but also personality tests
and other tests demonstrating that they will boost childrens self-esteem in classrooms.
I learned that Massachusetts gives more of a budget to education than other states, and
puts charter schools in place where public schools are failing. Students also have the
ability to pick where they want to attend school if they dont like their own. There are
higher standards and expectations for every teacher and student as well as more
rigorous tests they must pass, compared to the rest of the country.
I believe this source is credible because it is written by a national education reporter
for the watchdog organization. I also know that her information is correct because I

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learned about Massachusetts education system in my introduction to elementary
education course in college. One may argue that this source is biased because it is
written by an educator in America, but the author does not talk about her own opinion
in this article. This source is useful for my project because it shows what the rest of the
United States can do to follow in Massachusetts footsteps and become a leading nation
in the world for education. I learned that higher expectations in the education
department of the state, down to higher expectations of the teachers and of the kids,
makes for the best results. In my research paper I will use this state as a comparison for
American elementary education reforms.