A Critical Analysis of the Rhetoric of Education Reform in the United States Melanie R
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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2016-01-01 A Critical Analysis of the Rhetoric of Education Reform in the United States Melanie R. Salome University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Education Policy Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Salome, Melanie R., "A Critical Analysis of the Rhetoric of Education Reform in the United States" (2016). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 951. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/951 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RHETORIC OF EDUCATION REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES MELANIE REBECCA SALOME Doctoral Program in Rhetoric and Composition APPROVED: Beth Brunk-Chavez, Ph.D., Chair Kate Mangelsdorf, Ph.D. Roberto Avant-Mier, Ph.D. Charles Ambler, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Melanie Rebecca Salome 2016 Dedication To my professors and mentors: Sr. Rosamond Ethier and Sr. Ann Nelson For I would not have accomplished so much without your guidance and love. Thank You. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RHETORIC OF EDUCATION REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES by MELANIE REBECCA SALOME, B.A., M.A. DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO May 2016 Acknowledgements I wish to thank the following people for their love and support these past four years. There have been many triumphs and many struggles; I could not have made it without their unwavering support. My family: my mother, Barbara Salome; my sisters Barbara Salome and Jane Pouliot; my brother Timothy Salome and my cousin Louis Salome. My dearest friends: Debbie Holderby, Joan Moore, Karen Stith, Cassandra Dulin, Dr. Helen Foster, and Diane McCormick. I want to thank my dissertation committee: Dr. Beth Brunk-Chavez, you have been a joy to work with on this project and such a patient mentor. Dr. Kate Mangelsdorf, thank you for your wonderful guidance and keen insights. Dr. Roberto Avant-Mier, thank you for your superb editing skills. I owe a special Thank You to Dr. Eric S. Kushner. I most likely would not have moved to the Southwest or even attended The University of Texas at El Paso without his friendship and encouragement. I also want to pay honorable mention to my departed father, Charles J. Salome Sr., who could not be here to witness my accomplishments. Thank you Dad. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................v Table of Contents ................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ..........................................................................................................x Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview ....................................................................1 1.1 Purpose ...................................................................................................3 1.2 The Rhetoric of Education Reform ........................................................4 1.3 Methodology ..........................................................................................9 1.3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis....................................................................9 1.4 Theoretical Framework ........................................................................13 1.4.1 Gramsci: Discourse and Hegemony.....................................................13 1.4.2 Foucault: Power and Oppression .........................................................14 1.4.3 Bourdieu: Habitus, Language, and Power ...........................................15 1.6 Chapter Overview ................................................................................16 Chapter 2: An Historical Perspective on Education Reform: From the Common School to the Common Core .........................................................................20 2.1 Public Schools: In the Beginning .........................................................20 2.2 The Birth of the Common School ........................................................23 2.3 Education Reform in the 20th Century .................................................26 2.3.1 The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965) ........................27 2.3.2 The U.S. Department of Education (1980) ..........................................28 2.3.3 A Nation at Risk (1983) .......................................................................29 2.3.4 Improving America’s Schools Act (1994) ...........................................31 2.3.5 Measurements Used to Advocate Education Reform in the 20th Century .................................................................................................31 2.4 Education Reform in the 21st Century.................................................35 2.4.1 No Child Left Behind (2002) ...............................................................36 2.4.2 Race to the Top (2009) ........................................................................37 2.4.3 Common Core Standards (2009) .........................................................38 2.4.3.1 What are the Common Core Standards? .....................................38 vi 2.4.3.2 What measurements were used to determine the need for Common Core Standards? ...................................................................40 2.4.3.3 What does it mean to be college-ready? .....................................44 2.4.3.4 What does it mean for students to have standardized curriculum in all states? ..........................................................................................49 2.4.4 Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) ....................................................49 2.4.5 Conclusion ...........................................................................................50 Chapter 3: The Education Reform Rhetoric of Bill Gates .....................................52 3.1 The Gates Foundation: ‘Every Life Has Equal Value’ ........................55 3.2 Gates’ Advocacy for Education Reform ..............................................56 3.3 Gates’ Role in the Inception of the Common Core Standards .............59 3.4 A Critical Discourse Analysis of Bill Gates’ Speeches .......................61 3.4.1 Accessibility .........................................................................................62 3.4.2 Setting and Timing of Speeches ..........................................................63 3.4.3 Genre ....................................................................................................64 3.4.4 Communicative Acts and Social Meanings .........................................64 3.4.5 Participant Positions and Roles ............................................................66 3.4.6 Speech Acts ..........................................................................................66 3.4.7 Macro Semantics: Topics .....................................................................70 3.4.8 Argumentation .....................................................................................71 3.4.9 Rhetoric ................................................................................................79 3.4.10 Lexical Style ......................................................................................83 3.5 Gates and the Corporatization of Education Reform ...........................86 3.5.1 The Effect of Private Enterprise on United States Education Policy ...86 3.5.2 What is being done about socio-economic inequalities? .....................87 3.6 Theoretical Implications of Bill Gates’ Rhetoric .................................90 3.7 Conclusion ...........................................................................................93 Chapter 4: The Education Reform Rhetoric of President Barack Obama .............95 4.1 President Obama: The Rise of a Minority Leader ...............................96 4.2 The Obama Administration’s Advocacy for Education Reform .........98 4.2.1 Race to the Top ....................................................................................98 4.2.2 Early Childhood Education ..................................................................99 4.2.3 Elementary and Secondary Education ...............................................100 vii 4.2.4 Higher Education ...............................................................................103 4.3 The Obama Administration’s Advocacy for Common [Core State] Standards ............................................................................................106 4.4 A Critical Discourse Analysis of President Obama’s Speeches ........110 4.3.1 Accessibility .......................................................................................111 4.3.2 Setting and Timing of Speeches ........................................................112 4.3.3 Genre ..................................................................................................113 4.3.4 Communicative Acts and Social Meanings .......................................114 4.3.5 Participant Positions and Roles ..........................................................115