Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)

 

TIPS Conlaw Webquest #2

Michael Anderson        CIS 219: Venture Academy

 

 

Introduction

Mr. and Mrs. Brown and their daughter, Linda, lived in Topeka, Kansas.  Kansas has passed a law which allowed segregated schools.  The Topeka School Board passed a policy providing for segregated schools.  The School Board required Linda, a black girl, to attend a school for blacks.  Linda had to ride a bus for 21 blocks to school that was very old and had a shortage of teachers.

 

There was a school for whites that was only five blocks from Linda’s house.  Linda’s parents felt it was a better school than the one for blacks.  Linda’s parents went to a Federal Court to complain.  They wanted the court to force the school for whites to allow Linda to attend.  The Federal Court rules against the Browns and they appealed to the Supreme Court.

 

 

Task

Students will take a position and decide whether they agree or disagree with the following:

·        Students will review the following equal protection case to come to a better understanding of the nature and decision of the following case below.

Brown vs. Board of Education

·        Students will write a brief report that addresses student decisions that either agree or disagree with this case.

·        Students must support their opinion with facts using information from this case.

·        Students will openly debate and explain their chosen position.

 

Students will also review the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson

 

Using the readings on Worksheet 7A, complete the questions about the case on Worksheet 7B.

 

 

Process

·        Students will be placed into groups with specific roles to discuss the cases and prepare an oral presentation.

·        Students will go to the first resource below to obtain factual information that supports their view to write a short summary.

·        Students will decide whether or not they feel the Supreme Court will agree with the decision of the lower courts to write a short summary about what their group thinks the outcome of the case will be.

·        Students will go to the second resource below to determine whether they had come to the same conclusion as the courts to write a short summary about whether or not they agreed with the court’s decision.

·        Students will write a brief group report based on the information collected. The report is to be written in the following format.

1)      Title page

2)      Introduction

3)      State why they agreed or disagreed with the decision of the case

4)      Conclusion

 

 

Resources

Students will review power point tutorial to learn how to do a power point presentation

by accessing the following hyperlink below:

http://www.actden.com/pp/

 

Students will review the facts and visuals of the both the equal protection cases:

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/plessy.gif

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/Lessons/Epr/epr3.html

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/Lessons/Epr/epr5.html

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/brown.gif

 

 

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated using the following rubric:

 

Grade of A

  • Shows thorough understanding of the topic
  • Addresses all aspects of the task
  • Shows ability to analyze, evaluate, compare/contrast issues
  • Richly supports topic with relevant facts, examples, and details
  • Presents a strong and well organized “case”

 

Grade of B

  • Shows a good understanding of the topic
  • Addresses all aspects of the task
  • Shows ability to analyze, evaluate issues
  • Includes relevant facts, examples, and details, but not support all aspects of the “case”
  • Presents an organized “case”

 

Grade of C

  • Presents satisfactory understanding of the topic
  • Addresses most aspects of the task
  • Able to analyze issues and events, but not in depth
  • Uses some relevant facts, examples, and details
  • Presents “case”, but not very organized
  •  

Grade of D

  • Shows little understanding of topic
  • Attempts to address topic, but uses vague and/or inaccurate information
  • Uses little facts, examples, or details
  • Cannot present an acceptable “case”

 

 

Conclusion

As a result of this Quest you have learned about equal protection (race) cases. Is segregation of schools harmful? What is the difference between this case and the Plessy vs. Ferguson case? Continue your research and decide for yourself.

 

 

Standards

Social Studies:

 

Standard 5-Civics, Citizenship, and Government

 

5.2-Students value the principles, ideals, and core values of the American democratic system based upon the premises of human dignity, liberty, justice, and equality.

 

5-4-Students respect the rights of others in discussions and classroom debates regardless of whether or not one agrees with their viewpoint.

 

Language Arts:

 

E1 Reading

E1d Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of public documents.

 

E2 Writing

E2a Produce a report of information

 

E3 Speaking, Listening, and Viewing

E3b Participate in group meetings.

E3c Prepare and deliver an individual presentation

 

E4 Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language

E4a Demonstrate an understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work.