Marshall's Fallacy Case Study

The late 1700s and early 1800s was a critical time period in American history in which our newly independent nation was beginning to lay down the groundwork for how the country would run. During this time, America was in its infancy and its crucial first steps would dictate how the nation would either walk, run, or retreat. John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the Unites States, was a highly important and influential political figure whose decisions forever molded the future of the American judicial system. Like many other great political figures, much of John Marshall’s influence can be attributed to timing; he emerged just as the United States Constitution came into existence.

Few individuals have left as prominent a mark on the United States as Chief Justice John Marshall. An ardent Federalist, he worked throughout most of his life to separate the powers of national and state government, furthering the agenda of his party long after they dissolved.

Being a teacher who has spent the past seven years working in a “persistently low-achieving” school, I have gained an understanding of the inequities within Jefferson County Public Schools. Students, who attend schools with higher levels of poverty, are subjected to not receiving the same standard of education as those who attend schools with lower levels of poverty. Educational equity is an issue in our district and has become a main focus for improvement. JCPS has made it a goal to find ways to provide an equitable education to all students, regardless of their gender, socio-economic status or ethnic origin. JCPS wishes to create a system that not only focuses on high achievement, fairness and providing an opportunity in education but ensures every student receives a basic minimum standard of education. Achieving these goals, of course, is easier said than done. Our district, school leaders, teachers, parents, students,

The United States is a country based on equal opportunity; every citizen is to be given the same chance as another to succeed. This includes the government providing the opportunity of equal education to all children. All children are provided schools to attend. However, the quality of one school compared to another is undoubtedly unfair. Former teacher John Kozol, when being transferred to a new school, said, "The shock from going from one of the poorest schools to one of the wealthiest cannot be overstated (Kozol 2)." The education gap between higher and lower-income schools is obvious: therefore, the United States is making the effort to provide an equal education with questionable results.

Around the 1800’s, John Marshall played an important role in the society. He was the decision maker at court, allowing him more power over the law. Many people believe that the things that Marshall did, were wrong. But according to the following documents, either he was forced to do the things he did, or people may have misinterpreted his intentions from the start. From since he was appointed by the court all they way up until he retired and died.

John Marshall is an American patriot who climbed to success through hard-work, determination, and a strong will to protect the constitution of The United States of America. He held many prominent places in American government as well as on front lines of the army defending freedom. John Marshall became the fourth Supreme Court justice for three whole decades, issuing major verdicts on cases that helped to develop, limit, and divide government power.

The Cherokees provided the best example of Native Americans who understood their rights most clearly as they demonstrated in their plight objecting the Cherokee removal and as they exhibited in the construction of a constitution strikingly similar to the United States constitution as well as those of the states, carefully outlining their rights in an organized coherent manner. Consistent with the federal and state constitutions, the Cherokee constitution reflected a profound belief in republicanism, a representative form of government in which those eligible to vote elected individuals to make laws to protect their life, liberty, and property.

“To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.”

On Febuary 24, 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall made a ruling that would shape the United States for the rest of its life. In the case it was Marbury v. Madison, they ruled in favor of Madison, because they believed that it was not in their jurisdiction. With that being said John Marshall created "Judicial Review" that gave the Supreme Court the power to decide if a law is un-constitutional. On the other hand Thomas Jefferson believed that if anybody had the right to determined what was un-constitutional or not it should belong in the hands of Congress. I believe congress has the right to decide what is constitutional because, the people elect the congress, all members of congress serves terms, and the congress has greater numbers then the

One of the main issues with merit pay for teachers is found in the manner in which it is measured. Most of the new performances pay laws and union contracts measure “effectiveness,” at least in part, by looking at the students’ test scores from one year to the next. One test score cannot paint a full picture of a student's accomplishment. Teachers unions have historically opposed merit pay, arguing that test scores are not an accurate measure of student achievement (Turner, 2010, para 15). Most teachers will report that a test will only show part of the picture. Standardized tests do not reflect life lessons, effective citizen traits, or character building traits that were taught that year. All of these traits thrive in an effective teacher’s curriculum.

John Adams appointed 200 men for 16 spots called the “midnight appointments” during the latter part of his presidency. The Organic Act allowed Adams to appoint 42 Justices of the Peace. Marshall as Adam’s outgoing secretary of state failed to deliver all of the commissions. The new secretary of state, Madison, refused to deliver five of the remaining commissions. Mr. Marbury and three others were denied their commission went straight to the Supreme Court to appeal.

Bidwell explains, “ Some questioned whether Duncan’s new initiative would open the door for states to tie teacher evaluation systems that take into account student growth measures to their equity plans” (Bidwell, 2014). Opponents to the program believed Duncan’s plans would really be based on test scores.

According to the state report card, Salem Elementary School’s socioeconomic status of students is strongly high in poverty. Correspondingly, all of the students enrolled in Salem also have some type of economic disadvantage. As discussed in our EDTE 2020 class, high poverty areas tend to have teachers “with less experience”, who do not have “proper certification”, or who have a “high turnover rate”. This is the complete opposite at Salem, as it’s stated on the report card that all teachers have a bachelor and a master’s degree, with over 72% of teachers being

access had not led to equal achievement. Imagine an elementary school where all teachers are able to differentiate their students’ lessons daily in order to meet their individual learning needs; that would be a school where all students would be making academic gains in all subject areas. However, the truth of the matter is there is not enough time for one teacher to make individual lesson plans for each child in her classroom. As a result, students in the same classroom receive the same lesson even if they are three grade levels behind. The reality is, not all students are at the same level and although teachers do their best to close the achievement gaps, by the time some of these students get to the third grade, the gaps are often much wider. The gap seems to be continuously growing. Students entering the third grade have gaps that range from kindergarten skills, where they are unable to pronounce letters, to second grade skills where they cannot comprehend what they are reading. The ideal state would be having all students ready to enter kindergarten.

Teaching is a very rewarding career if you learn and understand how to work with the diversity of the classrooms we teach in. As teachers, we need to be more vigilant of where are students come from. Before we can teach we need to know who we are teaching and what background, knowledge, and customs they bring with them to the classroom. We must also be aware of the factors that are relevant to the academic achievement of the students we currently teach. There are many of these factors, but I want to focus on two; teacher quality and low teacher expectations.