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- All Subjects: Phoenix
- Creators: O'Flaherty, Katherine
Education is known for being powerful in reducing poverty, improving health, promoting healthier economies, and providing peaceful and productive opportunities for young people worldwide. It’s a key to success that has been threatened in the state of Arizona through low funding, teacher shortages, and a lack of resources. Inadequate learning environments further educational inequalities and hinder academic achievement among students. In finding a solution, the objectives of education policy in Arizona are analyzed from an economic and equity standpoint.
The outlying cities of Phoenix's West Metropolitan experienced rapid growth in the past ten years. This trend is only going to continue with an average expected growth of 449-891% between 2000 and 2035 (ADOT, 2012). Phoenix is not new to growth and has consistently seen swaths of people added to its population. This raises the question of what happened to the people who lived in Phoenix's West Valley during this period of rapid change and growth in their communities? What are their stories and what do their stories reveal about the broader public history of change in Phoenix's West Valley? In consideration of these questions, the community oral histories of eight residents from the West Valley were collected to add historical nuance to the limited archival records available in the area. From this collection, the previous notion of "post-war boomtowns” describing Phoenix’s West Valley was revealed to be highly inaccurate and dismissive of the residents' experiences who lived and formed their lives there.
The outlying cities of Phoenix's West Metropolitan experienced rapid growth in the past ten years. This trend is only going to continue with an average expected growth of 449-891% between 2000 and 2035 (ADOT, 2012). Phoenix is not new to growth and has consistently seen swaths of people added to its population. This raises the question of what happened to the people who lived in Phoenix's West Valley during this period of rapid change and growth in their communities? What are their stories and what do their stories reveal about the broader public history of change in Phoenix's West Valley? In consideration of these questions, the community oral histories of eight residents from the West Valley were collected to add historical nuance to the limited archival records available on the area. From this collection, the previous notion of "post-war boomtowns” describing Phoenix’s West Valley was revealed to be highly inaccurate and dismissive of the residents' experiences who lived and formed their lives there.
Progress is a term used to describe advancement for humanity. It can be measured in many ways, most commonly by GDP, especially in the United States. One way of measuring progress can be to apply a wide range of elements that are used in measuring happiness, like well-being, education, social connections, health, and security. Happiness is useful in measuring individual progress by using subjective measurements and reflecting on one’s lifestyle, but it can also be useful in measuring societal progress. The World Happiness Report uses data to show how happiness can be used globally to measure progress by looking at aspects of well-being, conceptions of happiness, social media, biological components of happiness, and balance and harmony. Real life applications of this method exist with Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness that was started in 1972, where the country decided to reorganize their policies to align with these new ideals that placed its citizens happiness above all. If a similar thing is done in the US, where progress is defined not only by GDP but also by elements used in measuring happiness, then policies can be made with these ideals in mind that should benefit the citizens of the US. Areas that would greatly profit from this type of progress include education, healthcare, and the economy.
This is what I had for the abstract: Maryvale is the most densely populated neighborhood in Phoenix, Arizona. Originally master-planned for white middle-class families, Maryvale has become a majority-minority neighborhood that is still impacted by socioeconomic problems left from the 1980's white flight, as well as a reputation for being dangerous. Residents share their experiences living in the community and their opinions about its problematic reputation and its impact and current development efforts. Oral history brings a personal perspective to the literal history of Maryvale to create a more accurate and comprehensive story.