Annotated Bibliography

Question: Should students have to wear school uniforms?

Darden, Edwin C. "What Not to Wear." American School Board Journal 195 (2008): 36-37. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.

Edwin C. Darden is a contribution editor to the American School Board Journal. Darden works as an attorney and as the director of education policy at Appleseed, which is a national organization that focuses on K-12 educational law, educational policy, and social justice. The intended audiences are school boards around the country. Darden shows the pros and cons to mandating school uniforms and dress codes. This work is more for uniforms than against. The other article I read, Uniforms: Are They a Good Fit?, by Marsha Boutelle showed both sides equally. This work by Darden told about different court cases involving uniforms. These cases show how the government ruled on the school uniform issue. It also interviewed school district superintendents from different districts to learn their view on uniforms.

Boutelle, Marsha. "Uniforms: Are They a Good Fit?" Education Digest 73 (2008): 34-37. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 Dec 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.

Marsha Boutelle writes for the Californian Schools Magazine. This article in particular was taken from the Fall 2007 issue. The audience is parents of students in the middle school and high school grades. The article presents convincing reasons for and against school uniforms for students. On one hand, uniforms and dress codes can take away some freedom of expression, but on the other hand, uniforms eliminate some social issues. This article is written for a broader audience than, What Not to Wear, by Edwin C. Darden. Boutelle’s article is written with a short anecdote for the reader to better understand her point. It also lays out the article in sections to help the reader follow. This article shows parents and teacher’s view on uniforms. Boutelle wrote the article taking interviews from people who have been affected by uniform rules. Those interviewed have strong opinions either for or against uniform and dress code rules.

U.S. Department of Education, "Manuel on School Uniforms." Archived Information. 19 Febuary 1992. U.S. Department of Education Safe and Drug Free Schools. 8 Dec 2008 http://www.ed.gov/updates/uniforms.html.

The U.S Department of Education helps to preserve the legislation involving schools passed by the President. Safe and Drug Free Schools is a federal government system set up reduce drug, tobacco, chemical use, and violence in the schools. The intended audience is school districts who are putting in place a new uniform policy. The article gives tips and advice on how to do so effectively. This work is based more on the dos and don’ts for schools putting in a uniform rule than the pros and cons of the initial step in deciding to do so. This article assumes the school is putting the rule in place. The other works I have read focus more on the negative and positive points. This article will help me because it shows specific examples of schools that have uniforms and shows exactly how they put these rules in place. The article gives me data on how well the uniforms have helped lower violence and improve the overall student attitude.

Brackett, Elizabeth. "Uniform Look." Online News Hour. 17 April 1996. Pacific Life. 8 Dec 2008 http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/uniform_4-17.html.

Elizabeth Brackett works as a reporter for WTTW, a Chicago public news station. She has been a NewsHour correspondent since 1984. She received the Peabody award in 1988 and an Emmy Award. She generally reports on politics and urban issues. The audience is the general public so they can take a first hand look at the effects of uniforms in troubled school districts. This article interviews different students at Farragut Public High School which has a uniform policy that has helped the school be more safe. It also interviewed students at DuSable Public High School whose uniform policy only caused more problems. This work had more first hand accounts with quotes from students, principles, and school district leaders who have experienced the effects, both good and bad, of school uniform rules than other articles I have read. This article shows why some students are so opposed to uniforms and why some like them so much. It shows first hand uniforms that have worked, and ones that have not.