Avery Matthew

Education Reform in Houston, Tx, and the Role of Applied Anthropology Avery Matthew

The culture of education is positively changing at a remarkable pace, yet it does so only on a small scale. The implementation of technology into classrooms, a growing number of non-profit organizations that advocate for comprehensive reform, and inspirational charter schools are creating an empowering education for students. This thesis explores the small scale change through interviews of administrators at non-profit organizations and charter schools in Houston, Texas. Houston is a microcosm of the changing culture of education occurring across the United States. After explanation of the small scale change this thesis then explores areas where reform can be brought to the entirety of school districts through a building of social capital where connections are created between all individuals involved in the education of children. Finally, this thesis explicates how applied anthropologists can become involved in aiding education reformers through classical anthropological research methods.