School Uniforms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

School Uniforms - Essay Example In fact, advocates of the uniform policy at Long Beach insisted that the uniform policy was the only factor involved in the positive outcomes at the school district. Contrastingly, the authors noted that opponents to mandatory school uniforms were adamant that the use of school uniforms encountered ‘legal’ and ‘financial’ problems. Further, they noted the ‘questionable effectiveness’ of the wearing of these uniforms (53). Thus, the researchers in their attempt to test the relationship between uniforms and the four major outcomes made by advocates of the uniform policy utilized data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study conducted in 1988 with 8th grade students. Their results were astounding for in all four cases the researchers discovered that the empirical evidence did not support the claims made by the advocates. Instead there appeared to be the need for alternative thinking on the cause of the positive effects of the use of uniform s at the Long Beach Unified School District. Brunsma and Rockquemore were quick to note that there was other ‘reform efforts’ implemented at the same time as the uniform policy at the Long Beach District (60). The researchers concluded that the negative correlation between the mandatory uniform policy and academic achievement was perhaps asymptomatic of the ‘quick fix nature’ of reform policies at schools. Interestingly, in her article entitled, â€Å"School Uniforms, Academic Achievement, and Uses of Research†, Bodine highlighted possibly erroneous conclusions in Brunsma and Rockquemore’s article. In fact, Bodine contrasted the results obtained by Brunsma and Rockquemore with the results of an Educational Testing Service article. Bodine emphasized the differences in the reasons put... The author of this paper intends to demonstrate that the wearing of a uniform is but a drop in the bucket of methods of reducing the negativity associated with poor academic performance and behavior problems. In addition, claims of improving academic performance through the implementation of a uniform policy have strongly been refuted by researchers and educators alike. This report approves that the uniform initiative should not be a ‘quick fix’ rather other initiatives such as ‘aggressive truancy reduction initiatives, drug prevention efforts, student-athlete drug testing, community efforts to limit gangs, a zero tolerance policy for weapons, character education classes, and conflict resolution programs’ can be used to improve behavioral problems at schools. This paper makes a conclusion that consistent with the conclusion of Brunsma and Rockquemore, the author of this paper believes that although the use of uniforms may be one of the factors which contribute to academic success it does not cause the success. In the Long Beach positive results researchers noted that there were many other policies implemented simultaneously with the school uniforms. The introduction of different teaching methods was one such policy. Northern highlighted Anthony Gell in the United Kingdom who refused to make uniform mandatory at his school. Gell along with other educators found the uniform issue to be highly political, complex and divisive.