1. Sociological Perspectives Chapter 4
1.1. Theoretical Perspectives
1.1.1. Functionalism: society is interdependent on each part; Emile Durkheim is one of the earliest sociologists to believe in functionalism; he believed education was necessary for social unity and that society's morals and values were the foundation of society; functionalism views conflict as differing views. Educational reform should include technological advances and encourage social cohesion by the curriculum and programs created.
1.1.2. Conflict Theory: society is based on dominant groups manipulating, controlling, and forcing the minority groups to get their way. Unity is based on the power of the economic, political, cultural and military systems. societies struggles explain the social order; schools are similar to a warzone for children with the achievement ideology believing that schools promote learning and the students are grouped based upon their abilities. Karl Marx played a huge role in conflict theory and opened a conflict school in the 1800s; capitalism needs to be destroyed or amended; Max Weber had differing views from Marx including the belief that different social classes are not the only factor in human belief systems; he portrayed schools as autocracies and college degrees as status symbols; Bourdieu and Passeron's theories believed that culture must be looked at as a part of society and culture as a whole, not as a study of it's own.
1.1.3. Interactionalism: basically critiques and additions to the functional and conflict theory due to them being too broad; believes that the basic interactions that are not taken into account are the ones that are then most problematic. Basil Bernstein was important to the interactional theory by arguing that structural and interactional aspects must be viewed together. He linked language to educational outcomes
1.2. Five Effects of Schooling on Individuals
1.2.1. Tracking: Usually based on socio-economic class or race; the students in lower class and minorities do not receive the same education, quality of teacher, or curriculum
1.2.2. Teacher Behavior: Teachers set expectations for students that directly related to their achievement; teachers that give more praise to students and have higher demands typically have students that do better in the classroom; may set lower expectations for lower class students may
1.2.3. Inadequate Schools: Minority and poorer school systems set students up for failure in a way due to receiving a lesser education.
1.2.4. Gender: Girls typically do not have as high of aspirations as boys do when graduating high school; boys typically do better in math and science; an example of gender inequalities that a student might see includes all female teachers but a male principle.
1.2.5. De Facto Segregation: Bringing minority students to a school that is racialy mixed increases student success; is controversial because a lot of partens do not believe their tax dollars should be paying for low income students to be bussed in; must be careful because there is a possibility of increased segregation versus integration.
2. Philosophy of Education Chapter 5
2.1. Pragmatism
2.1.1. Role of Teacher: The teacher is seen as a facilitator instead of being in charge of the classroom; the teacher must have stidied several topics in order to be able to write and understand the curriculum
2.1.2. Generic Notions: John Dewey was an important thinker to pragmatism, inspired by the theory of evolution, that believed in instrumentalism and experimentalism in the pragmatic approach; Dewey believed schools should approach curriculum differently depending on a child's developmental stage
2.1.3. Key researchers: George Sanders Pierce, John Dewey, William James, Frances Bacon, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau
2.1.4. Goal of education: Formulation, challenge, and reconstruction of ideas; determine the needs of society and the needs of the individual; Integrate children into a cooperative and democratic society;
2.1.5. Method of Instruction: individual and group learning is important; asking questions is important; books and field trips are essential; students were free to stand up and walk around verses being confined to a desk sitting quietly; no set times per subject
2.1.6. Curriculum: Typically follow an integrated cirruculum style; cirruculum does not stay the same, rather changes based on the students intrests and current sociatial issues; is very controversial
3. Schools as Organizations Chapter 6
3.1. Alabama Stakeholders
3.1.1. Federal Senators: Doug Jones and Richard Shelby Federal Representatives: Bradley Byrne, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Mo Brooks, Gary Palmer, Terri A. Sewell
3.1.2. Local (Madison County) Senators: William Holtzclaw, Paul Sanford, Clay Scofield, Steve Livingston Local (Madison County) Representatives: Phil Williams, Mike Ball, Laura Hall, Rex Reynolds, Howard Sanderford, Ritchie Whorton, Mac McCutcheon, Anthony Daniels State Superintendent: Michael Sentence Local Superintendent: Robby Parker Madison City School Baord: Ranae Bartlett, Connie Cox Spears, Luis Javier Ferrer, Tim Holtcamp, David Hergenroeder Local superintendent board member: Ella B Bell
3.2. Elements of Change
3.2.1. The four elements of change are: 1)Conflict is necessary: When past problems become evident, which they should, it allows for change. The staff must be involved in the restructuring of the school for these conflicts to successfully be resolved 2) Must learn new behaviors: There must be communication, trust, good leadership, and the willingness to learn and collaborative to resolve conflicts 3) The entire school must be involved in team building: decision making should be shared to prevent anyone from feeling excluded or unwilling to embrace the changes 4) Process and content should be seen as related: The way that the process of change is carried out should be just as important as the actual change. The substance behind the change requires the team and school behind it to communicate and have trust and openness to be successful. The change must be openly visible to the school staff to ensure involvement from everyone
4. Equality of Opportunity Chapter 8
4.1. Educational Outcomes
4.1.1. Race: A Hispanic student is three times more likely to drop out of school than a white student, and an African-American student is almost 2 times more likely to drop out than a white student. African-American and Hispanic students have a lower literacy level, and a lower level of critical thinking abilities. SAT and ACT scores are on average higher in white students, therefore they are more likely to receive admission and scholarships. Minorities are not given the same opportunities for education as white students. Race and class are very similar
4.1.2. Gender: Females are more likely to stay in school, and typically have a higher reading and writing level than males. Males have a higher proficiency in mathematics. Males are more likely to score higher on SAT and ACTs, however females are more likely to attend college (however not when it comes to Ivy League). The gap between male and females in school has decreased significantly over time, however males are still more likely to receive better treatment than females.
4.1.3. Class: Students from a wealthy family are more likely to stay in school longer due to the costs of school, especially college. Poorer families struggle staying in school due to needing money and jobs, and not having as high of expectations for continuing school. Teachers typically favor children who have been exposed to more books as a child, due to the way they speak, which is most commonly seen in upper and middle class families. Class can be directly related to academic achievement. Students attending schools in middle and upper class school districts receive a better education due to a higher emphasis on success and academics, and have more opportunities to learn.
4.2. Coleman Study of 1982 Responses:
4.2.1. 1st Response: Private schools demand more from students then public schools; low-income students do better in private school; while the differences between the two are obvious, it isn't due to a difference in learning;
4.2.2. 2nd Response: the racial and socioeconomic environment in the actual school has a greater significance on achievement than the individual students race and socioeconomic status; The biggest achievement gaps are from schools segregation and that reform should focus on getting rid of this segregation and tracking
5. Educational Reform Chapter 10
5.1. School Based Reforms
5.1.1. Privatization: public and private school educational differences decreased starting in the 1990s due to private education companies becoming more involved in public education; for-profit companies starting taking over school districts that were failing, for profit companies have most of the contracts for tutoring under NCLB; success has been mixed; mixture of traditional schools, charter schools, and schools run by for-profit agencies
5.1.2. School-Business Partnerships: business leaders in the 1980s become concerned that graduates were not ready to help revitalize the US economy based upon their education in school, so business-school partnerships were formed; Boston Compact; included scholarships for college, businesses funding schools aka "adopting" them, businesses providing assistance and training of the management and the school promising higher test scores and graduate rates/passing rates; not much evidence that this reform has helped much
5.2. Societal, Community, Economic, and Political Reform
5.2.1. Full Service and Community Schools: the whole community should be educated not only the child; Three examples of full service schools include Dryfoo's model of full service schools, Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, and Newark's Broader Bolder Approach; the focus is on meeting not only the students, but their families needs as well on education, physical, social, and psychological needs by school and community services coming together; Examples include drug and alcohol programs, job training services, tutoring, afterschool programs, etc. Usually in at risk areas to prevent and help those facing problems; no evidence of affecting a student's achievements
5.2.2. Harlem Children's Zone: Geoffery Canada grew up in the Bronx and felt completely unprepared when he went to college, and decided he wanted to help children in the Bronx not face these problems and prepare them. Canada aims to change the students and the neighborhood verses just removing he student from the area. He wants to "contaminate" the area positively to want children to aim to go to college; White parents typically spend more time helping their children learn before school than African American parents, resulting in those students then being behind or unprepared "Baby College" is a program Canada created that helps African Americans learn about discipline and home environments before a baby is even born, and also helps provide items for the family that they cannot afford; In 2007 a large number of students scored highly on state tests in math and reading due to Canada's reforms
6. Politics of Education Chapter 2
6.1. Four purposes of Education
6.1.1. Intellectual: to teach students skills such as reading, math, and writing; to communicate knowledge about specific subjects such as science and literature; to aid in analysis, evaluation, and combination skills
6.1.2. Economic: to prepare for future careers and train for the division of labor
6.1.3. Political: to foster a sense of patriotism, teach the laws of a society; to prepare students with information in order to one day participate in the political system; to bring together members from different cultures under the same political system
6.1.4. Social: to solve social problems; to expose children to the different careers and roles in society; to create social unity
6.2. Perspectives
6.2.1. The role of the school, conservative view: school is necessary to economic productivity and social stability. Schools allow children to socialize into future careers and trades to maintain the social order. the most promising students will receive more tools to gain the most out of a future career. To pass down cultural traditions.
6.2.2. Explanations of unequal educational performance, radical perspective: students from lower social classes start school at a disadvantage due to unequal opportunities. The political-economic structure must be changed in order to stop educational failure due to the economic system
6.2.3. Definition of educational problems, liberal perspective: schools are too concerned with discipline and authority, which limits the ability to help students mature as individuals. Underachievement by minorities and the poor is a serious issue, and is due to schools limiting the chances of these students. Traditional curriculum neglects to mention the diversity of the groups that make up society. The differences in the quality and atmosphere of schools in the upper class areas and lower class areas contributes to inequalities
7. History of US Education Chapter 3
7.1. Reform Movement: Equality Woman and African American's did not receive proper training for a very long time. Girl's were expected to only learn how to cook, host guests, take care of children, etc. African American's were not given an education, because they were seen as slaves. In 1846, African Americans were able to be educated, though in separate schools from their white counterparts. The Plessy v Ferguson court case created a doctrine that blacks and whites are "separate but equal." This doctrine was not overturned until 1954 during the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. This monumental case ruled that segregation is , especially in schools. This ruling took a long time to take into effect, but it provided a legal foundation for equality no matter one's race.
7.2. Historical Interpretation of US Education: The Democratic-Liberal School Believes in equality and opportunity for all students by the school system. Compromises are needed between equality and equity, because they cannot exist together. Cremin believed that the more students from diverse backgrounds, the more diverse educational goals became. The Common School Era was portrayed as the first step for US Education for everyone, and has been used as a victory for this approach. Horace Mann and Henry Barnard are portrayed as reformers striving for equality.
8. Curriculum and Pedagogy Chapter 7
8.1. Humanist Curriculum Theory: The purpose of education should be to pass students the knowledge of the greatest thoughts and writings from the past; Very popular in the 19th and early 20th century; College or not, students should have a good knowledge of English, math, history, science, and other languages; cultural heritage is learned
8.2. 2 Dominant Traditions of Teaching
8.2.1. Mimetic: The purpose of receiving an education should be to give students specific knowledge; lectures are the main form of communication; Involves a relationship between the teacher and student to pass information to each other; it's important that the teacher makes goals clear and can assess these goals to ensure the student has met them
8.2.2. Transformative: the purpose of an education is to change the student in a way that is meaningful to them; not only about transmitting knowledge; teaching and learning are linked, the teacher is not the authority figure over the student
9. Educational Inequality Chapter 9
9.1. 2 Types of Cultural Difference Theory
9.1.1. Bourdieu's concepts of social and cultural capital finds that families that have more resources tend to expose their children to museums, vacations, etc while also being involved in activities, college admissions, and educational resources. Wealth is still important, but these social and cultural factors play a role in inequalities as well. Lareau expanded upon this theory by finding that working class families encourage independent play while middle and upper class families place an emphasis on activities and classes and having a schedule set for their children.
9.1.2. Though he had many, Ogbu's final book looked at the difference in black and white achievement in the middle and upper class. He found that African americans were not really in the honors or AP classes, and reasons might include increased tv time, less study time, and lower aspirations than white students. These students also did not have as much pressure from their parents to preform highly in school. Tyson did her own research and disagreed, she believed tracking based on race was the major issue.
9.2. School centered explanations for educational inequality
9.2.1. School Financing: Most financing for schools comes from property taxes, state and local taxes. Because property taxes vary so drastically between states and areas, certain areas have much more money for schools. Some find the inequality of funding because of property taxes to be discriminating towards students and against the 14th amendment. The Supreme Court took on a case that saw that property taxes for school funding is not unconstitutional, so now it is up to the states to try to decrease these inequalities. School financing matters when it comes to achievement of the students, though not as much as other factors play.
9.2.2. Within-school differences: students within the same school are often grouped together based upon race, gender, test scores, and teacher recommendations and later on based upon curriculum level. This causes tracking, which is controversial on continuing to further educational inequalities. Albert Shanker argued that if students were given higher expectations, or even the opportunity to learn more of these things, they would rise to the occasion. The different tracks are more likely to have different curriculum and teaching styles;