1. Philosophy of Education
1.1. Realism
1.1.1. associated with both Plato and Aristotle
1.1.2. Generic Notions
1.1.2.1. Artistotle believed that only through studying the material world was it possible for an individual to clarify or develop ideas.
1.1.3. Key Researchers
1.1.3.1. Artistotle
1.1.3.1.1. Systematic Theory of Logic
1.1.3.2. Thomas Aquinas
1.1.3.2.1. Neo-Thomism
1.1.3.3. Francis Bacon
1.1.3.3.1. Modern Realism
1.1.3.4. John Locke
1.1.3.4.1. Empirical Point of View
1.1.3.5. Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell
1.1.3.5.1. Contemporary Realists
1.1.4. Goal of Education
1.1.4.1. Aristotle
1.1.4.1.1. He believed it was possible to understand ideas through studying the world of matter
1.1.4.2. Plato
1.1.4.2.1. emphasized the study study of ideas to understand ideas
1.1.4.3. Contemporary Realists
1.1.4.3.1. help individuals understand and then apply the principles of science to help solve the problems plaguing the modern world.
1.1.5. Role of The Teacher
1.1.5.1. should be steeped in the basic academic disciplines in order to transmit to their students the knowledge necessary for the continuance of the human race.
1.1.5.2. science, mathematics, and the humanities
1.1.5.3. to enable students to learn objective methods of evaluating such works.
1.1.6. Methods of Instruction
1.1.6.1. lecture
1.1.6.1.1. gives students the knowledge necessary to make these evaluations
1.1.6.2. Competency-based assessment
1.1.6.2.1. ensures that students learn what they are being taught
1.1.7. Curriculum
1.1.7.1. science and math
1.1.7.2. reading and writing
1.1.7.3. the humanities
2. Schools as Organizations
2.1. My Major Representatives
2.1.1. State House of Representatives
2.1.1.1. Nathaniel Ledbetter
2.1.2. State Senate
2.1.2.1. Steve Livingston
2.1.3. US House of Representatives
2.1.3.1. Robert Aderholt
2.1.4. US Senate
2.1.4.1. Jeff Sessions
2.1.4.2. Richard Shelby
2.1.5. Alabama State Superintendent
2.1.5.1. Tommy Bice
2.1.6. Dekalb County Superintendent
2.1.6.1. Hugh Taylor
2.1.7. State Board of Education Rep
2.1.7.1. Mary Scott Hunter
2.1.8. Dekalb County Board of Education
2.1.8.1. Matt Sharp
2.1.8.2. Jeff Williams
2.1.8.3. Randy Peppers
2.1.8.4. Mark Richards
2.1.8.5. Terry Wootten
2.2. Education in Other Countries
2.2.1. Great Britain
2.2.1.1. Education is Class Stratified
2.2.1.2. They have a national Curriculum
2.2.2. France
2.2.2.1. They have a more centralized education system
2.2.2.2. they traditionally have 2 systems- normal and elite
2.2.2.3. they are highly stratified
2.2.3. Japan
2.2.3.1. They place a high regard on Education
2.2.3.2. Double Schooling
2.2.3.2.1. two educational systems
2.2.4. Finland
2.2.4.1. They have no standardized testing
2.2.4.2. they place the focus on formative evaluation
2.2.4.3. in recent years has had some of the highest scores on math, science, and literacy exams
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. Humanist Curriculum
3.1.1. The idealist philosophy that knowledge of the traditional liberal arts is the foundation of an educated population
3.1.2. The purpose of education is to present the students the best of whats been taught and written
3.1.3. This model dominated 19th century and early 20th century U.S. Education
3.1.4. National Education Association's Committee of Ten's report issued in 1893
3.1.4.1. "which recommended that all secondary students, regardless of whether they intended to go to college, should be liberally educated and should study English, foreign languages, mathematics, history and science"
3.1.5. Bennett, Hirsch, Ravitch, and Fin
3.1.5.1. have argued that U.S. students do not know enough about their cultural heritage because the school curriculum has not emphasized it for all students.
3.1.5.2. They have proposed schools return to a traditional liberal arts curriculum for all students and that curriculum focus, though not completely, should be on Western traditions.
3.1.6. Bennett
3.1.6.1. Secretary of Education under Reagan Administration
3.1.6.1.1. In his proposals for a model elementary and secondary curriculum, emphasized the need for a traditional core of subjects and readings that would teach all students a common set of valuable knowledge and intellectual skills.
3.2. Functionalist Theories of School and Society
3.2.1. believe that the role of the schools is to integrate children into the existing social order based on consensus and agreement.
3.2.2. school curriculum represents the codification of the knowledge that students need to become productive members of society
3.2.2.1. curriculum transmits to students the culture heritage required for a cohesive social system.
3.2.3. Role of the Curriculum
3.2.3.1. To give students knowledge, language, and values to ensure social stability because without this a shared common culture social order isn't possible.
3.2.4. Emile Durkheim
3.2.4.1. General Functional Theory
3.2.4.1.1. focused on the role of the schools in fighting the social and moral breakdown caused by modernazation
3.2.5. Talcott Parsons and Robert Dreeben
3.2.5.1. Modern Functionalist theory
3.2.5.1.1. focused on the role of the school in preparing students for the complex roles in society.
3.2.6. functionalists believe that the schools teach the general values and norms essential to modern society
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment of Women
4.1.1. higher level in reading at ages 9, 19, 17
4.1.2. slightly higher levels in math at age 9
4.1.3. lower levels in mathh at ages 13 and 17
4.1.4. lower levels in Science at ages 9, 13, and 17
4.2. Coleman Study Response
4.2.1. small group of minority scholars
4.2.1.1. they were led by Ron Emonds
4.2.1.1.1. Harvard University
4.2.1.2. they argued that all students could learn
4.2.1.3. they argued that the differences between schools DID have an impact on student learning
5. Educational Inequality
5.1. functionalists
5.1.1. role of schools
5.1.1.1. to provide a fair and meritocratic selection process for sorting out the best and brightest individuals, regardless of family background.
5.1.2. vision of a just society
5.1.2.1. one where individual talent and hard work based on universal principles of evaluation are more important than ascriptive characteristics based on particularistic methods of evaluation.
5.1.3. schooling process
5.1.3.1. believe that it will produce unequal results, but the results should be based on individual differences between students, not group differences.
5.1.4. they believe that unequal educational outcomes are the result of unequal educational opportunities.
5.1.5. its necessary to understand the sources of educational inequality to eliminate the structural barriers to educational success and to provide all groups a fair chance to compete in the educational marketplace.
5.2. School Financing
5.2.1. Jonathan Kozol
5.2.1.1. Savage Inequalities
5.2.1.1.1. compared public schools in affluent suburbs with public schools in poor inner cities.
5.2.1.1.2. he documented the large differences in funding between poor and affluent districts.
5.2.1.1.3. he called for equalization in school funding.
5.2.2. Public schools are finances through a combo of revenues from local, state, and federal sources.
5.2.2.1. the majority of funds come from state and local taxes, with local property taxes being a significant source.
5.2.3. more affluent communities are able to provide more per-pupil spending than poorer districts.
5.2.3.1. often at a less burdensome rate than poorer communities
5.2.4. Serrano v. Priest
5.2.4.1. The California Supreme Court ruled the system of unequal schools financing between wealthy and poor districts unconstitutional.
5.2.5. Abbott v. Burke
5.2.5.1. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the funding differences between rich and poor districts unconstitutional.
5.2.6. Critics
5.2.6.1. believe equalization is a moral imperative, but there is not widespread agreement on this matter.
6. Educational Reform
6.1. School-Business Partnerships
6.1.1. in the 1980s business leaders were concerned that the schools weren't producing the kinds of graduates needed to revitalize the US economy.
6.1.2. Many school-business partnerships were created
6.1.2.1. Boston Compact
6.1.2.1.1. began in 1982
6.1.2.2. the Committee to Support Philadelphia Public Schools
6.1.2.2.1. pledge management assistance and training to the Philadelphia School District to restructure and implement a site-based management plan.
6.1.3. The Walton Foundation
6.1.3.1. funded charter schools and voucher initiatives
6.1.4. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
6.1.4.1. contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to small schools and more recently to teacher effectiveness.
6.1.5. Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook)
6.1.5.1. $100 million to improve education in Newark, New Jersey
6.2. School Finance Reforms
6.2.1. Rodriguez v. San Antonio
6.2.1.1. declared there is no constitutional right to an equal education, school finance equity and advocates litigated at the state level.
6.2.2. The state was required beginning in 1998 to to implement a pacdkage of supplemental programs
6.2.3. supplemental programs
6.2.3.1. social services, increased security, a technology alternative education, preschool, school to work, after-school, summer-school
6.2.4. Abbott v. Burke
6.2.4.1. implemented additional entitlements for urban schools, including whole school reforms, full day kindergarten, preschool for all 3 and 4 year olds, comprehensively managed and funded facilities program to correct code violations.
6.2.5. Campaign for Fiscal Equity
6.2.5.1. a group of parents and advocates that challenged the state to provide a "sound basic" education for all stuents that prepares them to participate in society.
7. Politics of Education
7.1. Traditional
7.1.1. encompasses the right liberal to the conservative spectrums
7.1.2. they believe that school should pass on the best of what was and what is
7.2. Conservative
7.2.1. Views of Education Problems
7.2.1.1. Decline of Standards
7.2.1.2. Decline of Cultural Literacy
7.2.1.3. Decline of Values or Civilization
7.2.1.4. Decline of Authority
7.2.2. Adam Smith
7.2.2.1. The conservative viewpoint is based in part on Adam Smith's, an 18th century British political economist, writings.
7.2.3. Ronald Reagan
7.2.3.1. his presidency represented the political rise of the conservative viewpoint.
7.2.4. "Back to Basics"
7.2.4.1. strengthening of literary skills, such as reading and writing, and other forms of traditional learning
7.2.5. School Privitization
7.2.5.1. to introduce free market mechanisms in the educational marketplace
7.2.6. views the school as essential to both economic productivity and social stability
8. History of Education
8.1. Traditional Reform Movement
8.1.1. Arthur Bestor
8.1.1.1. a respected historian who argued that progressive education had eliminated the schools primary role in teaching children to think
8.1.2. Beliefs
8.1.2.1. knowledge-centered education
8.1.2.2. subject-centered curriculum
8.1.2.3. teacher-centered education
8.1.2.4. discipline and authority
8.1.2.5. defense of academic standards in the name of excellence
8.1.3. Mortimer Smith and Robert Hutchins
8.1.3.1. they believed that progressive education sacrificed the intellectual goals to social ones
8.2. Conservative Perspective
8.2.1. Diane Ravitch
8.2.1.1. The Troubled Crusade
8.2.1.1.1. argued that the preoccupation with using education to solve social problems has not solved the problems, and simultaneously, has led to the erosion of educational excellence.
8.2.2. Allan Bloom
8.2.2.1. The Closing of the American Mind
8.2.3. E.D. Hirsch Jr
8.2.3.1. Cultural Literacy
8.2.4. William Bennett
8.2.4.1. Secretary of Education (Reagan Administration)
9. Sociological Perspectives
9.1. Functional Theories
9.1.1. Interdependence
9.1.2. Emile Durkheim
9.1.2.1. Moral Education (1962)
9.1.2.2. The Evolution of Education Thought (1977)
9.1.2.3. Education and Sociology (1956)
9.1.2.4. Belief that moral values were the foundation of society
9.1.3. A Nation At Risk
9.2. Knowledge and Attitudes Effect on Schooling
9.2.1. Ron Edmonds
9.2.1.1. Pioneer of effective schools movement
9.2.2. Heynes
9.2.2.1. Summer School study