1. Philosophy of Education
1.1. Pragmatism
1.1.1. Pragmatism is a philosophy which encourages people to find processes that work in achieving their desired ends.
1.1.2. General Notions
1.1.2.1. A better society through education
1.1.2.2. Children can learn both experientially as well as from books.
1.1.2.3. Proposed education start with the need and interest of the child. While letting the child plan his or her course of study.
1.1.2.4. Freedom and responsibility for students.
1.1.3. Key Researchers
1.1.3.1. George Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey are the key founders
1.1.3.2. Locke, a modern realist, believed the mind was a blank tablet, and that one acquires knowledge through one’s senses. Rousseau believed that individuals in their primitive state were naturally good and society corrupted them. George Counts and Theodore Brameld viewed he schools as vehicles for improving and changing society.
1.1.4. Goal of Education
1.1.4.1. School needs to balance the needs of society and community on one hand and the need of the individual on the other.
1.1.4.2. Socializing diverse groups into a cohesive democratic community
1.1.4.3. Primary role of education was growth
1.1.5. Role of Teacher
1.1.5.1. The teacher is no longer the authoritarian figure form which all knowledge flows, rather the teacher assumes the peripheral position of facilitator. The teacher encourages, offers suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement courses of study. The teacher also writes curriculum and must have a command of several disciplines in order to create and implement curriculum.
1.1.6. Method of Instruction
1.1.6.1. Children learn both individually and in groups
1.1.6.2. Field trips and projects that reconstructed some aspect of the child’s course of study were also an integrated part of learning.
1.1.6.3. Formal instruction was abandoned. Traditional blocks of time for specific discipline instruction were eliminated. Students have more freedom and could pursue independent study or group work.
1.1.7. Curriculum
1.1.7.1. Not wedded to an affixed curriculum. Curriculum changes as the social order changes as children’s interests and needs change
2. Schools as Organizations
2.1. Limestone Country, AL
2.1.1. State Senator
2.1.1.1. Bill Holtzclaw
2.1.2. House of Representatives
2.1.2.1. Philip Williams
2.1.3. State Superintendent
2.1.3.1. Thomas Bice
2.1.4. Representatives of State School Board
2.1.4.1. Mary Scott Hunter
2.1.5. Local Superintendent
2.1.5.1. Dr. Tom Sisk
2.1.6. Local School Board
2.1.6.1. Anthony Hilliard
2.1.6.1.1. http://www.enewscourier.com/news/local_news/school-board-district-q-a-anthony-hilliard/article_3df5b61a-4293-551b-8c36-9400e6ba9c54.html
2.2. United States Education v. Great Britain
2.2.1. United States
2.2.1.1. Duality of U.S. School System
2.2.1.1.1. Private education
2.2.1.1.2. public education system
2.2.1.2. 50 separate school systems
2.2.1.3. there are few academic impediments placed on students; however, private matters can keep students from completeing high school
2.2.1.3.1. All students are entitled to an education until they graduate
2.2.2. Great Britain
2.2.2.1. 1944 Education Act
2.2.2.1.1. Free primary and secondary education for all children
2.2.2.2. Children from wealthy homes received training in grammar schools, and children from working-class homes received vocational training
2.2.2.3. Margaret Thatcher
2.2.2.3.1. Great Britain's prime minister in 1979
2.2.2.3.2. attempted to reform educational system by privatizing public education, by encouraging greater parental choice, and by reorganizing the structure of the State educational system.
2.2.2.3.3. http://www.biography.com/people/margaret-thatcher-9504796
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. Sociology of the Curriculum
3.1.1. Concentrates on the function of what is taught in schools and its relationship to the role of schools within society.
3.1.2. Functionalist
3.1.2.1. Believed school curriculum represents the codification of the knowledge that students need to become competent members of society.
3.1.2.2. Modern functionalist theory
3.1.2.2.1. developed by Talcott Parsons and Robert Dreeben
3.1.2.2.2. stressed the role of the schools in preparing students for the increasingly complex roles required in a modern society.
3.1.2.2.3. schools began to move away from the teaching of isolated facts through memorization to the general task of teaching students how to learn.
3.1.2.3. schools teach students to respect others, to respect differences and to base their opinions on knowledge rather than tradition.
3.2. History of the Curriculum
3.2.1. Social efficiency curriculum
3.2.1.1. a philosophically pragmatist approach developed in the early twentieth century as a putatively democratic response to the development of mass public secondary education.
3.2.1.2. differentiated curriculum
3.2.1.2.1. believed that different groups of students with different sets of needs and aspirations, should receive different types of school
3.2.1.2.2. derived from John Dewey's thoughts on individualized and flexible curriculum
3.2.1.3. scientific management of the school
3.2.1.3.1. Frederick Taylor
3.2.1.3.2. involved division of knowledge into strictly defined areas and its transmission into scientifically defined goals and objectives, as well as the division of students into different aspects of the curriculum, based on ability
3.2.1.4. standardized testing of students for placement into ability groups or curriculum tracks
3.2.1.4.1. elementary level
3.2.1.4.2. secondary level
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Achievement and Attainment of Students with special needs
4.1.1. In the late 1960s, parents of children with special needs began to put pressure on the educational system to serve their children more appropriately and effectively.
4.1.2. In 1975, Congress passed the Education of All Handicapped Children Law
4.1.2.1. six basic principles
4.1.2.1.1. 1. the right of access to public education programs
4.1.2.1.2. 2. the individualization of services
4.1.2.1.3. 3. the principle of "least restrictive environment."
4.1.2.1.4. 4. the scope of broadened services to be provided by the schools and a set of procedures for determining them
4.1.2.1.5. 5. the general guidelines for identifying disability
4.1.2.1.6. 6. the principles of primary state and local responsibilities
4.1.2.2. The purpose of the law was to guarantee that children with special needs were properly identified and place in appropriate classes.
4.1.3. regular education initiative
4.1.3.1. calls for mainstreaming children with disabilities into regular classes.
4.2. The Coleman Study: Response Three
4.2.1. Geoffrey Borman and Maritza Dowling applied sophisticated statistical tools to evaluate educational data
4.2.1.1. where an individual goes to school is often related to her race and socioeconomic background, but the racial and socioeconomic composition of a school has a greater effect on student achievement than an individual's race and class
4.2.1.2. they argued that race and class are predictors of academic success
4.2.1.3. segregation based on race and socioeconomic status and within school interactions dominated by middle-class values are largely responsible for gaps in student achievement.
4.2.1.4. education reform must focus on eliminating the high level of segregation that remains in the US' education system and that schools must bring an end to tracking systems and biases hat favor white and middle-class students.
5. Educational Inequality
5.1. Sociological Explanation
5.1.1. Functionalist
5.1.1.1. Believe the role of schools is to provide a fair and meritocratic selection process for sorting out the best and brightest individuals, regardless of family background.
5.1.1.2. Their vision of a just society is 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.
5.1.1.3. Expect the schooling process will produce unequal results, but these results ought to be based on individual differences between students, not on group differences.
5.1.1.4. Believe that unequal educational outcomes are the result of unequal educational opportunities.
5.1.1.5. It is imperative to understand the sources of educational inequality so as to ensure the elimination of structural barriers to educational success and to provide all groups a fair chance to compete in the educational marketplace.
5.2. School-Centered Explanation
5.2.1. School Financing
5.2.1.1. Jonathan Kozol’s book, Savage Inequalities, compared public school in affluent suburbs with public schools in poor inner cities.
5.2.1.1.1. He documented the vast differences in funding between affluent and poor districts, and called for equalization in school financing.
5.2.1.2. Public school are financed through a combination of revenues from local, state, and federal sources.
5.2.1.2.1. The majority of funds come from state and local taxes, with local property tax a significant source. Property taxes are based on the value of property in local communities. Therefore affluent communities receive more funds because their properties are more valuable.
5.2.1.3. Serrano v Priest
5.2.1.3.1. The California Supreme Court ruled the system of unequal school financing between wealthy and poor districts unconstitutional. It did not declare the use of property tax for school funding illegal though.
5.2.1.4. Abbott v Burke
5.2.1.4.1. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the funding differences between rich and poor district was unconstitutional. This resulted in the Quality Education Action.
6. Politics of Education
6.1. The Liberal Perspective
6.1.1. Much like free market, education, is prone to significant abuses to groups who are economically and politically disadvantaged, if it is not regulated.
6.1.1.1. Private schools give students different opportunities than public schools do and most of the students there are either wealthy or gifted.
6.1.2. Government involvement is necessary to ensure fair treatment of all citizens. In education, a teacher is like the government because it is a teacher's responsibility to intervene when a student's education is currently unsuccessful.
6.1.3. Places a heavy emphasis on issues of equality, especially equality of opportunity. Each student should have the same opportunity even if his or her socioeconomic situation is not ideal.
6.1.4. Individual effort alone is sometimes insufficient. Sometimes, a student can be doing their best and still not grasp curriculum. It is up to the teacher to assist the problem.
6.1.5. Groups rather than individuals are affected by the structure of society, so solutions to social problems must address group dynamic rather than individuals. Teachers need to make their classrooms successful as a whole instead of focusing on one individual's learning habits.
6.2. Progressive Visions of Education
6.2.1. Schools are central to solving social problems. It is a vehicle for upward mobility, and it is essential to the development to individual potential.
6.2.1.1. Individuals may not reach their full potential without the aid of an education.
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Public High School
7.1.1. Compulsory school laws forced any child under sixteen to attend school
7.1.1.1. Forcing children to go to school until they are old enough to make their own decisions will encourage parents to view education as necessary.
7.1.2. National Education Association
7.1.2.1. established college entrance requirements, which recommended that all high school students study a core of academic subjects: classical and modern languages, English, mathematics, history, and science.
7.1.3. Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education helped resolve the difficulty of educating students who were not college bound.
7.1.3.1. G. Stanley Hall and Edward F. Thorndike
7.1.3.1.1. opened the door to a curriculum less academically demand and far more utilitarian.
7.1.3.2. Cardinal Principles
7.1.3.2.1. health, command of fundamental processes, worthy home-membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure, ethical character.
7.2. The Democratic-Liberal School
7.2.1. Provides equality of opportunity for all
7.2.1.1. Equal opportunities for all races and genders will help create an eviroment that supports education and lives will more than likely improve.
7.2.2. Ellwood Cubberly and Merle Curti
7.2.2.1. Historians which are representatives of this view
7.2.3. rejects the conservative view that education should be reserved for the priviledged
7.2.3.1. I believe, if education is only available for the wealthy then many intelligent people from lower socio-economic background will not be capable for bettering society.
7.2.4. As more students from diverse backgrounds went to school for longer periods of time, the goals of education became more diverse.
8. Sociological Perspectives
8.1. Functional Theories
8.1.1. Functionalist view society as a kind of machine, where one part articulates (educators) with another to produce energy to make society work (students).
8.1.2. Emile Durkheim
8.1.2.1. Moral Education, The Evolution of Educational Thought, and Education and Sociology.
8.1.2.2. He believed education in virtually all societies was of critical importance in creating the moral unity necessary for social cohesion and harmony. Moral values were the foundation of society.
8.1.2.2.1. I believe, most thriving societies are full of citizens who have received an education and want to use that education to make their lives and the lives of those around them better. crime rate is lower in highly-educated areas. Not only should we strive to educate students on how to be extraordinary citizens but, also, to understand what values they want to instill into the next generation.
8.1.3. Schools socialize students into the appropriate values and sort and select students according to their tenability. Educational reform then is supposed to create structures, programs, and curricula that are technically advance, rational and encourage social unity.
8.1.3.1. I believe society will not be at its optimal level of success unless we strive daily on becoming our best. We all have the ability to make society a better place. An education is the basis of how to create a society in which success is possible.
8.2. Knowledge and Attitudes
8.2.1. Ron Edmond is one of the first researchers to show that differences in schools are directly related to differences in student outcomes.
8.2.2. Academically oriented school do produce higher rates of learning.
8.2.3. Schools where students are compelled to take academic subjects and where there is consistent discipline, student achievement goes up.
8.2.3.1. I believe, when schools discipline students and show they have a strong authority, students will respect the educators more.
8.2.4. Students who participate in summer school and reading during the summer made greater gains in knowledge than pupils who do not study during the summers.
8.2.4.1. This is why I am a supporter of the summer reading program that has been instated. Kids playing video games and sleeping all summer will not improve their intelligence.
8.2.4.1.1. http://hmcpl.org/summer/programs
8.2.5. Research indicates that the more education individuals receive, the more likely they are to read newspapers, books, and magazines, and to take part in politics and public affairs.
8.2.5.1. A society that has more educated people participating int he public affairs who read the newspaper and are updated on local news will create a more successful society.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. Political Reform
9.1.1. No Child Left Behind
9.1.1.1. No Child Left Behind was the centerpiece of President George W. Bush’s educational policy.
9.1.1.2. was the most comprehensive federal legislation governing state and local educational policies in U.S. history.
9.1.1.3. Key components
9.1.1.3.1. Annual testing is required of students in grades 3 through 8 in reading and math plus at least one test in grades 10 through 12; science testing to follow. Graduation rates are used as a secondary indicator for high schools
9.1.1.3.2. States and districts are required to report school-by-school data on student test performance, broken out by whether the student is African-American, Hispanic-American, Native American, Asian-American, whit, special education, limited English proficiency, and/or low income.
9.1.1.3.3. States must set adequate yearly progress goals for each school. In order to meet AYP, not only must each subgroup make progress in each year in each grade in each subject but there must also be 95 percent participation of each subgroup as well.
9.1.1.3.4. Schools that don’t meet AYP for two years are labeled “In Need of Improvement.” This means that schools must offer students the option to go to another public school and/or to receive federally funded tutoring. This can result in firing teachers and principal and/or state takeovers.
9.1.1.3.5. Schools must have “highly qualified” teachers for the “core academic subjects.”
9.1.1.4. Education Trust argues that NCLB’s annual testing and disaggregation requirement will force states to ensure low-income students who continue to lag behind higher income students will meet the same standards, and thus reduce the achievement gap.
9.2. School-Based Reforms
9.2.1. School Choice, Charter Schools, and Tuition Vouchers
9.2.1.1. Some researchers were investigating private schools and concluding that they were more effective learning environments than public schools.
9.2.1.1.1. Private schools were reputed to be accountable, efficient and safe.
9.2.1.2. School Choice
9.2.1.2.1. The work of Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore seemed to prove private school students learned more than public school students. Other research on magnet schools seemed to indicate that public schools that operate independently of the public school bureaucracy were happier, healthier, and more academically productive than zone schools where students were required to attend based on their residence.
9.2.1.3. Charter Schools
9.2.1.3.1. States are responding to the demand of more charter schools by authorizing more charters and amending charter laws to accommodate the desire for growth, while other states without charter laws consider their enactment.
9.2.1.3.2. Charter schools are public schools that are free from many of the regulations applied to traditional public schools, and in return are held accountable for student performance.
9.2.1.3.3. The “charter” itself is a performance contract that details the school’s mission, program, goals, etc. They must be open to all students in the school district.
9.2.1.4. Vouchers
9.2.1.4.1. Voucher advocates argue that school choice will have important educational impacts: it will provide low-income parents with the same choices as middle-class parents and lead to increased parental satisfaction and given the absence of the large educational bureaucracy of urban school systems, charter and voucher schools will provide better learning environments for low-income students and result in higher student achievement.