1. History of US Education
1.1. 1994 - Educate America Act
1.1.1. Established national goals for performance
1.1.2. School - to - work opportunities
1.1.3. Safe and drug free schools
1.2. Conservative Interpretation
1.2.1. Emphasize empowerment of the individual to solve problems
1.2.2. Equal opportunity to succeed
1.2.3. Develop powers of intelligence
2. Curriculum and Pedagogy
2.1. Historical Curriculum Theory
2.1.1. The Humanist Curriculum reflects the idealist philosophy that knowledge of the traditional liberal arts is the cornerstone of an educated citizenry and that the purpose of education is to present to students the best of what has been written and thought.
2.1.2. The conservative curriculum reformers believed that the purpose of schooling was to transmit a common body of knowledge in order to reproduce a common cultural heritage.
2.1.3. The Cardinal Principle's social efficiency inverted Dewey's notion of the school as a lever of social reform into the school as a mechanism to adjust the individual to society and became the cornerstone of the new progressivism.
2.2. Sociological Curriculum Theory
2.2.1. Sociologists have focused on what is taught as well as why it is taught.
2.2.2. Sociologists believe that the school curriculum should include what is formally, as well as informally, included as the subject matter to be learned.
2.2.3. The sociology of curriculum concentrates on what is being taught in schools and what is its role of the schools within society.
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Response to the Coleman Study
3.1.1. Coleman's study reached the conclusion that organizational differences between schools did not make as much difference in results as did the student body composition. The study says that middle class students perform better on standardized tests and had better overall learning capabilities that schools with other classes of students.This study was not popular due to the implications. If schools do not make a difference, how can education overcome inequalities?
3.2. Educational achievement and attainment of women
3.2.1. The educational attainment of women has increase greatly in the past 20 years. While there are still gaps in gender educational levels, more and more women have gained educational achievement and increased their socioeconomic status. This has led to a greater attainment in the workplace for women.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Sociological Explanations of Unequal Achievement
4.1.1. The role of the school, according to functionalists, is to sort out students in a fair and balanced manner. Family backgrounds should have no impact on their educational opportunities.
4.1.2. As individuals, we are the ones who create inequality. Systematic solutions will only go so far when it comes to provide equal results.
4.1.3. The connection between school education and societal institutions can't be placed into one explanation.
4.2. School Centered Explanation
4.2.1. School processes are central in understanding unequal education performances.
4.2.2. Using state programs along with more aid going to the lesser funded districts to enable these districts to meet the minimum level could be one way to provide equal levels of educational opportunities.
4.2.3. This theory would not be functional if the difference between lower and higher funded school communities is the significant difference, as many people believe.
5. Educational Reform
5.1. School-Based Reforms
5.1.1. 1. Congressional support for greater school choice was expressed in a bill that was passed by the House of Representatives in the summer of 1990 which provided direct federal support for open-enrollment experiments.
5.1.2. 2. In 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ruled that the Cleveland voucher program did not violate the establishment clause for the First Amendment.
5.1.3. 3. The School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 provided seed money to states and local partnerships of business, labor, government, education, and community organizations to develop school-to-work systems.
5.2. Societal, Community, Economic, or Political Reforms
5.2.1. 1. As of 2000, 23 states have enacted statutes authorizing their state education agencies to take control of school districts from local authorities; Alabama is among these states.
5.2.2. 2. Supreme Court decision in Rodriguez v. San Antonio which declared there is no constitutional right to an equal education, school finance equity, and adequacy advocates litigated at the state level.
5.2.3. 3. Dryfoos's model of full service schools, Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, and Newark's Broader, Bolder Approach, are three models of community based reforms.
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Conservative
6.1.1. Stability
6.1.2. Free Market
6.1.3. Respectful of Human Needs
6.2. Traditional
6.2.1. Family Unities
6.2.2. Individual Initative
6.2.3. Hard Work
7. Sociology Perspectives
7.1. the theoretical perspective concerning the relationship between school and society
7.1.1. What people Learn is Knowledge
7.1.2. Graduating from college will give you bigger opportunities with Employment
7.1.3. More Education leads to more Mobility
7.2. effects of schooling on individuals that you think have the greatest impact on students
7.2.1. Teachers who are their mentors
7.2.2. Student Cultures is students who hang around with others who works and studies with each other
7.2.3. School Tracking placement of students in curricular programs
8. Philosophy of Education
8.1. Generic Notions: Who they are or intend to be.
8.2. Key Researchers: Aristotle
8.3. Goal of Education:The real world was the starting point in the quest for understanding philosophical concerns.
8.4. Role of Teacher: Must present ideas in a clear and consistent manner.
8.5. Method of Instruction: Lecture, question, and answer.
8.6. Curriculum: Math,reading,and writing is the essentials for students to master in order to be part of society.
9. Schools as Organizations
9.1. School Stakeholders
9.1.1. State Senators
9.1.1.1. Richard Shelby Jeff Sessions
9.1.2. House of Representatives
9.1.2.1. Bradly Byrne, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Mo Brooks, Gary Palmer, Terri Sewell
9.1.3. State Superintendent
9.1.3.1. Thomas R. Bice
9.1.4. State School Reps
9.1.4.1. Robert Bentley, Thomas Bice, Jefferey Newman, Yvette Richardson, Matthew Brown, Betty Peters, Stephanie Bell, Ella Bell, Cynthia McCarty, Mary Hunter
9.1.5. Local Superintendent
9.1.5.1. Bart Reeves
9.1.6. Local School board members
9.1.6.1. John Lyda, Cecil Gant, Kenneth Storey, Chad Gorham, Charles West