1. Sociology of Education
1.1. Functional Theories
1.1.1. Society is viewed as a machine: different parts work together to produce the dynamic energy needed to make society work.
1.1.2. Emile Durkheim: virtually invented the sociology of education
1.1.2.1. Moral values are the foundation of society.
1.1.3. Functionalists tend to believe that living in agreement is the normal state of society.
1.2. Effects of Schooling
1.2.1. 1. Knowledge and Attitudes
1.2.1.1. Ron Edmonds: pioneer of the effective schools movement
1.2.1.2. Differences in schools are directly related to differences in student outcomes.
1.2.1.3. Academically oriented schools produce higher rates of learning.
1.2.2. 2. Employment
1.2.2.1. Education has some impact on the obtainment of jobs.
1.2.2.2. The most thorough research cannot demonstrate that more than one-third of income is directly related to the level of education.
1.2.3. 3. Education and Mobility
1.2.3.1. Education is the great equalizer in the "great status race."
1.2.3.2. Contest Mobility: more education leads to economic and social mobility- people rise and fall based on their own merit.
1.2.3.3. Where people go to school affects mobility. Private schoolers may have an advantage as their diploma may be more impressive and act as a "mobility escalator."
2. Philosophy of Education: Pragmatism
2.1. John Dewey: his philosophy of education was the most important influence on what has been termed "progressive education."
2.2. Educators should start with the individual needs and interests of the children and allow them to be actively involved in the planning of their education.
2.2.1. The concepts of community and social interactions in education play a key role in progressive education.
2.3. The goal of education is growth. Schools should function as a social community in which the students can grow through learning and interacting with others.
2.4. Teachers are not authoritarian figures from which all knowledge flows; rather they are facilitators of classroom learning activities. The teacher encourages, offers suggestions, questions, and helps plan and implement the students' courses of study.
2.5. Abandonment of formal instruction: students learn both individually and in groups.
2.6. Curriculum should be relative to the needs and interests of the students.
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. Historical Curriculum Theory: Developmentalist Curriculum
3.1.1. A progressive approach that is related to the needs and interests of a student rather than needs of society.
3.1.2. Stems from aspects of the philosophical writings of John Dewey and Piaget.
3.1.3. Stresses flexibility in what is taught and how it is taught, emphasizing the importance of individualizing education to suit the needs of the student.
3.2. Sociological Curriculum Theory: Functionalist Curriculum
3.2.1. The role of the school is to integrate children in the existing social order. Schools are also responsible for teaching students the values necessary to a modern society.
3.2.2. The ultimate role of the curriculum is to provide students with the knowledge, language, and values needed to ensure social stability.
3.2.3. Emile Durkheim is responsible for the general functionalist theory. He believed that schools were responsible for teaching students to fit into the world in which they live.
3.2.4. Teaching students how to learn is more important than the specific content of the curriculum.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Sociological Explanation of Unequal Achievement: Functionalist View
4.1.1. Unequal educational outcomes are the result of unequal opportunities among students.
4.1.2. It is important to understand the sources of inequality in order to ensure the elimination of barriers to educational success for all students.
4.1.3. The schooling process will always produce unequal results. However, these results should be based off of individual differences between students instead of differences in educational opportunities that the students were offered.
4.2. School Centered Explanation: Financing
4.2.1. Higher property values in affluent communities lead to higher taxation which ultimately provides the schools in these communities with more money than schools in poorer areas.
4.2.2. Serrano v. Priest in 1971: Supreme Court ruled the system of unequal school financing between wealthy and poor school districts to be unconstitutional
4.2.3. Abbott districts in New Jersey- (poor urban districts) received new school facilities and state funding equal to that received by the highest wealth districts before the reforms were discontinued.
4.2.3.1. Students at the fourth grade level demonstrated higher academic achievement as a result of the financial reforms, proving that financing can affect academic achievement.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. Dr. Tommy Bice is currently the Alabama State Superintendent of Education, however he is retiring and an interim will be replacing him. Mary Scott Hunter represents District 8 in the State School Board.
5.2. Alabama State Senator for Limestone and Madison County District 2 is Bill Holtzclaw. Mac McCutcheon is the State Representative for District 25.
5.3. Matt Massey is the local school superintendent for Madison County. Jeff Anderson represents District 5 of the Madison County Board of Education.
5.4. German educational system
5.4.1. Germany selects and sorts children at a young age and tracks them in a three part secondary education system. The United States on the other hand enables all students to be successful and have equal opportunities.
5.4.1.1. Hauptschule: designed for children destined for blue-collar and lower-level service positions.
5.4.1.2. Realschule: designed for lower-level white collar and technical positions.
5.4.1.3. Gymnasium: academic preparation for universities and intellectual and management positions.
5.4.2. Students from the Hauptschule and Realschule enter an apprenticeship program during the lower secondary years where they spend time working at apprenticeships in businesses and parts of the school.
5.4.3. U.S. primary schools are untracked and secondary schools are tracked, but provide high degree of access to higher education. German primary schools on the other hand are tracked and related to social class background.
6. Equality of Opportunity
6.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment of Hispanic-Americans
6.1.1. Only 62.7% of Hispanic-Americans graduated high school and 13.9% went on to receive a bachelor's degree.
6.1.2. Hispanic-American students (along with African-American) lag behind white students in educational achievement and attainment.
6.1.3. Parental involvement in school related activities/committees is particularly low for Hispanic students. This can sometimes be related to the low achievement and attainment of students.
6.2. Response to Coleman Study
6.2.1. Ron Edmonds of Harvard University: led a group of minority scholars to define the effective characteristics of schools
6.2.2. Where a student attends school should have little effect on their cognitive growth and educational mobility.
6.2.3. Researchers examine the effects of innovative, learner-centered, and mission driven magnet schools on student learning.
7. Educational Reform
7.1. School-based reform: Teacher Education
7.1.1. The Carnegie Report entitled "A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century," suggests that improvements in teacher education are necessary preconditions for improvements in student education.
7.1.2. The Holmes Report, "Tomorrow's Teachers," outlines five goals and proposals for improvement of teacher education:
7.1.2.1. 1. Raising intellectual soundness of teachers
7.1.2.2. 2. Creating career ladders for teachers
7.1.2.3. 3. Developing entry level requirements into the profession
7.1.2.4. 4. Linking schools of education at the university level to schools
7.1.2.5. 5. Improving schools for students and teachers
7.1.3. Linda Darling-Hammond of the National Commison on Teaching and America's Future points out in the commission report that "schools reform cannot succeed unless it focuses on creating conditions in which the teachers can teach and teach well."
7.1.3.1. National Commission on Teaching and America's Future recommendations for getting better teachers:
7.1.3.1.1. 1. Get serious about standards
7.1.3.1.2. 2. Reinvent teacher preparation and professional development
7.1.3.1.3. 3. Fix teacher recruitment and put qualified teachers in every classroom
7.1.3.1.4. 4. Encourage and reward teacher knowledge and skill
7.1.3.1.5. 5. Create schools that are organized for student and teacher success
7.2. Community Reform
7.2.1. Dryfoos's model of full service schools focus on meeting educational, physical, psychological, and social needs of students and familes
7.2.1.1. School serves as a community center within neighborhoods
7.2.1.2. Designed to target and improve at-risk neighborhoods
7.2.2. Harlem Children's Zone
7.2.2.1. Provides programs for parents before their children are born in attempt to infuse knowledge
7.2.2.1.1. Parents are taught how to have academic conversations with their children
7.2.3. Newark's Broader Bolder Approach
7.2.3.1. High expectations and strong discipline have a strong impact on student achievement
8. History of U.S. Education
8.1. Reform Movement: Free Public Education
8.1.1. Horace Mann: led the movement for free public education. He believed that schools can change the social order and education can foster social mobility.
8.1.2. Establishment of the "common school"or free publicly funded elementary school. The school is considered to be a "preparation for citizenship."
8.1.3. Addresses the concerns for stability, order, and social mobility through free public education.
8.2. Historical Interpretation: Conservative Perspective
8.2.1. Conservative critics: William Bennett, Chester Finn Jr., Diane Ravitch, E.D. Hirsch, Jr., and Allan Bloom all point to the failures of progressive education.
8.2.2. "The Troubled Crusade" (Ravitch) points to the decline in educational standards.
8.2.3. There is a conflictual nature in U.S. educational history. The evolution of U.S. education has ultimately resulted in the dilution of academic excellence.
9. Politics of Education
9.1. Conservative Perspective
9.1.1. 1. Primary emphasis is on the individual. Individuals have the capacity to earn their place within a market economy.
9.1.2. 2. Free market economy is the most economically productive economic system and the system that is most respective of human needs.
9.1.3. 3. Ronald Reagan: his philosophy stressed individual initiative. The individual is the only one capable of solving his own problems.
9.2. Progressive Vision
9.2.1. 1. Schools are central to solving social problems.
9.2.2. 2. Schools are essential to the development of individual potential.
9.2.3. 3. Vehicle for upward mobility and a part of the steady progress to make things better.