1. Politics of Education
1.1. Perspective
1.1.1. 1.The liberal view became dominant during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) (1993-19450).
1.1.2. 2. The liberal view is based on John Maynards Keynes theories that capitalist market economy is prone to cycles of recession that must be addressed through government interventions.
1.1.3. 3. The primary concern is balancing the economic productivity of capitalism with social and economic needs of almost all the people in the U.S.
1.2. Vision
1.2.1. 1. Progressive encompasses the left liberal to the radical spectrums.
1.2.2. 2. Progressive visions tend to view the schools as central to solving problems and as an integral part of the democratic society.
1.2.3. 3. Believe schools should be part of the steady progress to make things better.
2. History of U.S. Education
2.1. Reform Movement
2.1.1. 1.Emma Hart Willard opened the Troy Female Seminary in New York. It was a place woman could learn more advanced subjects like mathematics, science, history and geography.
2.1.2. 2. Oblerlin Collegiate in Ohio opened its for woman and African Americans.
2.1.3. 3. In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving full citizenship to ex-slaves.
2.2. Historical Interpretation
2.2.1. 1. Democratic-Liberal believes school systems should be provide equality of opportunity for all.
2.2.2. 2. Ellwood Cubberly and Merle Curti took the first step in opening U.S. education to all.
2.2.3. 3. Democratic-Liberals tend to interpret U.S. educational history optimistically; however, its flawed often conflictual march toward increased opportunities.
3. Sociological Perspectives
3.1. Relationship between School and Society
3.1.1. 1.Functionalist tend to assume that consensus is the normal state in society and that conflict represents a breakdown of shared values.
3.1.2. 2. conflict believe the glue to society is economic, political, cultural, and military power.
3.1.3. 3. Basil Bernstein explained how speech patterns reflect students' social class backgrounds and how students from working class backgrounds are at a disadvantage In the school setting because schools are mostly middle class organization.
3.2. Three Effects of Schooling on Individuals
3.2.1. 1. Knowledge and attitudes have effects on students. Students from higher social class usually have higher achievement level.
3.2.2. 2. Having a degree will help students more likely get a job.
3.2.3. 3. The number of years of education is one measure of educational attainment, but where people go to school also affects their mobility.
4. Philosophy of Education
4.1. 1 .Generic Notions
4.1.1. Idealism- Dialectic was used by Plato to move individuals from the world of matter to the world of ideas.
4.2. 2. Key Researchers
4.2.1. Idealism- Greek Philosopher Plato (427-347 B.C.), St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.), Rene Descartes (1596-1650), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), and George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831)
4.3. 3. Goals of Education
4.3.1. Idealism- The goal is to teach students how to search for truth through ideas rather than through the examination of the false shadowy world of matter.
4.4. 4. Role of teacher
4.4.1. Idealism- Teachers responsibility is to analyze and discuss ideas with students in order for students to move to new levels of awareness so that ultimately they can be transformed.
4.5. 5. Method of instruction
4.5.1. Idealism- students are encouraged to work in groups or individually on research projects, both oral and written.
4.6. 6. Curriculum
4.6.1. Idealism- The study of the classics (Great literature of the past civilizations that illustrated contemporary concerns.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. Governance
5.1.1. Senators- Lieutenant Governor Kay Ivey president and presiding officer, Del March President Pro Tempore, D. Patrick Harris Secretary of the Senate
5.1.2. House of Representatives- Representative Mike Hubbard Speaker of the House District 79, Representative Victor Gaston Speaker Pro Tempore House District 100, Jeffery Woodard Clerk of the house
5.1.3. State Superintendent- Tommy Bice
5.1.4. State School Board Representative- Betty Peters
5.1.5. Local Superintendent- Dr. Stephen Green
5.1.6. Local School Board- Dr. Melvin Johnson, Dr. Micheal A. Erwin, Mr. Stan O. Jester, Mr. Marshall D. Orson, Mr. James L. McMahan, Mrs. Vickie B. Turner, Dr. Joyce Morley
5.2. Comparison to One Country- Great Britain- Before the nineteenth century, the education of children in Great Britain was considered to be a responsibility of parents. All schools were private. The British educational system is no longer the highly stratified system in which students are sorted and selected by age 11 by examination, with achievement highly correlated to the social class background.
6. Curriculum and Pedagogy
6.1. Historical
6.1.1. The Developmentalist Curriculum- is related to the needs and interest of students rather than the needs of society
6.1.2. the developmental curriculum stressed the importance of relating schooling to the life experiences of each child in a way that would make education come alive in a meaningful manner.
6.1.3. it stressed flexibility in both what is taught and how it is taught
6.2. Sociological
6.2.1. Functionalist argue that the school curriculum represents the codification of the knowledge the students need to become competent members of society
6.2.2. Curriculum gave students the knowledge, language, and value to ensure social stability, for without a shared common culture social order is not possible
6.2.3. The schools had to teach students to fit into the less cohesive modern world
7. Equality of Opportunity
7.1. Women
7.1.1. Females are less likely to drop out of school than males.
7.1.2. Females are also likely to have a higher level of reading proficiency than males.
7.1.3. women are now attending post-secondary institutions than men.
7.1.4. woman are often rated as being better students than men.
7.1.5. women do not do as well as men most the time in mathematics.
7.2. Coleman Study
7.2.1. Coleman's study found that students who were of middle class families did better on test than those who were lower on the social scale. It really didn't have to do with how many books a school had but more on home situations.
8. Educational Inequality
8.1. Functionalist
8.1.1. 1. Believe school should be fair and pick the best and brightest student, regardless of their family background.
8.1.2. 2. Vision of a just society is one where individuals talent and hard work based on universal principles of evaluation are more important than ascriptive characteristics based on particularistic methods of evaluation.
8.1.3. 3. expect that the schooling process will produce unequal results, but these results ought to be based on individual differences between students, not on group differences.
8.1.4. 4. it is imperative to understand the sources of educational inequalities 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.
8.1.5. 5. The perspective has been the foundation of liberal educational policy in the United States since the 1960s.
8.2. Explanation
8.2.1. 6. biological explanations of human behavior are viewed as limited because social scientists believe that environmental and social factors are largely responsible for human behavior.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. Privatization
9.1.1. for-profit companies, such as the Edison Company, took over the management of failing schools and districts.
9.1.2. it is too early to asses the efficacy of such privatization, but it is clear that corporations see the multi-billion-dollar education industry as a lucrative market.
9.1.3. In 2012, Philadelphia, New-Orleans, and other cities, portfolio models of education have replaced traditional school districts, with schools operated by a combination of providers, including traditional district schools, charter schools, and schools operated by for-profit Educational Management Organizations.
9.2. Reform
9.2.1. The court ruled in 1990, stating that more funding was needed to serve the children in the poorer school districts.
9.2.2. In 1998, the state was required to implement a package of supplemental programs, including preschools, as well as a plan renovate urban school facilities.
9.2.3. Other supplemental programs included social services, increased security, a technology alternative education, school-to-work, after-school, and summer-school programs.