1. Politics of Education
1.1. Conservative
1.1.1. Base decisions on a cost benefit analysis
1.1.2. Individual initiative
1.1.3. Survival of the fittest
1.2. Traditional
1.2.1. Believe in hard work
1.2.2. Education prepares students for life
1.2.3. Family unity
2. History of U.S. Education
2.1. Common Schools
2.1.1. Horace Mann led this movement; first secretary
2.1.2. Free schools, paid for by the public, call for more stability for students
2.1.3. Changed the school system as we know it today
2.2. Conservative Perspective
2.2.1. Education can solve social problems, but the academic standards have to be instilled into students
2.2.2. All students have a fair chance of receiving an education
2.2.3. Ravitch believes in charter schools and standardized testing.
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. The Developmentalist Curriculum
3.1.1. Needs and interests of the students
3.1.2. Emphasized the process of teaching as well as its content
3.1.3. Centered with relating its curriculum to the needs and interests of each child at particular development stages
3.2. Sociology of Curriculum
3.2.1. Concentrates on the function of what is taught in schools and its relationship to the role of schools within society
3.2.2. Hidden curriculum in schools teach the character traits, behaviors, and attitudes needed in the capitalist economy
3.2.3. Focuses on not only what is being taught but why it is taught
4. Equality of Oppurtunity
4.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment
4.1.1. 13-year old African American students' reading scale scores have been up and down since 1971 but they are on an uphill climb as of 2008.
4.1.2. 13-year old Hispanic students' reading scale scores have been a little bit higher than African American student but they are on a downhill fall as of 2008.
4.1.3. Female scores have a slightly higher achievement over the male scores.
4.2. Response to Coleman
4.2.1. Where an individual goes to school has little effect on his or her cognitive growth.
4.2.2. Catholic Schools seem to advantage low-income minority students, especially in urban areas.
4.2.3. 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.
5. Educational Inequality
5.1. Sociological Explanations of Unequal Achievement
5.1.1. Functionalists believe that 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.
5.1.2. Conflict theorists believe that the role of schooling is to reproduce rather than eliminate inequality, the fact that educational outcomes are to a large degree based on family background is fully consistent with this perspective.
5.1.3. Both functionalists and conflict theorists agree that understanding educational inequality is a difficult task.
5.2. School Centered Explanation
5.2.1. The conventional wisdom of the time suggested that economically disadvantaged students attended inferior schools- schools that spent less money on each student, schools that spent less money on materials and extracurricular activities, and schools that had inferior teachers.
5.2.2. A number of research studies in the 1960s and 1970s demonstrated that the conventional liberal wisdom was far too simplistic and that solutions were far more complex.
5.2.3. The research suggested that there were far more significant differences in academic performance among students in the same school than among students in different schools.
6. Sociological Perspectives
6.1. Conflict Perspective
6.1.1. Authority and power dictate whose voice counts
6.1.2. The person in authority distributes the power
6.1.3. Every man for himself
6.2. Knowledge and Attitudes
6.2.1. A good heart can rule the world.
6.2.2. Children with higher social class have higher success rates.
6.2.3. The more children are interested in education, the more likely they will be to further their education.
7. Philosophy of Education
7.1. Pragmatism
7.2. George Sanders Peirce, William James and John Dewey
7.3. Education is a means of growth. Without education, it will be hard to prosper in an educated world.
7.4. The teacher is a facilitator and is there for moral support and any questions that may arise.
7.5. Discipline- centered curriculum; curriculum is based on the needs of the students.
7.6. Children learn individually and within groups. Children are responsible for asking questions about anything that they want to know. Children can also look to peers for help.
8. Schools as Organizations
8.1. Governance
8.1.1. Senators
8.1.2. House of Represenatives
8.1.3. State Superintendent
8.1.4. State School Board Represenative
8.1.5. Local Superintendent
8.1.6. Local School Board
8.2. Comparison to one country
8.2.1. Germany
8.2.1.1. Hauptschule
8.2.1.1.1. Designed destined for blue collar and lower service positions
8.2.1.2. Realschule
8.2.1.2.1. Designed for lower level white collar and technical positions
8.2.1.3. Gymnasium
8.2.1.3.1. Designed for academic preparation for university and intellectual and management positions
9. Educational Reform
9.1. School based reforms
9.1.1. By the late 1980s, school choice was at the forefront of the educational reform movement and supported by President Reagan and Bush.
9.1.2. Intersecitonal school choice included public and private schools and some cities provided tuition vouchers to students who attended private neighborhood schools.
9.1.3. Intrasectional school choice policies only included public schools.
9.2. Societal, community, economic, or political reforms
9.2.1. Accountability has been a prominent issue and some systems include school or district takeover as ultimately accountability measures.
9.2.2. Takeover can provide a good opportunity for state and local decision makers to combine resources and knowledge to improve children's learning.
9.2.3. Takeover can help create a healthy environment in which the local community can address a school district's problems.