1. Politics of Education
1.1. I choose the Conservative Perspective
1.1.1. Origins in nineteenth century social Darwinist thought that applied the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin to the analysis of societies.
1.1.2. Takes on a "only the strong will survive" mantra; individuals must compete in the social environment in order to survive.
1.1.3. Belief in the free market or market capitalism is both the most economically productive system.
1.1.4. Belief that individual can earn or not earn their place within the market economy, problems should be addressed on an individual level.
1.1.5. Ronald Reagan's philosophy
1.2. I choose the Traditional View of Education
1.2.1. tends to view the schools as necessary to the transmission of the traditional values of U.S. society, such as hard work, family unity, individual initiative.
1.2.2. Believes schools should pass on the best of what was and what is.
2. Sociological Perspectives
2.1. definition of theory: "an integration of all known principles, laws, and information pertaining to a specific area of study. This structure allows investigators to off explanations for relative phenomenon and to create solutions to unique problems.
2.2. Three theories
2.2.1. Functional Theory
2.2.1.1. picture of society that stresses the interdependence of the social system.
2.2.1.2. views society as a machine where one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work
2.2.1.3. Emile Durkehim
2.2.1.3.1. moral values were the foundation of society
2.2.1.4. Educational reform is supposed to create structures, programs, and curricula that are technically advanced, rational and encouraged social unity.
2.2.2. Conflict Theory
2.2.2.1. the glue of society is economic, political, cultural, and military power.
2.2.2.2. do not see the relationship between school and society as unproblematic or straightforward.
2.2.2.3. Karl Marx
2.2.2.3.1. intellectual founder of the conflict school in the sociology of education
2.2.2.3.2. believed class system, which separated owners from workers and workers from the benefits of their own labor, made class struggle inevitable.
2.2.2.4. Max Weber
2.2.2.4.1. believed that class differences alone could not capture the complex ways human beings form hierarchies and belief systems that make these hierarchies seem just and inevitable.
2.2.2.5. Randall Collins
2.2.2.5.1. argued that educational credentials are status symbols rather than indicators of actual achievement!
2.2.3. Internationalist Theory
2.2.3.1. primarily critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives.
2.2.3.2. attempt to make the commonplace strange by turning on their heads everyday taken-for-granted behaviors and interactions between students and students, and between students and teachers.
2.2.3.3. microsociological
2.2.3.4. less likely to create theories that are logical and eloquent but without meaningful content.
2.3. Three effects of schooling
2.3.1. Knowledge and attitudes
2.3.1.1. found that higher class background equates to higher achievement level
2.3.1.2. Ron Edmonds
2.3.1.2.1. 1st to show that differences in schools are directly related to differences in student outcomes
2.3.1.2.2. pioneer of the effective schools movement
2.3.1.3. found that the more time spent in school is directly related to how much they learn
2.3.2. Employment
2.3.2.1. graduating from college will lead to greater employment opportunists
2.3.2.2. amount of education is weakly related to job performance
2.3.2.3. women with college degrees make less than men with college degrees
2.3.2.4. most research cannot demonstrate that more than 1/3 of income is directly attributable to level of education
2.3.3. Education and Mobility
2.3.3.1. Contest mobility
2.3.3.1.1. individuals rise and fall based on their meriet
2.3.3.1.2. USA
2.3.3.2. Sponsored mobility
2.3.3.2.1. students selected based on social class background for level of education that is to be achieved.
2.3.3.2.2. United Kingdom
2.3.3.3. Tournament selection
2.3.3.3.1. winners are those with higher test scores and grades and are allowed to proceed to higher levels
2.3.3.3.2. losers are those with low scores and grades and are eliminated from competition .
2.3.3.4. Amount and Where
2.3.3.4.1. measure of education attainment
2.3.3.4.2. where affects mobility
3. Philosophy of Education
3.1. Idealism
3.1.1. first systematic philosophy of Western thought
3.1.2. Plato thought that education, was important as a means of moving individuals collectively toward achieving the good.
3.1.3. interested in the search for truth through ideas rather than through the examination of the false shadow would of matter
3.1.4. Teacher plays active role in discussion, posing questions, selecting material, and establishing environment, all of which ensure the teacher's desired outcome.
3.1.5. Plato, pupil of Socrates; St. Augustine; Rene Descartes; Immanuel Kant; George Hegel
3.1.6. Idealist teacher subscribes to the doctrine of reminiscence
3.1.7. teachers use dialectic approach described
3.1.8. many idealist support a back to the basics approach
3.2. Realism
3.2.1. follows same historical tradition as idealism associated with Plato and Aristotle; Aristotle known to be leading proponent of realism
3.2.2. Aristotle- student of Plato;- first philosopher who developed a systematic theory of logic
3.2.3. Aristotle believed that only through studying the material world was it possible for an individual to clarify or develop ideas
3.2.4. realist reject notion that only ideas are real, and argue instead that the material world or matter is real.
3.2.5. classical realism of Aristotle; religious realism of Thomas Aquinas; modern realism of Bacon and Locke; contemporary realism of Whitehead and Russell
3.2.6. Theory of Logic
3.2.6.1. Aristotle was first philosopher to develop a rational, systematic method for testing
3.2.6.2. Process- -> Empirical research -> Dialectic reasoning -> syllogism -> system of logic that consists of three parts 1) a major premise, 2) a minor premise 3) a conclusion
3.2.7. Neo-Thomism- affected a synthesis of pagan ideas and christian beliefs, employing reason as a means of ascertaining or understanding truth.;
3.2.8. Francis Bacon was able to develop a method starting with observations, that might culminate in a generalization, which might be tested in specific instances for the purpose of verification.
3.2.9. John Locke attempted how people know things from the empirical point of view. -> tabula rasa theory
3.2.10. Contemporary realists tended to focus on science and philosophy- in particular, on scientific issues that have philosophical dimensions.
3.2.11. Aristotle and Plato believed the goal of education was the study of ideas to answer important questions.
3.2.12. Contemporary realist believed the goal of education is to help individuals understand and then apply the principles of science to help solve the problems plaguing the modern world.
3.2.13. Teachers should be steeped in basic academic disciplines in order to transmit to their students the knowledge necessary for the continuance of the human race.
3.2.14. Method of Instruction
3.2.14.1. Lecture, question & answer
3.2.14.2. Competency-based assessment as a way of ensuring that students learn what they are being taught.
3.2.15. Curriculum
3.2.15.1. Science and Math
3.2.15.2. Reading and writing
3.2.15.3. humanities
3.3. Pragmatism
3.3.1. People
3.3.1.1. George Peirce
3.3.1.2. William James
3.3.1.3. John Dewey
3.3.1.4. Frances Bacon
3.3.1.5. John Locke
3.3.1.6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
3.3.2. Pragma -> Greek for WORK
3.3.2.1. it is the philosophy that encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve their desired ends.
3.3.2.2. Schema includes- Problem -> Speculative thought -> action -> results
3.3.3. Instrumentalism refers to relationship between school and society
3.3.4. Experimentalism refers to the applications of ideas to educational practice on an experimental basis.
3.3.5. John Dewey
3.3.5.1. influenced termed progressive education
3.3.5.2. founded on new psychology, behaviorism, and the philosophy of pragmatism
3.3.5.3. progressive methodology rested on the notion that children were active, organic beings, growing and changing and thus required a course of study that would reflect their particular stages of development
3.3.6. Goal of Education
3.3.6.1. Dewey- Growth- School was to be "a level of social reform"
3.3.7. Role of the teacher
3.3.7.1. in a progressive setting, the teacher is no longer the authoritarian figure from which all knowledge flows; rather the teacher assumes the peripheral position of facilitator
3.3.8. Method of instruction
3.3.8.1. Dewey proposed that children learn both individually and in groups
3.3.8.2. problem solving or inquiry methods
3.3.8.3. formal instruction was abandoned
3.3.9. Curriculum
3.3.9.1. integrated curriculum or core curriculum
3.3.9.2. all the academic and vocational disciplines in an integrated, interconnected way.
3.4. Existentialism & Phenomenology
3.4.1. People
3.4.1.1. Soren Kierkegaard
3.4.1.2. Martin Buber
3.4.1.3. Karl Jaspers
3.4.1.4. Jean Paul Sartre
3.4.1.5. Maxine Greene
3.4.1.6. Edmund Husserl
3.4.1.7. Martain Heidegger
3.4.1.8. Maurice Merleau-Ponty
3.4.2. .Notes
3.4.2.1. Existentialists pose questions as to how their concerns impact on the lives of individuals
3.4.2.2. Phenomenologists focus on the phenomena of consciousness, perception, and meaning as they arise in a particular individuals experiences.
3.4.2.3. Basically existentialists believe that individuals are placed on this earth alone and must make some sense out of the chaos they encounter
3.4.2.4. Phenomenologists are concerned with the way in which objects present themselves to people in their consciousness, and how people order those objects.
3.4.2.4.1. hermeneutics, and out growth of phenomenology, seeks to discover how people give objects meaning.
3.4.3. Goal of Education
3.4.3.1. Exists. believe education should focus on the needs of individuals, both cognitively and affectively
3.4.3.2. Exists/Phenos- emphasize the notion of possibility since the individual changes in a constant state of becoming.
3.4.4. Role of the Teacher/Method of instruction
3.4.4.1. intensely personal one that carries with it a tremendous responsibility
3.4.4.2. help students understand the world through posing questions, generating activities, and working together
3.4.5. Curriculum
3.4.5.1. Heavily biased toward the humanities
3.4.5.2. Literature, art, drama, & music
3.5. Neo-MArxism
3.5.1. People
3.5.1.1. Karl Marx
3.5.1.2. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis
3.5.1.3. Michael Apple
3.5.1.4. Paulo Freire
3.5.1.5. Henery Giroux
3.5.2. Marx believed that the history of civilization was defined by class struggle- the struggle between the dominant economic group and subordinate economic groups
3.5.3. Goal of Education
3.5.3.1. Reproduction theories argue that the role of education in capitalist societies is to reproduce the economic, social, and political status quo
3.5.3.2. Resistance theories, while agreeing that schools often reproduce the dominant ideology, state they also have they potential to empower students to question it.
3.5.4. Role of Teacher/Method of Instruction
3.5.4.1. engage students in a critical examination of the world.
3.5.4.2. dialectical approach; question & answer method designed to move the student to new levels of awareness and ultimately to change
3.5.5. Curriculum
3.5.5.1. not objective or value free but is socially constructed.
3.5.5.2. view suggests that the curriculum is the organized and codified representation of what those with the power to shape it want the children to know.
3.6. Postmodernist and Critical Theory
3.6.1. People
3.6.1.1. Lyotard
3.6.1.2. Baudrillard
3.6.1.3. Derrida
3.6.2. Postmodern theories of education call for teachers and students to explore the differences between what may seem like inherently contradictory positions in an effort to achieve understanding, respect, and change
3.6.3. Critical Pedagogy stresses the classroom as a site for political action and teachers as agents of change
3.6.4. Problems with postmodern & critical theories
3.6.4.1. written in language that is hard to read
3.6.4.2. eschew empirical methods to study schools
3.6.4.3. fail to connect theory to practice in a way that practitioners find meaningful and useful
4. Schools as Organizations
4.1. Major Stakeholders within Alabama State and Lauderdale County School System
4.1.1. State Senator- Jeff Sessions & Richard Shelby
4.1.2. House of Reps- Mike Hubbard as House Speaker
4.1.3. State Super- Tommy Bice
4.1.4. Rep. State School Board- Mike Curtis
4.1.5. County Super- Jennifer Gray
4.1.6. Local School Board- Chad Holden, Daniel Patterson, Robert Owens, Barbara Cornelius, Jerry Fulmer
4.2. Comparison of American Schools against Schools of Japan
4.2.1. Differences
4.2.1.1. America
4.2.1.1.1. No National Curriculum
4.2.1.1.2. 25-30 students per class
4.2.1.1.3. Very up on technology
4.2.1.1.4. 85% private schools
4.2.1.1.5. 10% private schools
4.2.1.1.6. 175-185 Days a year
4.2.1.2. Japan
4.2.1.2.1. 90% public schools
4.2.1.2.2. more than 25% private high schools
4.2.1.2.3. 75-80% all students enroll in university prep tracts.
4.2.1.2.4. Trimester system- Begins April 1, ends March 31.
4.2.1.2.5. Minimum of 210 days
4.2.1.2.6. Has a national curriculum
4.2.1.2.7. no public transportation
4.2.1.2.8. average class size is 35-45
4.2.2. Similarities
4.2.2.1. Both are committed to education
4.2.2.2. Addresses education as a joint responsibility
4.2.2.3. Compulsory education
4.2.2.4. 5 Day week
4.2.2.5. Plan of study and extra curricular activities
4.2.2.6. Employ high quality staff
4.2.2.7. Students attitudes
4.3. Chapter Notes
4.3.1. School processes- to examine the way in which school cultures are created and maintained
4.3.2. tax payers have a substantial stake in schools within their districts
4.3.3. Consolidation & Centralization- cost effective- negative impact on diversity of schools that students may attend.
4.3.4. Common school- there are multiple points of entry into the school system and there are few forced exists.
4.3.5. 4 Elements of change that applied to all schools
4.3.5.1. time
4.3.5.2. effort
4.3.5.3. intelligent
4.3.5.4. good will
4.3.6. Teachers are "highly qualified" if
4.3.6.1. attained a college degree
4.3.6.2. full certification or licensure
4.3.6.3. demonstrates content knowledge
5. Curriculum and Pedagogy
5.1. History and Philosophy of Curriculum
5.1.1. 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 thought and written
5.1.2. Social Efficiency curriculum was a developed in the early twentieth century as a democratic response to the development of mass public secondary education
5.1.3. the developmentalist curriculum is related to the needs and interest of the students rather than the needs of society
5.1.4. the social meliorist curriculum, which was philosophically social re-constructionist (the radical wing of progressive education), developed in the 1930's, both out of the writings of Dewey, who was concerned with the role of the schools in reforming society, as well as a response to the growing dominance of the social efficiency curriculum.
5.2. Sociological Curriculum theory
5.2.1. Formal curriculum- subject matter to be learned
5.2.2. Hidden curriculum- includes what is taught to students throught implicity rules and messages as well as through what is left out of the formal curriculum.
5.2.3. Functionalist believe the role of the schools is to integrate children into the existing social order
5.2.4. Conflict theorists believe that the role of schools is to reproduce the existing social order
6. History of U.S. Education
6.1. Diane Ravitch
6.1.1. The Troubled Crusade (1983)
6.1.1.1. points to the decline of educational standards within the context of political movements to move us closer to a fair and just society.
6.1.2. argued that using education to solve social problems failed.
6.1.3. believes the curriculum should be fair and non-racists, though also arguing that multiculturalism is often incorrectly portrayed.
6.2. Horace Mann
6.2.1. Previous Lawyer
6.2.2. Lobbied for a state board of education and then became the secretary for 11 years
6.2.3. first normal school, or teacher training school, was established in 1839
6.2.4. considered the father of public schools
6.3. Brown vs. Topeka OK Board of Education 1954
6.3.1. Supreme Court ruled that separate but equal schools are unconstitutional.
7. Equality of Oppurtunity
7.1. Educational achievement and attainment
7.1.1. Females have outperformed males in reading since 1973 and males have out-performed females in math and science since 1973.
7.1.2. From 1973 to 1986, the gaps in reading and math between 13-year-old African Americans, and Hispanics, and whites narrowed and then increased from 1986 to 1999. The gapes in 17 year old's narrowed until 1988 and increased again in 1999. They have remained constant since then up to 2008.
7.1.3. Females achieve at lower levels of science at ages 9, 13, and 17.
7.1.4. Females achieve higher levels of Math at age 9 and lower levels at 13 and 17.
7.1.5. Females achieve at higher levels in reading at ages 9, 13, and 17.
7.1.6. Indication that race achievement goes up in relation to parental level of education.
7.2. The Coleman Study
7.2.1. 1966-James Coleman studied the relationship between the organizational characteristics of schools and student achievement
7.2.1.1. The point was to prove that African American students and white students had fundamentally different schooling experiences.
7.2.1.2. The findings suggested that the organizational differences in student-body compositions between schools.
7.2.2. 1982- Coleman's second study with Thomas Hoffer and Sally Kilgore found that when they compare the average test scores of public school and private school sophomores, there was not one subject in which public school students scored higher than private school students.
7.2.3. Responses
7.2.3.1. One
7.2.3.1.1. Ron Edmonds argues that all students could learn and that differences between schools had a significant impact on student learning.
7.2.3.1.2. in other words where an individual goes to school has little effect on his or her cognitive growth or educational mobility.
7.2.3.2. Two
7.2.3.2.1. Jencks (1985) argues the differences that do exist between public and catholic schools are statistically significant differences in learning, the results are negligible.
7.2.3.3. Three
7.2.3.3.1. Borman & Dowling's 2010 findings confirm Coleman;s original data from 1966 and 1982.
7.2.3.3.2. 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.
8. Educational Inequality
8.1. Sociological Explanation of Unequal Achievement
8.1.1. Functionalists
8.1.1.1. 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.
8.1.1.2. 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.
8.1.1.3. 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.
8.1.1.4. foundation of liberal education policy in the U.S. since the 1960's.
8.1.2. Conflict theorists
8.1.2.1. role of schooling is to reproduce rather than eliminate inequality.
8.1.2.2. do not believe that equality of opportunity is a sufficient goal.
8.1.2.3. educational outcomes are to a large degree based on family background.
8.1.2.4. concerned with both equality of opportunity and results.
8.1.2.5. call for more radical measures to reduce inequality; also more skeptical that the problem can be solved.
8.1.3. Interactionism
8.1.3.1. suggest that one must understand how people within institutions such a families and schools interact on a daily basis in order to comprehend the factors explaining academic success and failure.
8.2. School-Centered explaination
8.2.1. school-centered research focused on both between and within school processes.
8.2.2. suggest that school processes are central to understanding unequal educational performance.
8.2.3. School Financing
8.2.3.1. More affluent communitites are able to provide more per-pupil spending than poorer districts, often at a proportionately less burdensome rate than in poorer communitites.
8.2.3.2. 1971 Serrano vs. Priest, 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 taxes for school funding illegal.
8.2.3.3. Jonathan Kozol's "Savage Inequalities" compared public schools in affluent suburbs with public schools in poor inner cities.
8.2.3.4. Public schools are financed through a combination of revenues from local, state, and federal sources. However, the majority of funds come from state and local taxes, with property taxes a significant source.
8.2.3.5. The use of federal aid to equalize school funding is controversial.
8.2.3.5.1. one side argues that it is the fairest and most progressive system of school financing, as it would guarantee equality of opportunity regardless of residence.
8.2.3.5.2. on the other side critics believe that under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, education is a state and local matter, and that federal financing would threaten local decision-making.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. School Based Reform
9.1.1. Teacher quality
9.1.1.1. According to NCLB, most teachers met the highly qualified standards, however there is still a large amount of teachers engaged in out-of-field teaching.
9.1.1.2. out-of-field teaching can cause a highly qualified teacher to become a highly unqualified teacher.
9.1.2. Teacher Education
9.1.2.1. The emergence of teacher education as an education problem caused teacher organizations to recognize and improve the problematic conditions under which members worked.
9.1.2.2. Majority agreement over three major problems
9.1.2.2.1. perceived lack of rigor and intellectual demands in teacher education programs
9.1.2.2.2. need to attract and retain complement teacher conditions
9.1.2.2.3. necessity to reorganize the academic and professional components of teacher education programs.
9.1.3. School based reform
9.1.3.1. School-choice
9.1.3.1.1. Controversial because it is deeply political and rests on a set of assumptions about educational marketplaces and private schools that are questionable.
9.1.3.2. Charter school
9.1.3.2.1. Public schools that are free from many of the regulations applied to traditional public schools, and in return are held accountable for student performance.
9.1.3.3. Vouchers
9.1.3.3.1. `state funded scholarships that pay for students to attend private schools rather than public schools.
9.1.4. Privatization
9.1.4.1. private education companies becoming involved in public education.
9.1.4.2. for-profit companies taking over failing schools, holding the majority of contracts for supplemental tutoring, and see the multi-billion-dollar education industry as a lucrative market.
9.1.5. School Business Partnerships
9.1.5.1. Boston Compact 1982
9.1.5.2. business leaders became increasingly concerned that the nation's schools were not producing the kinds of graduates necessary for a revitalization of the U.S. economy.
9.1.6. School-to-work programs
9.1.6.1. intent was to extend what had been a vocational emphasis to non-college-bound students regarding skills necessary for successful employment and to stress the importance of work-based learning.
9.1.6.2. Contains three core elements
9.1.6.2.1. school based learning
9.1.6.2.2. work based learning
9.1.6.2.3. connecting activities