1. Schools as Organizations
1.1. Pamela Hill
1.1.1. AL Representative on School Board:
1.2. B.T. (Tom) Drake- Interim Superintendent
1.2.1. Local Superintendent:
1.3. 5th District
1.3.1. Michael Sentence
1.3.1.1. State AL Superintendent:
1.3.2. Huntsville City School Board of Directors: Elisa Ferrell - President (District 3) Walker McGinnis - Vice President (District 4) Beth Wilder - Third Presiding Officer (District 2) Michelle Watkins (District 1) Pam Hill (District 5)
1.4. Sen. Richard Shelby
1.4.1. State Senators:
1.5. Sen. Jefferson "Jeff" Sessions
1.6. Rep. Mo Brooks
1.6.1. AL U.S. House Representative:
1.7. Elements of Change within:
1.8. School Process and School Cultures - Schools are their own culture with a definite population, a clearly defined political structure, and a compact network of social relationships. Any change within the school process takes time, patience, skill, and good will. The process can be quite difficult since there are many factors to be considered, such as, cultures within the school population, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members. Conflict is a necessary part of change. However, staff must be ready to elicit, manage, and resolve conflicts. New behaviors must be learned. The change process must include building communication and trust, enabling leadership and initiative to emerge and learning techniques of communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution. Team building must encompass the entire school. Shared decision making must be on the forefront. Process and content are interrelated. The commitment of "Team" establishes the trust and openness that is built up, and the usefulness and visibility of the project influences the future commitments of the staff and others involved.
2. Curriculum and Pedigogy
2.1. Social Meliorist Curriculum - A radicalized depiction of Dewey's philosophy which instructs schools to teach students to help change society, or at the least, help solve its fundamental problems. To properly transmit the traditional cultural knowledge the curriculum is organized into tracks and allows the overlapping of various segments of curriculum, giving students an option of academic or vocational curricula with the enhancement of the core classification subjects of mathematics, science, history, literature, music, and art.
2.2. The Two Dominate Traditions of Teaching - Mimetic tradition is that knowledge is transmitted to the students through lecture or presentation (didactic method). This process suggests there is a relationship between the knower (teacher) and the learner (student). Transformative tradition transforms the whole student (intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally) The transmission of knowledge is not the sole output of the teacher, in fact, there is an interchange between the teacher and student of questioning.
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Class - Students' academic progression can be preset by class. Middle-class and Upper middle-class families tend to give more precedence on education than the working-class families. The distinction of class labels the students which can follow them and have a pre-set notion on how they will preform and progress through their education. Education can be expensive and sometimes require parental help along the way, this limits children from working-class families the opportunity to enter college. Race - Race can be hard to distinguish between class when it comes to education. African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans have lower SAT scores than that of the white race. These two races are not offered the same educational opportunities as the white race. Gender - Females are generally more discriminated against than males both occupationally and socially. Educationally, females have come up in the ranks of reading proficiency and writing than their counterpart males. Males are more likely to drop out of school than females.
3.2. Coleman Study of 1982 Respones to Coleman: Round Two: Statistically there is a significant difference between Public and Catholic schools, and these statistics also claim that low-income students do better in Catholic schools verse public schools, however, the differences in learning are not as great as the statistics presume. Catholic schools are becoming more elite as time goes by and the concern is that they may not continue to support the lower-income students. Response to Coleman: Round Three Where a student goes to school directly relates to their race and socioeconomic background. In this response it is a fact that the correlation between student and the school they attend do matter, which goes against what the Coleman Study of 1966 suggested. The fact that middle-class values and school segregation create a large gap in education and this issue must be addressed.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Cultural Deprivation Theory This theory suggests that working-class and non-white students are at a disadvantage to begin with when starting school. The fact that these students do not have the necessary books or educational stimuli gives them an unequal performance vantage. This unequal advantage was addressed by creating the Head Start program which placed the burden on the schools to prepare these students for educational success. This theory suggests that it is the victims of poverty which for the effects of poverty and social and economic processes that produce poverty.
4.2. Four Process for Educational Inequality: School processes impact both cognitive and non cognitive educational outcomes between social classes. School funding and climate impact students' educational inequality which limits their educational chances. School quality for those in lower-income households is quite different then those of middle-class and upper-middle class. School outcomes are produced by the process, funding and climate, and quality of the schools.
5. Educational Reform
5.1. Two School based Reforms: School based reform of school choice, charter schools, and tuition vouchers gives parents a choice as to where to send their children, either private, or public school. It allows market forces to shape school policy rather than educational bureaucracy. There are many different variations of this reform; intersectional, which allows the student to attend any public school district within the state, and intradistrict, which gives the student a choice in the curriculum of study or the chance to attend any school in the district. School-to-Work programs came into effect in 1994 through the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 by Bill Clinton. This program was to ensure that students had school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting these activities to match students with participating employers with work related training and mentoring.
5.2. Full Service and Community Schools - These types of schools serve to service the whole family and/or community by providing extended hours and multi services from adult education to drug and alcohol programs. By repairing the larger social and economic problems of society it improves public education. School Finance Reforms try to improve schools for low-income and minority children through supplemental programs, and distribution of funding to lower income urban schools, the money is to follow the child.
6. Politics of Education Chapter 2
6.1. Four Purposes of Education:
6.1.1. Intellectual Purpose - to teach the basic cognitive skills (reading, writing, & mathematics). Acquire a higher-order of thinking (analysis, evaluation, & synthesis).
6.1.2. Political Purpose - to prepare citizens who will participate in the political order. To help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order; and to teach children the basic laws of the society.
6.1.3. Social Purpose - To ensure social cohesion; family, church, many institutions. To socialize children into the various roles, behaviors, and values of the society; which brings stability.
6.1.4. Economic Purpose - to prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor.
6.2. Conservative Perspective
6.3. The role of the school: The conservatives see the role of the school as an avenue to provide a place for individual merit to be encouraged and rewarded. If one works hard and applies themselves, they will find a place in the social arena and contribute to the over all economic strength of the country. Explanations of unequal performance: The Conservatives view the unequal educational performance of students on their own performance. The school system provides the opportunity for anyone to succeed based on intelligence, hard work, and initiative. If a student fails it is because the individual has not strived for success. Definition of Education Problems: The conservatives define educational problems as the lack of standards, literacy, values, and authority. Each time the liberals or radicals made demands to even the educational playing field, the school system seemed to have lost valuable areas of academics and structure, which weakened the system.
7. History of U.S. Education Chapter 3
7.1. Education for Women and African-Americans:
7.1.1. Before the education reform for women, they were seen as a delicate helpmate, being too fragile for education. In the early 1800's girls were attending elementary school, including private schools (secondary schools). "By 1820, the movement for education for women in the United States was making important inroads" (Sadovnik et al. 2013. p 68). The first Female Seminary was opened by Emma Hart Willard in 1821. Mary Lyon started postsecondary education for women in 1837. Soon after that, education for women spread quickly West. The female reform in education lead the way for many more changes (privileges) afforded to women in many other areas of life.
7.1.2. Education for the African-American population did not take form until the mid-1800's. The legal suit in Boston filed by Benjamin Roberts lead to the opening of African-American schools administered by churches and funded from abolitionists. Although the Fourteenth Amendment and the Freedman's Bureau attempted reconstruction of the south after the Civil War, and include blacks as full citizens, the rights of African-Americans were still limited. Toward the later mid-1800's, the Freedman's Bureau did help to establish historically Black Colleges. The education reform for African-American's was a long hard road, however, it has opened many doors for their culture.
7.2. R. Freeman Butts-unflagging search for freedom: This pursuit of freedom through education must be available to all, and it must be run by an organization that exhibits the same values as this freedom (serves everyone equally and is controlled by everyone). The only organization that awards these values is the government, this is how the government came to control the school system in the United States. If education would be free to all, then all shall attend; compulsory attendance law. This would give everyone a universal path to freedom.
8. Sociological Perspectives Chapter 4
8.1. The theoretical perspective between school and society relies on the insight into their relationship studied through functional theories, conflict theories, and interactional theories created and interpreted by human beings.
8.1.1. Functional Theories-Emile Durkheim "Functionalist tend to assume that consensus is the normal state in society and conflict represents a breakdown of shared values" (Sadovnik et al. 2013. p 118). Education should be cohesive between its structure, programs and curricula, and when each part is working, they will all work together to encourage social unity.
8.1.2. Conflict Theories-Marx, Weber, Waller, Collins "Society is bonded together by economic, political, cultural, and military power" (Sadovnik et al. 2013. p 118). Schools are much like society, where in, they both are compiled of people struggling to gain status and existence on the hierarchy chart. Socialism over capitalism, and that until this change in society occurs, education reform is still in the wind.
8.1.3. Interactional Theories-Bernstein This theory "primarily critiques and extends the functional and conflict perspectives" (Sadovnik et al. 2013. p 120).
8.2. 5 Effects of schooling on individuals:
8.2.1. Knowledge and Attitudes-There is a difference where you go to school, and "academically oriented schools do produce higher rates of learning" (Sadovnik et al. 2013. p 121). The more there is discipline and academic subjects the more chance there will be for higher achievement. Research has shown that the higher a person's education is the more they will participate in society.
8.2.2. Employment-"Academic credentials can help obtain a higher-status job early in a career (Sadovnik et al. 2013. p 122). Most education is weakly related to job performance, and the best way to learn how to do something, is to do it There are many factors, other than education, that play a role in the income people will earn.
8.2.3. Inside the Schools-There are advantages and disadvantages to large and small schools, but the most important factor in a school is what is being taught, the curricula. This factor alone has such an impact on the probabilities of students attending college.
8.2.4. Teacher Behavior-Teacher's expectations on students play a significant role in their academic success. "Teachers are models for students and, as instructional leaders, teachers et standards for students and influence student self-esteem and sense of efficacy" (Sadovnik et al. 2013. p 124).
8.2.5. Inadequate Schools-The education system in the U.S. certainly has its share of inadequate schools. Children are not being educated in the same way across school lines. Children "attending private or suburban schools have a better educational experience, benefits and social value of their diplomas" (Sadovnik et al 2013. p 124).
8.2.6. Gender-There is a disconnect between the time girls start school and the end of high school compared to boys. There may be subliminal messages from society that influences on how teachers behave towards girls versus boys. Research indicates that boys do get more attention (good or bad) from the teachers than girls do. Recent statistics indicate that girls are closing the gap among boys in academic achievement.
9. Philosophy of Education
9.1. Pragmatism
9.1.1. Key researchers: George Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) William James (1842-1910) John Dewey (1859-1952) Frances Bacon (1561-1626) John Locke (1632-1704) Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
9.1.2. Generic notions: Dewey believed that education and the growth of a democratic society were related. Instrumentalism, and experimentalism were founded on the new psychology, behaviorism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. Allowing children's interests and needs guide the teacher in the classroom. The child should be part of the planning process for their course of study (college). Depend on project method and group learning. Students should be given both freedom and responsibility of education.
9.1.3. Goal of education: The main function of education was growth. Education would improve social order and a democratic society should prepare children to continue in this democratic way. Schooling should provide students preparation for life, to envision a larger project of social progress and improvement.
9.1.4. Role of teacher: The teacher is no longer seen as the center of the classroom. More so as a facilitator, someone who encourages, guides, questions, plans and implements courses and the curriculum. The students are the focus of the classroom.
9.1.5. Method of instruction: Students are to learn individually and in groups, posing questions, going on field trips, completing projects, and problem solving.
9.1.6. Curriculum: All the academic and vocational disciplines are integrated and interconnected with each particular subject matter, an integrated curriculum. The curriculum should change with the social order.