1. Politics of Education
1.1. Four Purposes of Education
1.1.1. 1. Intellectual
1.1.1.1. Teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics
1.1.1.2. Transmit specific knowledge (e.g., in literature, history, the sciences, etc)
1.1.1.3. Help students acquire higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis
1.1.2. 2. Political
1.1.2.1. Instill patriotism in its citizens
1.1.2.2. Prepare citizens who will participate in this political order (e.g., in political democracies)
1.1.2.3. Help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order
1.1.2.4. Teach children the basic laws of the society
1.1.3. 3. Social
1.1.3.1. Help solve social problems
1.1.3.2. Work as one of many institutions, such as the family and the church (or synagogue) to ensure social cohesion
1.1.3.3. Socialize children into the various roles, behaviors, and values of the society
1.1.3.4. Socialization is a key ingredient to the stability of any society
1.1.4. 4. Economic
1.1.4.1. Prepare students for their later occupational roles
1.1.4.2. Select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor
1.1.4.3. The influence varies from society to society, but most schools have an indirect role
1.2. Liberal Perspective
1.2.1. The Role of the School
1.2.1.1. Provide the necessary education to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed in society
1.2.1.2. Balance the needs of society and the individual by having citizens participate in decision making, ensuring adult status is based on merit and achievement, and providing a fair and equal opportunity for economic wealth, political power, and social status
1.2.1.3. Putting Liberal Education in Perspective
1.2.2. Explanations of Unequal Performance
1.2.2.1. Students begin school with different life chances and therefore some have significantly more advantages than others
1.2.2.2. Society must attempt through policies and programs to equalize the playing field so that the students from disadvantaged backgrounds have a better chance
1.2.3. Educational Problems
1.2.3.1. Schools have too often limited the life chances of poor and minority children and therefore the problem of underachievement by these groups is a critical issue
1.2.3.2. Schools place too much emphasis on discipline and authority, thus limiting their role in helping students develop as individuals
1.2.3.3. The differences in quality and climate between urban and suburban schools and, most specifically, between schools with students of low socioeconomic backgrounds and high socioeconomic backgrounds is a central problem related to inequalities of results
1.2.3.4. The traditional curriculum leaves out the diverse cultures of the groups that comprise the pluralistic society
2. Schools of Organizations
2.1. Educational Representatives
2.1.1. Representative in State Senate
2.1.1.1. Arthur Orr-District 3
2.1.2. Representative in the House
2.1.2.1. Ed Henry-District 9
2.1.3. State Superintendent of Education
2.1.3.1. Michael Sentance
2.1.4. Representative on State School Board
2.1.4.1. Cynthia Sanders McCarty- District 6
2.1.5. Local Superintendent
2.1.5.1. Vic Wilson- Hartselle City Schools
2.1.6. Members of the Hartselle City School Board
2.1.6.1. Venita Jones, James Joy, Daxton Maze, Amy Pace, Randy Sparkman
2.2. Elements of Change in School Process and Culture
2.2.1. Qualifications of Teachers
2.2.1.1. No Child Left Behind- requires teachers to be highly qualified
2.2.1.2. Three Conditions to be highly qualified
2.2.1.2.1. 1. A college degree
2.2.1.2.2. 2. Full certification or licensure
2.2.1.2.3. 3. Demonstrable content knowledge in the subject area
2.2.2. Nature of Teaching
2.2.2.1. Develop classroom strategies to teach to individual children and whole groups of students
2.2.2.2. Require sensitivity to individual and group dynamics to be effective
2.2.2.3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnDLFI8tR3c
2.2.3. Underqualified Teachers
2.2.3.1. out-of-field teaching- teachers being assigned to teach subjects that do not match their training or education
2.2.3.2. Due to organizational issues inside schools
2.2.4. Teacher Professionalization
2.2.4.1. Teachers are expected to by autonomous, thoughtful experts in education, yet conditions of their employment leave little scope for autonomy, thoughtfulness, or expertise
2.2.4.2. John Goodlad
2.2.4.2.1. - suggested a complete redesign of teacher education programs with input coming from all areas
2.2.4.2.2. believed that teacher education programs should include a clearly articulated relationship between education and the arts and sciences
2.2.4.2.3. wanted to raise level of academic preparation for teachers, create cohesive curriculum, and professionalize teacher education by enlarging its clinical component
2.2.4.2.4. Interview with John Goodlad
3. Curriculum and Pedagogy
3.1. 4 Types of Curriculum- Humanist, social efficiency, developmentalist, and social meliorist
3.1.1. Developmentalist- relates to the needs and interests of the student rather than the needs of society
3.1.1.1. emanated from the aspects of John Dewey's writings and Piaget's philosophies
3.1.1.2. student centered,
3.1.1.3. relates the curriculum to the needs and interests of each child at particular developmental stages
3.1.1.4. stressed the importance of relating schooling to life experiences of each child in a way that would make education come alive in a meaningful manner
3.1.1.5. Presentation of the rise of developmentalist curriculum https://prezi.com/wef5p0u9ca3c/developmentalists-ch-2-3/
3.2. Traditions of Teaching
3.2.1. Mimetic Tradition- based on the view point that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students
3.2.1.1. didactic method- commonly relies on the lecture or presentation as the main form of communication
3.2.1.2. assumes that the educational process involves the relationship between the knower and the learner
3.2.1.3. stresses the importance of rational sequencing in the teaching process and assessment of the learning process
3.2.1.4. emphasis of measurable goals and objectives
3.2.2. Transformative Tradition- based on the belief that the purpose of education is to change the student in some meaningful way, including intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally
3.2.2.1. reject the authoritarian relationship between teacher and student and argue that teaching and learning are inextricably linked
3.2.2.2. teaching involves the didactic transfer of information and the conversation between teacher and student
3.2.2.3. dialectical method- involves the use of questioning as the core of teaching
3.2.2.4. derived from the teaching methods of Socrates and has philosophical grounding in the works of John Dewey
4. Socialogical Perspectives
4.1. Theoretical Perspectives Concerning the Relationship between School and Society
4.1.1. Functionalism
4.1.1.1. Stresses the interdependence of the social system
4.1.1.2. View society as a king of machine, where one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work
4.1.1.3. Assume that consensus is the normal state in society and that conflict represents a breakdown of shared values
4.1.1.4. Educational reform should create structures, programs, and curricula that are technically advanced, rational, and encourage social unity
4.1.2. Conflict Theory
4.1.2.1. Social order is based on the ability of dominant groups to impose their will on subordinate groups through force, cooptation, and manipulation
4.1.2.2. The glue of society is economic , political, cultural, and military power
4.1.2.3. Achievement ideology convinces students and teachers that schools promote learning, and sort and select students according to their abilities and not according to their social status
4.1.2.4. See schools as oppressive and demeaning, and portray student noncompliance with school rules as a form of resistance
4.1.2.5. Education is increasingly used by dominant groups to secure more advantageous places for themselves and their children within the occupation and social structure
4.1.2.6. Example of Conflict Resolution
4.1.3. Interactionalism
4.1.3.1. Attempt to make commonplace strange by turning on their heads everyday behaviors and interactions between students and students, and students and teachers
4.1.3.2. It is exactly what one does not question that is most problematic at a deep level
4.1.3.3. By examining the microsociological or the interactional aspects of school life, people are less likely to create theories that are logical and eloquent, but without meaningful content
4.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
4.2.1. Knowledge
4.2.1.1. Academically oriented schools produce higher rates of learning
4.2.1.2. The actual amount of time spent in school is directly related to how much a student learns
4.2.1.3. Students are more likely to succeed when they are compelled to take academic subjects and where there is consistent discipline
4.2.2. Employment
4.2.2.1. Graduating from college leads to greater employment opportunities
4.2.2.2. Schools act as gatekeepers in determining who will get employed in high-status occupations, but schools do not provide significant job skills for their graduates
4.2.2.3. Possession of a college degree is significantly related to higher income
4.2.3. Mobility
4.2.3.1. Contest mobility-individuals rise and fall based on their merit
4.2.3.2. Sponsored mobility- individuals are selected at an early age for academic and university education and social background is very important in determining who will receive academic or vocational training
4.2.3.3. Popular belief that education opens the doors of opportunity
4.2.4. De Facto Segregation
4.2.4.1. Schools resegregated due to the neighborhoods they were located
4.2.4.2. African-American students are more likely to graduate high school when they attend racially mixed schools
4.2.4.3. Racial integration at the school level is beneficial to minority students
4.2.5. Gender
4.2.5.1. Despite starting grade school cognitively and socially ahead, girls end high school with lower self-esteem and lower aspirations than boys
4.2.5.2. Textbooks have been biased against women by ignoring their accomplishments and social contributions
4.2.5.3. Women are now attending college at higher rates than men
5. Equality of Opportunity
5.1. Categories that Impact Educational Outcome
5.1.1. Class
5.1.1.1. Due to education being so expensive, the longer a student stays in school, the more likely he or she will need parental support
5.1.1.2. Families from upper class and middle class are more likely to expect their children to finish school
5.1.1.3. Students in middle and upper-class homes are more likely to speak "standard' English
5.1.1.4. There is a direct correlation between parental income and children's performance on achievement tests
5.1.1.5. Although this documentary is from the UK, the stories still apply to students in the U.S.
5.1.2. Race
5.1.2.1. Among 16-24 year olds, 5.2 percent of white students drop out of school, whereas 9,3 percent of African-American students and 17.6 percent of Hispanic-American students are likely to drop out of school
5.1.2.2. Among 17 year olds able to read at the intermediate level- 89 percent of white students, 66 percent of African-American, and 70 percent of Hispanic-American were proficient
5.1.2.3. Lower levels of proficiency reflect lower SAT scores
5.1.2.4. Minorities have less percentages admitted to college and awarded scholarships
5.1.2.5. Discussing the racial achievement gap
5.1.3. Gender
5.1.3.1. Males only outperform females in mathematics proficiency
5.1.3.2. Men are more likely to score higher on the SATs
5.1.3.3. Society discriminates against females occupationally and socieally
5.1.3.4. More women are now attending post-secondary institutions than men
5.1.3.5. Females are less likely to drop out of school than males
5.1.3.6. Gender gaps in education
5.2. The Coleman Study from 1982
5.2.1. A study that found private schools outperform public schools on standardized tests
5.2.2. Response 1
5.2.2.1. Some interpreted the results as insignificant
5.2.2.2. According to Jenks, The differences that do exist between public and Catholic schools are statistically significant, but in terms of significant differences in learning, the results are negligible
5.2.3. Response 2
5.2.3.1. Private schools seem to see more educational success
5.2.3.2. Baker and Riordan argue that Catholic schools have become more elite
5.2.3.3. Private schools seem to have certain organizational charateristics that are related to student outcomes
6. History of U.S. Education
6.1. GI Bill of Rights
6.1.1. Subject of considerable controversy in the 1940's, was feared that the policy would threaten the traditional meritocratic selection process and result in the lowering of academic standards
6.1.2. Provided servicemen and women a just reward for national service and avoided massive employment in the postwar economy
6.1.3. Part of the growing policy to provide access to higher education to those who, because of economic disadvantage and/or poor elementary and secondary preparation, had been denied the opportunity to attend college
6.1.4. Quick History of the GI Bill
6.1.5. Important Websites:
6.1.5.1. http://benefits.va.gov/gibill/
6.1.5.2. http://www.military.com/education/gi-bill/learn-to-use-your-gi-bill.html
6.1.5.3. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/gi-bill-benefitting-profit-colleges-instead-helping-veterans/
6.1.5.4. http://www.nber.org/digest/dec02/w9044.html
6.2. Conservative Interpretation
6.2.1. Main supporters are William, Bennett, Chester Finn Jr., Diane Ravitch, E.D. Hirsch Jr., and Allan Bloom
6.2.2. Believe that U.S. schools are mediocre and point to the failure of the progressive education to fulfill it's lofty social goals without sacrificing academic quality
6.2.3. Believe the historical pursuit of social and political objectives resulted in significant harm to the traditional academic goals of schooling
6.2.4. Diane Ravitch wrote Thee Troubled Crusade
6.2.4.1. Argued the preoccupation with using education to solve social problems has not solved these problems and has led to the erosion of educational excellence
6.2.4.2. Pointed to a putative decline of educational standards within the context of political movements to move us closer to a fair and just society
6.2.4.3. Accused conservatives and neo-liberals of ignoring the pernicious effects of poverty on student achievement
6.2.4.4. Her thoughts on reform and public education
7. Philosophy of Education
7.1. Existentialism
7.1.1. Generic Notions
7.1.1.1. People are created by the choices that they make; they are constantly becoming, creating chaos and order, creating good and evil
7.1.1.2. Individuals are placed on this earth alone and must make some sense out of the chaos they encounter
7.1.2. Key Researchers
7.1.2.1. Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
7.1.2.2. Martin Buber (1878-1965)
7.1.2.3. Karl Jaspers (1883-1969)
7.1.2.4. Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1986)
7.1.2.5. Maxine Greene
7.1.3. Goal of Education
7.1.3.1. Believe that education should focus on the needs of individuals , both cognitively and affectively
7.1.3.2. Believe that education should stress individuality, include the non-rational as well as the rational world, and that the tensions of living in the world should be addressed
7.1.4. Role of the Teacher
7.1.4.1. Teachers should understand their own "lived worlds" as well as that of their students in order to help their students achieve the best "lived worlds" they can
7.1.4.2. They must take risks, expose themselves to resistant students, and work constantly to enable their students to become enlightened
7.1.5. Method of Instruction
7.1.5.1. Do not believe in methods of instruction, instead believe that each student has a different learning style and it is up to the teacher to discover what works for each student
7.1.5.2. Teachers help students to understand the world through posing questions, generating activities, and working together
7.1.6. Curriculum
7.1.6.1. Heavily biased toward the humanities
7.1.6.2. Literature is able to evoke responses in readers that might move them to new levels of awareness
7.1.6.3. Encourage personal interaction through art, drama, and music
7.1.6.4. Believe in exposing students to problems and solutions and the horrors and accomplishments of humankind
8. Educational Inequality
8.1. Cultural Deprivation
8.1.1. Thesis from Oscar Lewis
8.1.1.1. The poor have a deprived culture-onw that lacks the value system of middle-class culture
8.1.1.2. Lower-class seeks immediate reward, rejects hard work and initiative as a means to success, and does not view schooling as the means to social mobility
8.1.1.3. Middle-class culture values hard work and initiative, the delay of immediate gratification for future reward, and the importance of schooling as a means to future success
8.1.2. Ideas from Deutsch
8.1.3. Results in educationally disadvantaged students who achieve poorly because they have not been raised to acquire the skills and dispositions required for satisfactory academic achievement
8.1.4. Thought to be paternalistic and racist
8.2. School-centered Explanations for Educational Inequality
8.2.1. 1. School Financing
8.2.1.1. more affluent communities are able to provide more per-pupil spending than poorer districts
8.2.1.2. Serrano v. Priest- the California Supreme Court ruled the system of unequal school financing between wealthy and poor districts unconstitutional
8.2.1.3. More states are moving toward state funding to close the gap between rich and poor districts
8.2.1.4. There is disagreement over the extent to which school financing affects unequal academic achievement
8.2.2. 2. Effective School Research
8.2.2.1. Ronald Edmonds and other researchers examined schools that produced unusually positive academic results given what would be expected
8.2.2.1.1. Characteristics of Unusually Effective Schools
8.2.3. 3. Between-School Differences
8.2.3.1. Bernstein examined the situation in England in 1990
8.2.3.1.1. suggested that schools in working-class neighborhoods are far more likely to have authoritarian and teacher-directed pedagogic practives, and to have vocationally or social efficiency curriculum at the secondary level
8.2.3.1.2. suggested that schools in middle-class communities are more likely to have less authoritarian and more student-centered pedagogic practices and to have a humanistic liberal arts college preparatory curriculum at the secondary level
8.2.4. 4. Within-School Differences
8.2.4.1. Different groups of students in the same schools perform very differently suggests that there may be school characteristics affecting these outcomes
8.2.4.2. Considerable debate among educators and researchers about the necessity, effects, and efficacy of tracking
8.2.4.3. Many researchers state that there are significant differences in the curricula and pedagogic practices of secondary school curriculum groups
8.2.4.4. There is insufficient evidence to prove that track placement is based on discriminatory rather than meritocratic practices
8.2.4.5. Differences in tracks help to explain the variation in academic achievement of students in different tracks
9. Educational Reform
9.1. School-Based Reforms
9.1.1. 1. School Choice, Charter Schools, and Tuition Vouchers
9.1.1.1. Charter Schools
9.1.1.1.1. public schools that are free from many of the regulations applied to traditional public schools and in return held accountable for student performance
9.1.1.1.2. Accountability is a critical component of the charter movement-a failing school can lose its funding and be forced to shut its doors
9.1.1.1.3. Proponents argue they are more effective and efficient for low-income children
9.1.1.1.4. Myths of Charter Schools
9.1.1.2. Vouchers
9.1.1.2.1. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that the voucher program did not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment
9.1.1.2.2. Advocates argue that school choice has three important educational impacts
9.1.2. 2. Privatization
9.1.2.1. For-profit companies took over the management of failing schools and districts
9.1.2.1.1. Edison Company- helped managed schools in the Philadelphia Public Schools
9.1.2.2. For-profit companies have the majority of contracts for supplemental tutoring under NCLB
9.1.2.2.1. Kaplan and Sylvan Learning Centers
9.1.3. Societal, Economic, Community, or Political Reforms
9.1.3.1. Full Service and Community Schools
9.1.3.1.1. Examine and plan to educate the whole community
9.1.3.1.2. Full service schools focus on meeting students' and their families educational, physical, psychological, and social needs in a coordinated and collaborative fashion between school and community services
9.1.3.1.3. Designed to target and improve at-risk neighborhoods
9.1.3.2. School Finance Reforms
9.1.3.2.1. Abbott v. Burke- filed on behalf of several urban school districts due to a violation of the "thorough and efficient" clause
9.1.3.2.2. Implemented supplemental programs: social services, increased security, a technology alternative education, school-to-work, after-school, and summer-school programs
9.1.3.2.3. In New York, the state was ordered to provide NYC public schools with additional funding for their annual operating budget
9.1.3.2.4. Rothstein calls for school-based programs and economic programs to reduce income inequality and to create stable and affordable housing, and the expansion of school-community clinics to provide health care and counseling