1. History of U.S. Education
1.1. Education for Woman and African-Americans
1.1.1. Education was made available for women and African-Americans, which was in my opinion, one of the most-influential movements in history in regards to taking a step toward education equality. Education for these two groups were severely limited or non-existent providing no chance to move up on the society ladder.
1.1.1.1. By the middle of the 19th century a large number of girls were able to attend elementary schools and private academies. Emma Hart Willard was an important woman. in 1821, who opened the Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York. Willard kept the "male curriculum" and focused on subjects such as mathematics, science, history, and geography. Catherine Esther Beecher and Mary Lyon also opened female only schools in the 1830's. (p. 68,69)
1.1.1.2. African-Americans did not have a chance to attend schools until much later in the 1800's to early 1900's. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War in 1863 that put an end to slavery in all states. The thirteenth Amendment was passed and fourteenth Amendment was ratified ensuring an end to slavery and established full citizenship to ex-slaves. Although African-Americans still struggle with equality, this movement gave way for them to have equal-opportunity in society and education. (p. 69)
1.2. U.S. Education Historical Interpretation:
1.2.1. Democratic-liberals view the history of education in the U.S. to be a school system, regardless of its flaws, that is dedicated to optimistically providing everyone with equal opportunity. The Common School Era was viewed as a democratic movement in the first step to opening U.S. education for all.
2. Philosophy of Education
2.1. Existentialism
2.1.1. Generic Notions: Existentialism is individualistic philosophy that is argued whether or not to be a school philosophy. Existentialists believe people create themselves and their pwn meaning and that they are placed on earth alone to make sense out of the chaos that surrounds them. They ask themselves how their concerns impact life around them.
2.1.1.1. Martin Buber, Karl Jaspers, Jean Paul Sartre, Maxine Greene, and Soren Kierkegaard are researchers who all have ties to the existentialism philosophy. Jean Paul Sartre was the only existentialists mentioned in the text who rejected God's existence and instead believed that "existence precedes essence" leading individuals to believe they create their own chaos and order/ good and evil.
2.1.2. Goal of Education: Education puts emphasis on individuality and the notion of possibility that is solely focused on individuals, cognitively and affectively. Individuals should feel free to learn what they want and is viewed as an liberating activity that relieves them from the real world around them.
2.1.3. Role of Teacher: The role of the teacher as seen by existentialists is to urge students to act on their own personal choices while having a clear comprehension of their own "lived worlds" in order to help students achieve fullest potential of their "lived worlds". Introspection is used to create an environment in which they can stay in touch with their worlds and empower their choices.
2.1.4. Methods of Instruction: Learning is viewed as being intensely personal and that the teacher needs to discover the best method of what works for each child's individual learning ability. Teacher and student relationship is important for successfully collaborating with one another in order to pose questions, generate activities, and overall ability to work together.
2.1.5. Curriculum: Curriculum is heavily biased toward humanities. Literature, art, drama, and music engage students personal interaction. Existentialists believe it is important to expose students to accomplishments humankind is capable of making and also by exposing students at an early age to problems and possibilities will cause them to be "wide awake" and aware of the society and culture around them.
3. Schools as Organizations
3.1. Major stakeholders for DeKalb County, Alabama District 6 are listed.
3.1.1. 1. State Senator is Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby. 2. House of Representatives is Martha Roby and Bradley Byrne. 3. State Superintendent is Michael Sentance. 4. School Representative is Robert Witt. 5. DeKalb Superintendent is Stephen Green.
3.2. Four elements of change within school processes and school cultures.
3.2.1. Conflict
3.2.1.1. Conflict is necessary for change to happen within the school. Allowing schools to be a democratic society makes way for conflict to happen because people are allowed to vocalize difference of opinions.
3.2.2. New Behaviors
3.2.2.1. New behaviors must be learned to establish new relationships, establish a foundation for communication and trust, and for initiative to emerge.
3.2.3. Team Building
3.2.3.1. Team building is an important change that happens within the school system and must extend throughout the entire school. Team building is crucial for establishing a decision making process among a group of people and does away with excluding people.
3.2.4. Process and Content
3.2.4.1. Process and content interrelate with one another. A process a team uses correlates with the content of educational material. Both are used together to build a team and establishes unity among students and society.
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Class, race and gender each impact educational outcomes for students.
4.1.1. Class affects the educational outcome for students. Depending on how wealthy the family they come from is decides how much educational instruction and opportunity will be given. The wealthier the family is directly impacts the amount of education the student will receive. Teachers have been found to think more highly of middle-class and upper-class students. Underclass children generally are ignored in the classroom and are seen as not able to learn as well as students who come from a middle class family. Underclass students show a higher drop-out rate than students who come from middle-class. Therefore, social class and level of educational attainment are highly correlated.
4.1.2. Race determines the level of education one might receive depending on what area they are from. The statistic percentage of students who drop out of school from ages 16-24 goes as follows: 5.2% of white students, 9.3% African-American students, 17.6% of Hispanic-American students. Discrimination is still a largely unfortunate situation leading to minority students receiving fewer educational opportunities and educational attainment.
4.1.3. Gender used to be directly related to educational attainment for men and women. Women are better than men academically. Women are seen to excel in subject areas such as reading and writing where men are better at math. Men, however, have more job opportunities than women do despite how well either of them have done academically.
4.2. Two Responses to the Coleman Study from 1982's High School Achievement research.
4.2.1. In 1966, James Coleman studied the relationship between the organizational characteristics of schools and student achievement upon receiving a large grant. The motivation behind doing such research was based off of the idea that African American students and white students received different schooling experiences. In 1982, Coleman compared the average of test scores of public school and private school sophomores. Finding that there was not one subject in which public schools scored higher than private school students. These studies led to two responses.
4.2.1.1. Response 1: Coleman and his colleagues argued that private schools were indeed academically more effective environments over public school environments. Private schools focus more attention academically onto their students vs. public school systems. Private schools offer more discipline for their students and hold their students to a higher level of achievement.
4.2.1.2. Response 2: Much like response one, other studies have verified that private schools do better academically and produce more well-educated students over public school systems. Although, Coleman's studies sparked controversy subsequent studies do support Coleman's initial findings for High School Achievement: Public, Catholic, and Private Schools Compared studies.
5. Education Inequality
5.1. Two Types of Cultural Deprivation Theories
5.1.1. One cultural deprivation theory is that the underclass or the more poor society have a deprived culture. The underclass as seen as being a culture that lacks the same value system as the middle-class culture. The middle-class culture is viewed as one that works harder than the underclass.
5.1.2. A second cultural deprivation theory is educationally disadvantaged students who achieve poorly because they have not been raised to acquire skills and dispositions. Therefore, programs such as head start are provided for these children to give them an opportunity to function in academic settings when they get older.
5.2. Four School-Centered Explanations for Educational Inequality
5.2.1. School Financing affects educational equality in school systems. Funding in poor districts are not given as much funding, therefore, limiting the opportunity for students to receive the same educational advancements as students who attend school districts that are wealthier. Public school systems are financed through a combination of sources being from local, state, and federal sources.
5.2.2. Curriculum and Pedagogic Practices affect schooling through school climates which is differences in academic performance. Schools in working-class neighborhoods are more likely to have teacher-directed pedagogic practices. Schools in middle-class neighborhoods are more likely to have a less authoritarian and a more student-centered pedagogic classroom. Upper-class students are more likely to attend elite private schools where they receive authoritarian pedagogic practices and a classical-humanistic college prep curriculum.
5.2.3. Curriculum and Ability Grouping affect students educational achievements in schools. Curriculum tracking is a way of grouping students together by "like abilities". For example, in elementary classroom students may be grouped together into reading groups based on test scores, race, or gender. Generally these smaller groups are chosen based on the learning pace of the individuals so that the teacher has the opportunity to teach on the same level to students who share similarities in learning pace. Grouping can be an effective teaching and learning method if students are not being grouped into groups that are not far different from their own learning abilities.
5.2.4. Gender and Schooling have been known to cause inequality conflict throughout the years. Feminist movements paved way for women to receive equal opportunities, academically and socially. Arguments that women are more caring and connected whereas, men are more competitive and intellectual produce stereotypes that justify domestic roles of women. Feminists actively fight against such stereotypes to provide equal opportunities for both men and women in educational and societal issues.
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Four Purposes of Education
6.1.1. 1) Intellectual purpose of education focuses on teaching basic cognitive skills such as math and reading. In return, this purpose provides the student with the ability to better analyze and evaluate situations.
6.1.2. 2) Political purpose brings together a diverse group of students as a unified system so they can develop knowledge of the basic laws of society and assist in molding their individual political views.
6.1.3. 3) Social purpose for education is to integrate students who are from different backgrounds to collaborate with one another in a well ordered fashion to prepare their ability to effectively socialize among others in society. Well constructed social skills are pivotal in producing fewer social issues.
6.1.4. 4) Economic purpose of education is crucial for preparing students for their occupational roles in the future.
6.2. Liberal Perspective
6.2.1. The Role of School: Liberal perspective emphasizes equality of opportunity in the educational system at an attempt to provide each individual the opportunity to be successful. Liberal's urge that students learn to adapt and be accepting of diversity that surrounds our society. The role of education, according to the liberal perspective, is to balance the needs of society along with the individual in a way that is consistent with a democratic society.
6.2.2. Explanations of Unequal Performance: It is believed by liberals that student performance and level of achievement is based on the socioeconomic background. This perspective raises attention to whether or not students are receiving equal opportunity regardless of social status.
6.2.3. Definition of Educational Problems: Liberals feel their lax method of implementing curriculum and equal opportunity standards help students reach a higher level of achievement. Liberals feel that poor children are often left behind, schools often focus more on authority versus helping students develop, and that diverse cultures are left out of traditional curriculum.
7. Curriculum and Pedagogy
7.1. A curriculum theory in which I can personally advocate is social efficiency curriculum.
7.1.1. Social efficiency curriculum is a pragmatist approach as a democratic response to the development of secondary education. This type of curriculum focuses attention toward giving differentiated instruction to different types of students who learn differently. Despite the controversy over whether or not social efficiency curriculum is an efficient method of ensuing academic fairness for all, I believe that this curriculum has a good structure behind it that promises students on different academic learning levels the opportunity to have a curriculum that is right for their individual learning needs.
7.2. Two Dominant Traditions of Teaching
7.2.1. Mimetic
7.2.1.1. Main purpose of the mimetic tradition is to transmit specific knowledge to students. Uses the didactic method which main form of communication that commonly relies on the lecture or presentation. Directs attention onto the relationship between the teacher and student and requires the teacher's role to make sure students retain and grasp knowledge being taught.
7.2.2. Transformative
7.2.2.1. The purpose of the transformative tradition is to change the student in a meaningful way intellectually, creatively, spiritually, and emotionally. Does not view the transmission of knowledge to be the only component of education like the mimetic tradition does. They reject the theory that teacher and student need to have a relationship between them and view the relationship to be inextricably linked.
8. Education Reform
8.1. Two School-Based Reforms
8.1.1. School-Business Partnerships
8.1.1.1. During the 1980's, business leaders became concerned that school's were not producing the kinds of graduates necessary for maintaining and improving the U.S. economy. Several school-business partnerships were then formed to improve the issue. Some school-business partnerships include scholarships for poor students to attend college and programs where businesses "adopt" a school. These scholarships provide a way for all students regardless of economic status the chance to make an impact on society.
8.1.2. Teacher Quality
8.1.2.1. No Child Left Behind requires that all schools have highly qualified teachers in every classroom. Out-of-field teaching is where teachers are assigned to teach subjects that they are not trained to teach. NCLB made sure that teachers were in fact assigned jobs they were knowledgeable to teach. Urban districts are prone to hiring teachers who are not qualified because of their fast paced turnover. Teacher quality is crucial to producing well-educated members of society.
8.2. School-Fiance Reforms
8.2.1. Several court cases have been filed due to lack of funding, unequal funding, or discrimination in funding. 1. Supreme Court's 1973 Rodriquez v. San Antonio for equal education, school financing. 2. Robinson v. Cahill filed in 1970 against New Jersey for discrimination in funding for school districts. 3. In 1980, Education Law Center filed Abbott v. Burke on behalf of several urban school districts due to a violation of the "thorough and efficient" clause. In 1990, the court ruled that more funding was needed to serve the children in the poorer school districts. In 1998, the state was required to implement a package of supplemental programs including preschool.
8.3. Connecting School, Community, and Societal Reforms
8.3.1. A combination of school, community, and societal level reforms are necessary to reduce the achievement gap. Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago argues that school reform must be based on numerous supports such as: 1. leadership as the driver for change; 2. parent-community ties; 3. professional capacity; 4. student-centered learning climate; 5. instructional guidance. These supports are needed to and are difficult to implement in high poverty school systems. Educational reforms are intended to improve the school systems in the U.S. Connecting school and community provides higher educational learning environments for students that produce better academic opportunity for achievements.
9. Sociology of Education
9.1. Theoretical Perspectives
9.1.1. Relationship in Schools and Society: Sociologists of education believe educators can not have a full comprehension of how schools function without first understanding the relationship between schools and society. Socialization in schools shape children's perception of the world by incorporating values, beliefs, and norms of society. Children are molded into acting and thinking like other members of society. Schools promote patriotism, gender roles, and what it means to be a citizen of the U.S.
9.1.2. Functionalism: Society is seen by functionalists as a machine where one group of people express feelings with others in order to grow an ever-changing society and make it work. Emile Durkheim was a virtual founder of the sociology of education that believed moral values were crucial to the foundation of society. Functionalists focus on structure and organization of society and schools that are grounded on values and morals. Students are subjected to highly-integrated, rational, and united society that includes structured programs and curriculum that is technically advanced.
9.1.2.1. Durkheim's major works included: Moral Education (1962), The Evolution of Educational Thought (1977), and Education and Sociology (1956).
9.1.3. Conflict Theory: Some sociologists believe that social order is not based on a collective agreement but rather the ability of dominant groups to impose their will on subordinate groups. They view society to be held together by economic, political, cultural, and military power. Schools are viewed as social battlefields where students and teachers are always at battle with one another. Karl Marx is the intellectual founder of the conflict school in the sociology of education who made his outrage of the downfall of the mid-nineteenth century Europe society known in his writings. Marx believed the class separation between owners and workers would lead to the proletariat, a new group formed from the industrialization and urbanization, establishing a new society by over throwing the capital. (p 118). Max Weber, a conflict sociologist, views differ from Marx. Weber believed that relations between dominant and subordinate groups structured society where class differences did not always display the complexity of ways that humans form social status.
9.1.4. Interactionalism: Interactional theories are critiques of the functional and confrontational perspectives of the relationship between society and school. The critiques are taken from observations of the functional and conflict theories that are abstract and emphasize structure that processes general levels of analysis.
9.2. Five Effects Schooling Has on Students
9.2.1. Knowledge and Attitudes: The more knowledge an individual acquires makes them more receptive to reading newspapers, books, magazines, and take part in political affairs. Heyns studies suggest that seventh and eighth graders who read in the summer gained more knowledge than their peers who opted out of additional academic work. Education boosts positive attitude along with helping build one's self-esteem. The higher the education level that an individual seeks, the more knowledge they gain, and the more they are willing to participate socially.
9.2.2. Employment: The higher level of academic success that is sought leads to receiving better employment opportunities. The amount of yearly income an individual would like to acquire correlates with the level of educational degree that person should seek. Receiving a college or professional degree is important for earning a higher income.
9.2.3. Teacher Behavior: The role of a teacher can forever impact a student's life and can have up to as many 1,000 interpersonal contacts with children in their classroom on a daily basis (Jackson, 1968, p. 124). Teachers lives can be stressful when their career requires them to take on many different roles including: instructor, psychologist, disciplinarian, bureaucrat, employer, friend, confidant, and educator. The way the teacher conducts a classroom reflects on student's self-esteem, academic performance, behavior, and attitude. When a teacher demands more and praise students for their work, the students respond better. However, teachers who expect next to nothing for minority students, those students do not have a high chance of succeeding.
9.2.4. Inadequate Schools: Inadequate schooling does not provide necessary academic standards needed to produce educated children for being productive members of society.
9.2.5. Gender: Inequalities are produced in schools through gender discrimination. Girls and boys are held to different standards. Girls are taught to be kind and quiet while boys are free to act as they please without repercussions. Textbooks have been known to leave out important events that included women's accomplishments. Although the gap between gender inequality has closed some, discrimination among genders are still relevant in today's society and school system.