1. Politics of Education
1.1. Purposes of Education refer to roles within society
1.1.1. INTELLECTUAL - to give students the foundational skills in reading, writing and math so that they are able to acquire higher order thinking
1.1.2. POLITICAL - to produce law abiding citizens who subscribe to the current political order, inspire patriotism and help people of different cultures fit in
1.1.3. SOCIAL - to solve social problems facing citizens and help them find their place in society
1.1.4. ECONOMIC - to prepare students for their occupations in life
1.2. Perspectives of Education
1.2.1. Conservative Perspective is defined by Sadovnik, Cookson, and Semel (2013, p. 23), "This perspective looks at social evolution as a process that enables the strongest individuals and/or groups to survive, and looks at human and social evolution as adaptation to changes in the environment.
1.2.1.1. stems from Charles Darwin's theories that the strongest of a species will prevail
1.2.1.2. believes that free market capitalism is the best system that allows for growth and competition
1.2.1.3. values individual initiative to go after things individual wants, make something of themself and solve his own problems
1.2.1.4. Conservatives see the role of the school as making sure that students who show the most promise and work hard receive the training and tools to become productive members of society.
1.2.1.4.1. believe that students are socialized into roles that will maintain the social order
1.2.1.5. To explain unequal educational performance, conservatives argue that whether or not a student performs well is tied to his intelligence, hard work and initiative.
1.2.1.6. Conservative response to education problems
1.2.1.6.1. Schools lowered academic standards and reduced educational quality which resulted in a decline of standards.
1.2.1.6.2. Schools watered down the traditional curriculum which weakened ability to instill knowledge of American heritage. This problem is defined as a decline of cultural literacy
1.2.1.6.3. Schools did not fulfill role of teaching moral standards and values because they did not want to make any student feel as if their own culture wasn't valued. This problem became known as the decline of values or of civilization.
1.2.1.6.4. Schools became chaotic as they were not able to discipline students in order to allow for individuality and freedom. This problem was referred to as a decline of authority.
1.2.2. Sadovnik, Cookson, and Semel (2013, p. 24) said that "the liberal perspective, although accepting the conservative belief in a market capitalist economy, believes that the free market, if left unregulated, is prone to significant abuses, particularly to those groups who are disadvantaged economically and politically."
1.2.2.1. based on John Maynard Keynes ideas that the economy will face recessions and the government will need to get involved to help
1.2.2.2. relies heavily on government intervention to make sure that all citizens are treated fairly
1.2.2.3. wants to make sure that capitalism in the economy does not take precedence over the needs of the people
1.2.2.4. more concerned with the effects of social problems on groups rather than individuals
1.2.2.5. Like conservatives, liberals also sees the role of the school as training students but believes that the school must provide an equal opportunity to all students
1.2.2.5.1. believes that the school has a responsibility to teach students to respect each other's cultural differences
1.2.2.6. Liberals explain unequal educational performance by pointing out that students have different life chances and therefore more advantages to succeed. They believe that society has a responsibility to level the playing field through policies and programs.
1.2.2.7. Liberal response to education problems
1.2.2.7.1. The problem of underachievement is caused by schools that limit opportunities of poor and minority children.
1.2.2.7.2. Schools are not able to help students develop their individuality because they are too focused on discipline and authority.
1.2.2.7.3. The inequalities of results from schools derives from the differences between affluent schools and those with less money.
1.2.2.7.4. Students from diverse cultures are overlooked by the traditional curriculum.
1.2.3. The radical perspective, "in contrast to both the conservative and liberal perspectives, does not believe that free market capitalism is the best form of economic organization, but rather believes that democratic socialism is a fairer political-economic system." (Sadovnik, Cookson, and Semel (2013, p. 25)
1.2.3.1. Karl Marx's writing formed the basis for this perspective. Radicals agreed that capitalism is the most productive for the economy but that it will ultimately lead to socialism as contradictions are shown.
1.2.3.2. Hold beliefs that society is able to provide for the basic needs of its citizens
1.2.3.3. Holds the capitalist system responsible for the social problems facing the U.S.
1.2.3.4. Believes that the problems society faces are caused by how society is structured
1.2.3.5. Think that the role of the school should reduce inequality of education and give students a chance to change their status in society
1.2.3.6. As an explanation for unequal educational performance, radicals agree with liberals that some students enter school with less opportunities because of their lower socioeconomic background.
1.2.3.6.1. Radicals believe that some students fail because of the economic system, rather than the educational system.
1.2.3.7. Radical response to education problems
1.2.3.7.1. The education system has failed the marginalized in society, the poor, minorities and women through classist, racist, sexist and homophobic policies.
1.2.3.7.2. The schools promote conformity through a traditional curriculum and teaching practices that mask the problems facing American society.
1.2.3.7.3. "The traditional curriculum is classist, racist, secist and homophobic and leaves out the culture, histories, and voices of the oppressed." (Sadovnik, Cookson, and Semel 2013, p. 29)
1.2.3.7.4. "The educational system promotes inequality of both opportunity and results." (Sadovnik, Cookson, and Semel 2013, p. 30)
2. Philosophy of Education
2.1. Sadovnik, Cookson and Semel defined pragmatism (2013 p. 186) "Pragmatism encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve their desired ends."
2.1.1. Generic Notions
2.1.1.1. Theory of evolution was influential as was a belief in progress
2.1.1.2. Believed that society could be improved through education
2.1.1.3. Views of education became known as progressive
2.1.1.3.1. Progressive education referred to the idea that educators should first look at the needs and interests of the students and to give the students a voice in the course of study.
2.1.1.3.2. Progressive teaching methods included project-based and group learning which depended heavily on experiental learning.
2.1.1.3.3. Progressives held the belief that children were active while constantly growing and changing. They thought that the course of study should take into account different stages of development.
2.1.1.4. Democracy was a cornerstone of the progressive school of thought. They believed the school should be a reflection of the community so that graduates could enter the democratic society easily.
2.1.2. Key Researchers
2.1.2.1. Francis Bacon was en English philosopher and scientist. He looked for a way to convince people to look beyond the traditions in the past toward a more experiential view of the world.
2.1.2.1.1. Bacon emphasized the inductive method of reasoning which provided the foundation of observational method in educational research.
2.1.2.2. John Locke was a modern realist philosopher. His area of interest was in how people came to know things. He theorized that people acquired knowledge through their senses. People have ideas but never verify those ideas through the material or natural world.
2.1.2.2.1. Locke compared the mind to a blank tablet, or "tabula rasa"
2.1.2.3. Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher who believed that people were born good and were corrupted by society. His view of the good life meant "back to nature."
2.1.2.3.1. Rousseau believed that the environment and experience were equally important.
2.1.2.4. John Dewey has intellectual roots in Darwinism. He introduced instrumentalism, which refers to the pragmatic relationship between the school and society.
2.1.2.4.1. Another terms in Dewey's philosophy is experimentalism. This refers to the application of ideas to educational practice on an experimental basis.
2.1.3. Pramatism comes from the Greek word pragma, which means work. This relates to pragmatists being action oriented who thinks about what work needs to be done to achieve the desired result.
2.1.4. Focuses on issues people face today and finding solutions to problems in current terms
2.1.5. Goal of Education
2.1.5.1. The progressive goal of education is to provide students knowledge on how the social order can be improved.
2.1.5.1.1. The main purpose of school is to prepare graduates to live in a democratic society. Progressives feel that schools should focus on the balance between the needs of the society and the needs of the individual.
2.1.5.1.2. The role of education is growth. Through education students will grow and learn. As they do this they live life to the fullest which makes their experience richer.
2.1.6. Role of the Teacher
2.1.6.1. In progressive education the teacher acts as a facilitator. He or she should be on the periphery and work with the student to plan and implement a course of study.
2.1.7. Method of Instruction
2.1.7.1. Learning should occur both individually and in groups. Students can sit together and work on a project cooperatively. This method of learning is called Project Based Learning.
2.1.7.1.1. .
2.1.7.2. Learning should start with the child deciding what he or she is interested in and would like to study. This method of instruction is called Inquiry Method.
2.1.8. Curriculum
2.1.8.1. Progressive schools use an integrated curriculum. This type of curriculum focuses on a particular topic and that topic is then explored through the different subjects, like math, reading, science etc.
2.1.8.1.1. .
2.1.8.2. Progressive educators embrace a flexible curriculum. It is fluid and changes according to the students interests and needs.
3. Sociological Perspectives
3.1. Fuctional Theory - Stresses the interdependence of the social system and looks at how all of the parts interact with one another.
3.1.1. Emile Durkheim was the first functional sociologist to look at how school and society are related.
3.1.1.1. Durkheim believed that an education was vital to create the moral unity for society to thrive in harmony.
3.1.2. Functionalists think that a society that is in agreement is normal and good. If there are problems or conflicts that indicates a breakdown of shared values.
3.1.3. If the society is highly integrated and functions well, the school's job is to sort students into groups according to their abilities.
3.1.4. According to functional theories, school reform should create advanced structures, programs, and curricula that encourage social unity.
3.1.4.1. Most educators and educational reformers in the U.S. are in agreement with the functional theories.
3.2. Conflict Theory - Believe that society is held together by dominant groups who force subordinate groups to do what they want through force, cooptation, and manipulation.
3.2.1. In the conflict theory, school resemble social battle zones. The battles rage between students and teachers, the teachers and administration and others.
3.2.1.1. These conflicts are subdued because the school has the authority and the achievement ideology. The achievement ideology convinces everyone that the school's job is to promote learning while sorting students based on their ability rather than their social status. This ideology disguises the relationship of power in the school.
3.2.2. Karl Marx is the intellectual founder of the conflict school in the sociology of education. (Sadovnik, Cookson, and Semel 2013, p. 69)
3.3. Interactional Theory - This theory is critical of the functional and conflict theories because they are abstract and emphasis is on the general structure and process.
3.3.1. Interactional theories attempt to look beyond the big pictures of education and see what schools are like on an everyday level.
3.3.2. Basil Bernstein believed the structural and interactional aspects of the educational system reflect one another and must be viewed together.
3.4. 5 Effects of Schooling by Individuals that have had the greatest impact on students
3.4.1. Hopper thought there was a difference between educational amount and education route. He said that the amount of time spent in school is one measure of educational attainment. Also of importance that affects mobility was where students attend school. A graduate with a private school diploma has greater mobility because their diploma represents a more prestigious educational route.
3.4.1.1. Public School vs. Private School
3.4.2. Rosenbaum made an analogy between mobility and tournament selection. In a tournament, the winners move on to the next round of the competition while the losers are dropped. He compared the players to students who can either win and advance or be eliminated. However, the criteria for the outcome is based on two set of variables. The first set are related to social class, race and gender. The second set of variables are based on merit like GPA and SAT scores. These variables combine to create unfair rules.
3.4.3. Jackson found that teachers impact student learning and behavior through a multitude of interpersonal contacts with the students in their class. The teacher performs many roles throughout the day and through each of these roles interact with the student in a different way.
3.4.4. Persell found a correlation between the teacher's expectations of the students and praise given them and the amount students learned and how they felt about themselves.
3.4.5. Ron Edmonds is known as the pioneer of the effective schools movement. His research showed that differences in schools are related to differences in student outcomes. Schools that are oriented more to academics produces a higher rate of learning.
4. Educational Reform
4.1. School Based Reforms
4.1.1. School-Business Partnerships - Business leaders became concerned that schools were not turning out graduates that they thought were capable of revitalizing the economy. In response school-business partnerships were formed.
4.1.1.1. Despite these grand ideas to supposedly help schools, corporate and business support for public schools has fallen dramatically since the 1970's.
4.1.1.2. School-business partnerships sound good in the media but evidence has not shown that they have improved schools much.
4.1.2. Privatization - The line between public and private education has thinned as private education companies become involved in pubic education.
4.1.2.1. For profit companies have stepped in to manage failing schools and districts. These companies also have the majority of contracts for supplemental tutoring under NCLB.
4.1.2.2. Cities such as New Orleans and Philadelphia have replaced traditional school districts with schools operated by a combination of providers including for profit companies and charter schools.
4.2. School Finance Reforms
4.2.1. Abbot v. Burke - court case filed on behalf of several urban school districts to address inequality of education.
4.2.2. In 1990 the court ruled in favor of Abbott stating that the poorer school districts needed more funding, so funding was equalized between urban and suburban school districts.
4.2.3. In 1998 the state was required to provide supplemental programs, including preschool, and a plan to renovate urban schools.
4.2.4. In 2009 the New Jersey Supreme Court rolled back the Abbott decision through their finding as constitutional a new funding formula, SFRA. The program eliminated Abbott remedies and implemented a formula for allocating funding to all districts based on student needs. This approach would allow money to be used for all at risk children in the state.
4.3. Full Service and Community Schools
4.3.1. Plan to address education inequity to examine and plan to educate the child along with the whole community.
4.3.2. Focus on meeting students' and their families educational, physical, psychological, and social needs in a coordinated and collaborative fashion between school and community services.
4.3.3. Designed to target and improve at-risk neighborhoods, full service schools aim to prevent problems as well as to support them.
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. Major Stakeholders in My District
5.1.1. State Senator - Bill Holtzclaw (R-2) House of Representatives Speaker - Mac McCutcheon (R-25)
5.1.2. AL Superintendent of Education - Michael Sentance, Representative on AL School Board - Mary Scott Hunter
5.1.3. Madison City Superintendent - Robby Parker, Board Members: Dr. Terri Johnson, President Ms. Ranae Bartlett, Vice President Mrs. Connie Spears Mr. David Hergenroeder Mr. Tim Holtcamp
5.2. Elements of change within school processes and school cultures
5.2.1. Changing the cultures of schools requires patience, skill and good will. There are four elements of change that apply to all of the schools.
5.2.1.1. 1. Conflict is a necessary part of change. As change occurs conflict arises due to previously hidden problems, issues and disagreements coming to the surface
5.2.1.2. 2. New behaviors must be learned. The change process requires new relationships and behaviors. Building communication and trust, enabling leadership and initiative to emerge & learning techniques of communication, collaboration and conflict resolution.
5.2.1.3. 3. Team building must extend to entire school. Attention must be paid to relationships with all of the school's staff so that issues of exclusiveness and imagined elitism do not surface.
5.2.1.4. 4. Process and content are interrelated. The process a team uses in going about its work is as important as the content of educational change it attempts.
6. Equality of Opportunity
6.1. Factors that impact educational outcomes
6.1.1. Class
6.1.1.1. Children from wealthier families have more support to continue school beyond high school.
6.1.1.2. Children of upper or middle class families are expected to finish school, while children from lower classes have lower educational expectations.
6.1.1.3. Middle and upper class children are more likely to speak "standard" English which is an educational asset.
6.1.1.4. Studies have shown there is a direct correlation between parental income and the student's performance on standardized tests as well as placement in ability groups.
6.1.1.5. Facts and Figures Sheet details relationship between socioeconomic status and educational outcome
6.1.2. Race
6.1.2.1. An individual's race has a direct impact on how much education he will likely achieve.
6.1.2.2. Minorities have, on average, lower SAT scores than white students
6.1.2.3. Minorities do not receive the same educational opportunities as whites, and their rewards for educational attainment are significantly less.
6.1.3. Gender
6.1.3.1. Historically, gender was directly related to a student's educational attainment.
6.1.3.2. Today, females are less likely to drop out of school than males and more likely to have a higher reading and writing proficiency level than males
6.1.3.3. Males outperform females in mathematics proficiency.
6.1.3.4. .
6.2. Responses to Coleman Study (1982)
6.2.1. Round Two
6.2.1.1. The debate over the study's findings centered on the interpretations of the findings. Coleman and his associates saw some things as significant, which others argues were insignificant.
6.2.1.2. Other studies reached the same conclusion as the Coleman study, that private schools were more effective particularly for low-income students.
6.2.1.3. Private schools have organizational characteristics that are related to better student outcomes but it is still up for debate if the relationships are significant.
6.2.2. Round Three
6.2.2.1. The racial and socioeconomic composition of a school has a greater effect on student achievement than an individual's race and class
6.2.2.2. School segregation based on race and socioeconomic status within school interactions dominated by middle class values are largely responsible for gaps in student achievement
6.2.2.3. Concludes that education reform should work to eliminate segregation in the education system
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Reform Movements
7.1.1. The Age of Reform: The Rise of the Common School is a period of time between 1820 - 1860 during which enormous changes took place in the U.S.
7.1.1.1. Reformers thought that education was the path to fix many societal problems.
7.1.1.2. Horace Mann led the struggle for free public education, known as common school and became the first secretary for a newly formed state board of education in MA.
7.1.1.2.1. Some people opposed the idea of common school and felt that they should not be taxed if they were nonrecipients.
7.1.1.3. Traditionally, women did not attend school but by the middle of the 19th century some girls attended elementary schools and some even went to private academies, which were like secondary schools.
7.1.1.3.1. Between 1820 and 1870 many higher education schools were opened that served women such as Troy Female Seminary, Mount Holyoke Seminary, Oberlin Collegiate Institute, the University of Ohio, Vassar College, Wellesley College and Smith College.
7.1.1.4. Education for African Americans was severely limited during the time period before the Civil War.
7.1.1.4.1. In the court case, Roberts v. City of Boston, the court ruled that local schools were allowed to create separate facilities for whites and blacks.
7.1.2. Urbanization and the Progressive Impetus - In response to the First and Second Industrial Revolutions, an influx of immigrants settled in the urban areas to work in factories.
7.1.2.1. John Dewey was an U.S. philosopher whose influence on schooling is still felt today. He was associated with the Progressive Movement.
7.1.2.1.1. Dewey wanted to create a curriculum that took into account the child's interests and development level.
7.1.2.1.2. As Dewey's integrated curriculum emphasized the child's impulses, feelings and interests it became known as permissive.
7.1.2.2. By 1918 all states had compulsory school attendance laws. However, there was tension in society over the meaning and purpose of education.
7.1.2.2.1. A Committee of Ten issued a report supporting the academic purpose of secondary education and dismissed curricula differentiation. It proposed a liberal arts curriculum.
7.1.3. The Post World War II Equity Era: 1945-1980 was known as the time that expanded educational opportunities to the post-secondary level.
7.1.3.1. The 20th century was marked by reform cycles that revolved between progressive and traditional visions of schooling.
7.1.3.2. These debates ended as the U.S. came together in response to the Soviet launching of the space satellite Sputnik. The race for space resulted in a commitment to education.
7.1.3.2.1. .
7.1.3.3. By the mid-1960's, the shift in education moved again to the progressive side. This new progressivism developed as the U.S. was gripped by protests from anti-Vietnam war and Civil Rights movements.
7.1.3.4. After the Second World War, attention was once again focused on access of educational opportunity.
7.1.3.4.1. The GI Bill of rights offered servicemembers the opportunity to go to college. This bill was an important building block in the expansion of post-secondary education.
7.1.3.5. The issue of education inequality of the poor and disadvantage became the focus in the U.S. Between 1940-1950 conflicts arose due to school segregation and the relationship between race and education.
7.1.3.5.1. African Americans continue to experience vast inequities in the educational system. The 1896 court case, Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of "separate but equal' facilities. However, the schools were not equal.
7.1.3.6. During the 1960's, attention was focused on the underprivileged who were inadequately represented at the post secondary level.
7.1.3.6.1. Colleges and universities relaxed their standards of admission and adopted a policy of open enrollment.
7.1.3.6.2. In response to students being unprepared for study at the collegiate level, colleges offered remediation courses.
7.1.4. Educational Reaction and Reform and the Standards Era: 1980s-2012 - Critics of the reform movements of the 1960s argued that the result of the reform measures had resulted in a decline of authority and standards.
7.1.4.1. In 1983 a commission issued a scathing report of U.S. education titled 'A Nation at Risk'. This report cited adult illiteracy, lower SAT scores and an unfavorable comparison of the knowledge of U.S. students to international counterparts.
7.1.4.1.1. The commission offered 5 recommendations as a solution to the problems facing U.S. education
7.1.4.1.2. A 'new basics' curriculum was a standard to which all high school graduates should have a firm grasp on.
7.1.4.1.3. All schools expect students to reach a higher level of achievement and that post secondary schools raise admission requirements.
7.1.4.1.4. More time given to teaching the 'new basics'.
7.1.4.1.5. Teachers are prepared better and that the teaching career is made more respected and rewarded.
7.1.4.1.6. Citizens hold their representatives responsible for supporting and funding these reforms.
7.1.4.2. In the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, a number of reforms were introduced to try to balance equity and excellence.
7.1.4.2.1. President Clinton's Goals 2000 in 1994
7.1.4.2.2. President G.W. Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2001
7.1.4.2.3. President Obama Race to the Top (RTT) in 2009
7.1.4.3. A movement for school choice arose that wanted to give parents the right to choose where their child attends school.
7.1.4.3.1. There are two camps in the choice movement. One supports public school choice only which would give parents the right to choose which public school their child would attend. The other camp would include the choice of private schools.
7.1.4.4. The most important and controversial reform is the creation of charter schools. They act independently of local school districts but receive public funding.
7.1.4.4.1. Charter schools became increasingly popular and RTT increased federal support for charter schools.
7.2. Historical Interpretations of U.S. education go back to the arguments between equity and excellence, between the social and intellectual functions of schooling and in the reponse to question about who should be educated and in whose interest education lies.
7.2.1. The Democratic-Liberal School presumes that U.S. educational history involves the progressive evolution of schools that strive to provide an equal education to all
7.2.1.1. Believe that at each turn in the path of educational expansion was an attempt of liberal reformers to expand opportunities for education to more Americans and to reject conservatives thoughts that schooling should be reserved for only those who merit it.
7.2.1.2. Historians such as Ellwood Cubberly, Merle Curti and Lawrence A. Cremin subscribed to this view
7.2.1.2.1. Cubberly and Curit thought that the Common School Era was a victory for democratic movements and spurred the opening of education for all.
7.2.1.2.2. Lawrence A. Cremin believed that the best part of U.S. education is its commitment to popularization and multitudinousness. Cremin set forth that the U.S. educational history expanded both opportunity and purpose.
7.2.2. The Radical-Revisionist School produced a history of education that was much more critical than the Democratic-Liberal version.
7.2.2.1. Historians such as Michael Katz, Joel Spring and Clarence Karier agree that the educational system has expanded but that it has done so for different reasons and with different results.
7.2.2.1.1. Radical historians believe that the educational system has expanded to cater to the needs of society's elites to control the working class and for economic efficiency and productivity.
7.2.2.2. Radicals believe that the expanded opportunity did not produce egalitarian results. They think that each period of educational reform only served to widen the gap between the higher and lower socioeconomic students.
7.2.3. The Conservative Perspectives - Conservative critics argued that students in the U.S. did not know a lot and that the schools were mediocre.
7.2.3.1. Critics such as Diane Ravitch and E.D. Hirsch, Jr. agreed with the Democratic-Liberal goal of equal opportunity and upward mobility through education. But, they also thought that the attention paid to social and political objectives caused harm to the traditional academic goals.
7.2.3.2. Ravitch felt that the idea of using education to solve social problems has not worked and actually undermined educational excellence.
7.2.3.3. Ravitch believed that the progressive reforms caused a failure in the traditional role of school of passing on the culture which produced students who do not know their heritage.
8. Curriculum and Pedagogy
8.1. Developmentalist Curriculum
8.1.1. Focuses on the needs and interests of the student instead of the needs of society
8.1.2. Corresponds to Dewey's idea of the relationship between the child and the curriculum, which emphasizes the process of teaching as well as the content.
8.1.3. Stressed flexibility in what was taught and how it was taught with emphasis on the development of each student's individual capacities
8.1.4. Thought it was important to relate schooling to the life experiences of each child so that education would come alive
8.1.5. Teacher's role is that of a facilitator of student growth rather than a transmitter of knowledge
8.1.6. Not very influential in public schools, but had a profound impact in teacher education programs and independent or alternative schools
8.2. Mimetic Tradition of Teaching
8.2.1. Mimetic tradition loosely coincides with the traditional or conservative model
8.2.2. Based on the viewpoint that the purpose of education is to transmit specific knowledge to students
8.2.3. Uses the didactic method which relies on the lecture or presentation as the main form of communication.
8.2.3.1. .
8.2.4. Involves the relationship between the teacher as the knower and the student as the learner, where the teacher transfers information to the student
8.3. Transformative Tradition of Teaching
8.3.1. Defines the function of education more broadly than the mimetic tradition
8.3.2. Believe that the purpose of education is to change the student intellectually, creatively, spiritually or emotionally.
8.3.3. Do not see the transmission of knowledge as the only component of education and provides a more multi-dimensional theory of teaching.
8.3.4. The process of teaching involves conversation between the teacher and student so that the student becomes an integral part of the learning process
8.3.5. The dialectical method, which involves the use of questioning, is at the core of its methodology.
9. Educational Inequality
9.1. Four School Centered Explanations for Educational Inequality - School centered explanations suggest the school processes are central to understanding unequal educational performance.
9.1.1. School Financing - Jonathan Kozol wrote a book that compared public schools in higher income areas with schools in poor inner cities. His book documented the differences between these types of school districts and called for equal school financing.
9.1.1.1. The money for public schools comes from local, state and federal revenue sources. The majority comes from state and local taxes. The local tax is a property tax which is based on the value of property in the community. Since affluent communities have higher property taxes, they raise more money for the schools.
9.1.1.1.1. .
9.1.1.2. Individual states have attempted to decrease inequalities in school financing though the use of foundation state aid programs. These programs try to make sue that all districts get a minimum standard of funding, with more state aid going to the poorer districts.
9.1.2. Effective School Research - studies by Coleman and Jencks have shown that the differences in school resources and quality do not adequately explain between-school differences in academic achievement
9.1.2.1. This research compounded the issue for teachers. If student differences are more important than school differences then teachers cannot be held responsible for low academic achievement of non-white or working class students.
9.1.2.1.1. However, if schools' effects are not significant, then schools and teachers will be hard pressed to make a discernible positive difference.
9.1.2.2. The evidence has shown that within-school differences are as or more significant than between-school differences. These findings raised questions about the beliefs that students who attend inferior schools and are from a lower socioeconomic class do poorly in school simply because of where they go to school.
9.1.2.2.1. Ronald Edmonds thought that research was needed to compare schools within the loser socioeconomic communities also.
9.1.3. Between-School Differences: Curriculum and Pedagogic Practices - Research has found that schools do affect educational outcomes
9.1.3.1. One task to understand is why a bigger percentage of students who go to schools in higher socioeconomic communities do better in school.
9.1.3.1.1. Bernstein conducted a study that suggested that schools in working-class communities had authoritarian and teacher-directed pedagogic practices, with a vocational curriculum in secondary schools.
9.1.3.1.2. Bernstein found that schools in middle class communities are less authoritarian and more student-centered pedagogic practices, with a college prep curriculum at the secondary level.
9.1.3.1.3. Finally, Berstein's study showed that upper class students were more likely to go to a elite private school with authoritarian pedagogic practices and a classical humanistic college prep curriculum in secondary schools.
9.1.3.1.4. More research is needed to explain why the differences exist and what are the effects on academic achievement of students.
9.1.3.2. .
9.1.4. Within-School Differences: Curriculum and Ability Grouping - The fact that different groups of students in the same schools perform differently suggests that school characteristics may affect these outcomes.
9.1.4.1. In the US, ability grouping and curriculum grouping, (tracking), is used. In elementary schools, students are divided into reading groups or separate classes based on several factors. All of the different groups receive the same curriculum but it may be taught differently.
9.1.4.1.1. In secondary schools, students ae divided by both ability and curriculum, with different groups of students receiving different types of education within the same school.
9.1.4.2. Tracking is a topic that is debated by teachers, administrators and researchers. Is it necessary and efficient? Critics say that homogenous grouping results in unequal education for different groups, with differences in academic outcomes often due to the differences in school climate, expectations, pedagogic practices, and curriculum between tracks.
9.1.4.2.1. Much of tracking debate is emotional and ideological. Both sides of the debate do not have evidence to back up their position.
9.1.4.2.2. .
9.2. Cultural Deprivation Theory - suggests that working class and minority families lack cultural resources such as books and therefore begin school at a disadvantage
9.2.1. Those who subscribe to the cultural deprivation theory believe that the underprivileged class have a deprived culture, lacking the value system the middle class has.
9.2.2. This perspective asserts that those in the middle class value hard work and initiative, the delay of immediate gratification for future reward and believe that school is important for future success
9.2.3. The culture of poverty has the opposite perspective. The lower class culture does not delay gratification for immediate reward, they do not value hard work or initiative as required for success and do not think school is important for upward mobility.
9.2.3.1. .
9.2.4. This deprivation produces students who are at a disadvantage and achieve poorly because they have not acquired skills and disposition required for satisfactory academic achievement.
9.3. Cultural Difference Theory - agrees that there are cultural and family differences between working class, minority students and white middle class students.
9.3.1. Also agree that those students begin school lacking skills and dispositions the school expects. However, these dificiencies are not caused by their home life but because they are a member of the oppressed minority.
9.3.2. The key difference is that cultural difference theorists do not lay blame for educational problems on working class and non-white families, but instead believe it stems from social forces like poverty, racism, discrimination and unequal life chances.