1. Schools as Organizations
1.1. Major Stakeholders
1.1.1. State Senator
1.1.1.1. Senator Tim Melson
1.1.2. State Represenative
1.1.2.1. Representative Danny Crawford
1.1.3. State Superindentdent
1.1.3.1. Thomas Bice
1.1.4. State School Board Representative
1.1.4.1. Mary Scott Hunter
1.1.5. Local Superintendent
1.1.5.1. Dr. Trey Holiday III
1.1.6. Local School Board (Athens City)
1.1.6.1. Russell Johnson
1.1.6.2. Beverly Malone
1.1.6.3. Tim Green
1.1.6.4. Michael Scott Henry
1.1.6.5. James Lucas
1.1.6.6. Jennifer Manville
1.1.6.7. Dr. Christopher Browning Paysinger
1.2. Elements of Change
1.2.1. Conflict Management
1.2.1.1. Democratization of schools must allow previous issues to surface which often leads to conflict
1.2.1.2. Staff must be able to deal with and resolve conflicts
1.2.2. New Behaviors
1.2.2.1. Process of change must include
1.2.2.1.1. Building communication and trust
1.2.2.1.2. Enabling leadership and initiative to emerge
1.2.2.1.3. Learning techniques of communication, collaboration and conflict resolution
1.2.3. Team Building
1.2.3.1. Must include entire school
1.2.3.1.1. Avoid resistance to change
1.2.4. Process and Content are interrelated
1.2.4.1. The process used is as important as the content being taught.
1.2.4.1.1. Effectiveness of projects will impact future collaboration among staff
2. Equality of Opportunity
2.1. Impact on Educational Outcomes
2.1.1. Class
2.1.1.1. Expense
2.1.1.1.1. Upper and middle class families more likely to be able to afford and have high expectations
2.1.1.1.2. Working and low class families often can not afford education, especially higher education, and thus have lower expectations
2.1.1.2. Language skills
2.1.1.2.1. Higher class students generally speak better English than lower class students
2.1.2. Race
2.1.2.1. Lower drop out rates for white students versus African-American and Hispanic-American students
2.1.2.2. Higher literacy rates for white students as opposed to African-American or Hispanic-American students
2.1.3. Gender
2.1.3.1. Females less likely to drop out of school than males
2.1.3.2. Females have better levels of reading proficiency and writting
2.1.3.3. Males have better proficiency in Mathematics
2.2. Responses to the Coleman study of 1982
2.2.1. Jenks (1985)
2.2.1.1. Estimated yearly average achievement gain by public and Catholic school students was tiny.
2.2.1.2. Differences are statistically significant, but negligible in actual learning
2.2.2. Borman and Dowling (2010)
2.2.2.1. Partial confirmation of Coleman's work
2.2.2.2. Where one goes to school often determined by their social class and race, thus are predictors of academic success
3. Educational Inequality
3.1. Student-centered Explanations
3.1.1. Cultural Deprivation Theory
3.1.1.1. Coleman's work did not adequately explain underachievement by working class and non-white students based on school differences.
3.1.1.2. Working class and non-white students lack the educational stimuli at home, and are at a disadvantage even before arriving at school.
3.1.1.3. Deprived culture lacks middle class value system
3.1.1.4. Blames family situation for poor performance in school, not the school or teachers.
3.1.2. Cultural Difference Theory
3.1.2.1. Working class and non-white students arrive at school already disadvantaged, not because of their family situation, but because they are part of a minority
3.1.2.2. Does not blame the family, rather the social forces out of the families control, like racism, discrimination, and poverty.
3.1.2.3. Students might resist the dominant culture of their school.
3.1.2.4. John Ogbu
3.1.2.4.1. African-American students do worse in school because they adapt to oppressed standing
3.1.2.4.2. For success they must deny their own culture and accept white middle-class culture.
3.1.2.5. Berstein
3.1.2.5.1. Theorizes that working class studnet in England have different language and communication
3.2. School-centered Explanations
3.2.1. School FInancing
3.2.1.1. Based of tax revenue in most cases
3.2.1.1.1. Property tax is large part of school funding
3.2.1.2. Several court cases concerning the legality of using property tax to fund schools
3.2.1.2.1. Supreme Court ruled that although unfair, it was not unconstituntional
3.2.2. Effective School Research
3.2.2.1. Characteristics of effective schools
3.2.2.1.1. A climate of high expectations for students and teachers
3.2.2.1.2. Strong leadership
3.2.2.1.3. Accountabilty
3.2.2.1.4. Monitor student learning
3.2.2.1.5. High amount of instructional time
3.2.2.1.6. Flexibility to adapt by teachers and administrators
3.2.3. Between School Differences
3.2.3.1. Working class schools are more likely to have:
3.2.3.1.1. Authoritarian instructors
3.2.3.1.2. Teacher Directed Pedagogy
3.2.3.1.3. Vocational cirrculum
3.2.3.2. Middle class schools are more likely to have;
3.2.3.2.1. Less authoritarian instruction
3.2.3.2.2. Student centered pedagogy
3.2.3.2.3. College preparatory cirrculum
3.2.4. Within School Differences
3.2.4.1. Students may be divided into groups based on ability or cirrculum
3.2.4.1.1. Elementary
3.2.4.1.2. Secondary
4. Education Reform
4.1. School Based Reform
4.1.1. School-to-work programs
4.1.1.1. Stressed importance of work based learning
4.1.1.2. Allowed students to explore different careers and what skills were necessary for each
4.1.1.3. Obtain skills from both structured training and work based learning
4.1.1.4. Valued credentials, industry benchmarks and standards
4.1.1.5. Has to include
4.1.1.5.1. School-based learning
4.1.1.5.2. Work-based learning
4.1.1.5.3. Connecting activities
4.1.2. Teacher Quality
4.1.2.1. Teachers must be highly qualified
4.1.2.1.1. That is still not enough in some cases because teachers might be put into classes where they are not properly trained to teach the subject matter.
4.1.2.2. More out of field teachers in urban schools
4.1.2.3. Union contracts can hurt teacher quality
4.1.2.3.1. Tenure - Schools are unable to get a qualified teacher to replace a teacher who is not qualified
4.2. Societal, Economic, Community or Political Reform
4.2.1. School Finance Reform
4.2.1.1. Tries to find ways to balance school funding between affluent and poor school districts.
4.2.1.2. Court cases in several states led to laws that required equal funding for all schools
4.2.2. Full Service and Community Schools
4.2.2.1. Plans to educate the whole community, not just the children
4.2.2.1.1. Attempts to meet the students and families needs
4.2.2.2. Schools are open after hours and serve as a community center, providing
4.2.2.2.1. Adult education
4.2.2.2.2. Health clinics
4.2.2.2.3. Recreation
4.2.2.2.4. Mental health services
4.2.2.2.5. Job training and placement services
4.2.2.2.6. Tutoring
5. Curriculum and Pedagogy
5.1. Developmental Curriculum
5.1.1. Focused on the needs of students not the needs of society
5.1.2. Based on aspects of both Dewy's and Piaget's work
5.1.3. Student centered
5.1.4. Relates school to life experiences, make lesson come alive
5.1.5. Not very influential in public schools, more widely used in private schools.
5.2. Dominant Traditions of Teaching
5.2.1. Mimetic
5.2.1.1. Purpose is to transmit specific knowledge to students.
5.2.1.2. Didactic method - Lecture or presentation as main focus of class
5.2.1.3. Teacher centered
5.2.2. Transformative
5.2.2.1. Purpose is to meaningfully change the student
5.2.2.2. More multidimensional theory of teaching.
5.2.2.3. Teaching and learning are inextricably llinked
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Purposes of Education
6.1.1. Intelectual
6.1.1.1. To teach specific subject matter to students, reading, writing, mathematics.
6.1.1.2. To help students gain the ability for higher level reasoning.
6.1.2. Political
6.1.2.1. To introduce students to the political order of the day
6.1.2.2. To ensure students know the basic laws of society.
6.1.3. Social
6.1.3.1. Socialization
6.1.3.1.1. To work on social issues
6.1.3.1.2. Work with other institutions like the family or church to promote unity
6.1.3.1.3. To guide children into various social roles
6.1.4. Economic
6.1.4.1. Allow students to begin to choose what profession they would like to pursue
6.1.4.2. To begin to train students for chosen fields
6.2. Conservative Perspective
6.2.1. The role of the school
6.2.1.1. Provides training to the best and brightest to ensure they go on to lead the free market society
6.2.1.2. To socialize children into adult roles for maintaining social order
6.2.1.3. Teaching cultural traditions
6.2.2. Explanation for unequal performance
6.2.2.1. Success or failure based on individuals or groups own effort
6.2.2.2. School allows students the chance to succeed or fail
6.2.3. Definition of educational problems
6.2.3.1. The decline of standards
6.2.3.1.1. Caused by liberal demands for greater equality in the 1960s and 1970s leading to lower standards
6.2.3.2. The decline of cultural literacy
6.2.3.2.1. Weakened curriculum due to demands to be more multicultural
6.2.3.3. The decline of civilization
6.2.3.3.1. Result of demands to teach more cultural relativism
6.2.3.4. The decline of authority
6.2.3.4.1. Schools no longer have the discipline of the past as a result of demand for more freedom
6.2.3.5. Schools are hindered by inefficiency and bureaucracy
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. The Standards Era; 1980s-2012
7.1.1. Conservative reaction to reforms of the 1960s and 1970s
7.1.2. Blamed liberal reforms of 60s and 70s for a decline in authority and standards
7.1.3. Using schools to address social problems led to mass meriocrity
7.1.4. 1983 report "A Nation at Risk" by Secretary of Education Terrel Bell
7.1.4.1. New high school graduation standards "new basics"
7.1.4.1.1. four years of English
7.1.4.1.2. three years of mathematics
7.1.4.1.3. three years of science
7.1.4.1.4. three years of social studies
7.1.4.1.5. half year of computer science
7.1.4.2. New achievement expectations form schools and college admission standards.
7.1.4.3. More time spent teaching the new basics
7.1.4.4. Teacher preparation be improved and teaching become a more respected and rewarded profession
7.1.4.5. Require elected officials to support the program
7.1.5. Reforms of the 1980s expanded
7.1.5.1. 1994 President Clinton's Goals 2000
7.1.5.2. 2001 President Bush's No Child Left Behind
7.1.5.3. 2009 President Obama'a Race to the Top
7.1.6. School choice movement
7.1.6.1. Supporters want parents to be able to choose their child's school regardless of district lines
7.1.6.1.1. Two divisions of this movements
7.2. Conservative Perspective of Education
7.2.1. In the 1980s conservative critics argued that U.S. students knew very little and schools were medicore
7.2.1.1. Supported by
7.2.1.1.1. William Bennett
7.2.1.1.2. Chester Funn Jr.
7.2.1.1.3. Diane Ravitch
7.2.1.1.4. E.D. Hirsch Jr.
7.2.1.1.5. Allan Bloom
8. Philosophy of Education
8.1. Existentialism
8.1.1. Generic Notions
8.1.1.1. Modern philosophy
8.1.1.2. Individualistic philosophy
8.1.1.3. Questions asked pertain to the impact on lives of individuals
8.1.1.4. Individuals are alone and must make sense of the chaos they encounter in the world
8.1.1.5. "existence precedes essence"
8.1.1.6. Individuals are constantly creating chaos, order, good and evil
8.1.1.7. Founder Soren Kierkergaard proposed "a great leap of faith" to lead to acceptance of existence of God
8.1.2. Key Researchers
8.1.2.1. Soren Kierkegaard
8.1.2.2. Martin Buber
8.1.2.3. Karl Jaspers
8.1.2.4. Jean Paul Sartre
8.1.2.5. Maxine Greene
8.1.3. Goal of Education
8.1.3.1. Focus on the needs of individuals
8.1.3.2. Should stress individuality
8.1.3.3. Discuss both rational and non-rational worlds
8.1.3.4. Tensions of living in the world should be addressed
8.1.4. Role of the teacher
8.1.4.1. Teachers should understand their own and their students "lived worlds" to help them achieve the best possible outcomes
8.1.4.2. Take risk
8.1.4.3. Work to enable students
8.1.4.4. Introspection is important
8.1.4.5. Intensely personal
8.1.5. Method of instruction
8.1.5.1. Totally abhor current methods of education being taught
8.1.5.2. Intensely personal
8.1.5.3. Up to teacher to discover each child's learning style
8.1.5.4. Buber wrote about I-Thou style
8.1.5.4.1. Teachers and students learn from each other
8.1.5.4.2. More a partnership than traditional instructor-pupil relationship
8.1.6. Curriculum
8.1.6.1. Biased towards humanities
8.1.6.2. Literature especially important
8.1.6.3. Art, drama and music also able to encourage personal interaction
9. Sociology of Education
9.1. Sociological Perspectives
9.1.1. Functionalism
9.1.1.1. Interdependence of social system
9.1.1.2. Society is a machine
9.1.1.3. Emilie Durkheim
9.1.1.3.1. "Moral Education"
9.1.1.3.2. "The Evolution of Educated Thought"
9.1.1.3.3. "Education and Sociology"
9.1.1.4. consensus is the normal state, conflict is a breakdown
9.1.1.5. Schools socialize students into appropriate values.
9.1.2. Conflict Theory
9.1.2.1. Dominate groups impose their will on subordinate groups
9.1.2.2. Karl Marx
9.1.2.2.1. intellectual founder of conflict theory in sociology of education
9.1.2.2.2. Proletariat would rise up and overthrow capitalism
9.1.2.3. Max Webber
9.1.2.3.1. Believed that power relations structured socitey
9.1.2.3.2. Studied status cultures as well as class position as sociological factors
9.1.2.4. Willare Waller
9.1.2.4.1. "The Sociology of Teaching"
9.1.2.4.2. Schools are oppressive and demeaning
9.1.2.4.3. noncompliance is a form of resistance
9.1.2.5. Randall Collins
9.1.2.5.1. Status group struggle
9.1.2.5.2. Educational credentials are status symbols, not indicators of achievement
9.1.3. Interactionalism
9.1.3.1. Extensions of Functionalism or Conflict Theory
9.1.3.2. Basil Bernstein
9.1.3.2.1. Speech patterns reflect students social class
9.1.3.2.2. Working class students disadvantaged, due to schools being middle class organizations
9.2. Effects of Schooling
9.2.1. Employment
9.2.1.1. College graduation leads to more employment opportunities
9.2.1.1.1. 54% of 8 million college students entered professional or technical jobs in 1986
9.2.1.2. Amount of Education only weakly affects job performance
9.2.1.2.1. Berg (1970) education unrelated to job performance across a wide variety of fields
9.2.1.3. Academic credentials lead to better paying jobs, regardless of performance
9.2.1.3.1. in 2011 a high school graduated averaged $32.552, opposed to a college graduate on average $53,976.
9.2.2. Education and Mobility
9.2.2.1. Education is the 'great equalizer" in the American status race
9.2.2.1.1. Means more to middle-class than rich or poor
9.2.2.2. Where education comes from matters as much or more as how much education
9.2.2.2.1. A Private school high school diploma more impressive than a public school one
9.2.3. Teacher Behavior
9.2.3.1. Teachers will have thousands of contacts with students
9.2.3.2. Teachers take on many roles in the class
9.2.3.2.1. Instructor
9.2.3.2.2. Disciplinarian
9.2.3.2.3. Friend
9.2.3.2.4. Educator
9.2.3.3. Teacher expectations play a big part in student development
9.2.3.3.1. Demanding more and praising for results can have positive impact on students learning
9.2.4. Peer Groups and Alienation
9.2.4.1. Social structure of schools
9.2.4.1.1. Athletes, attractive and "cool" kids on one side
9.2.4.1.2. Nerds, unpopular on other side
9.2.4.2. Violence in schools
9.2.4.2.1. Attacks on students and teachers by other students
9.2.4.2.2. Not directly related to class size, an effect of society, the violence students are exposed to on television, movies, video games
9.2.4.3. Student groups in college
9.2.4.3.1. Careerists
9.2.4.3.2. Intellectuals
9.2.4.3.3. Strivers
9.2.4.3.4. Unconnected
9.2.5. De Facto Segregation
9.2.5.1. Comes about as a result of school districts being dominated by one racial or ethnic group
9.2.5.1.1. Not an attempt to force minority students into different schools
9.2.5.2. Neighborhoods tend to be the same race, class, ethnic people
9.2.5.3. Integration benefits minority students, without damaging the achievements of the majority