1. elementary and secondary school systems are extremely large
2. Project specifications
3. Politics of Education
3.1. Political Perspectives
3.1.1. Liberal
3.1.1.1. 20th century origins
3.1.1.2. balancing the economic productivity of capitalism with the social and economic needs of the people
3.1.1.3. groups rather than individuals are affected by the social structure
3.1.1.4. between progressive and traditional vision of education
3.1.2. Radical
3.1.2.1. democratic socialism
3.1.2.2. Karl Marx
3.1.2.3. blame capitalist system for social problems
3.1.2.4. Progressive vision of education
3.1.3. Neo-Liberal
3.1.3.1. a synthesis of conservative and liberal perspectives
3.1.3.2. reform
3.1.3.3. federal, state and local policy
3.1.3.4. No Child Left Behind Act
3.1.3.5. 1. Austerity
3.1.3.5.1. cutting public spending on education
3.1.3.6. 2. Market Model
3.1.3.6.1. charter schools
3.1.3.6.2. vouchers for private school attendance
3.1.3.7. 3. Individualism
3.1.3.7.1. individual effort
3.1.3.8. 4. State intervention
3.1.3.8.1. school closings
3.1.3.8.2. support and reward success
3.1.3.9. 5. Economic prosperity, race and class
3.1.3.9.1. elimination of gaps
3.1.3.9.2. education is key to global economic competitiveness
3.1.4. Conservative
3.1.4.1. 19th century origins
3.1.4.2. Charles Darwin
3.1.4.3. William Graham Sumner
3.1.4.4. must compete to survive
3.1.4.5. individual initiative and drive
3.1.4.6. Traditional vision of education
3.2. Policies
3.2.1. Education Acts of 1963, 1984, 1998
3.2.2. School to Work Opportunity Act of 94
3.2.3. Head Start in 1965
3.2.4. No Child Left Behind Act
3.2.5. Causes low quality schooling in urban areas
3.2.6. poverty
3.2.6.1. prevent students' full cognitive growth
3.2.6.2. depression
3.2.6.3. test scores
3.2.7. A new education policy paradigm
3.2.7.1. legislate a significantly higher living wage
3.2.7.2. tax the wealthy
3.2.7.3. more neighborhood, family and student involvement
3.2.7.4. promotes equity-seeking change
4. Sociological Perspectives
4.1. theoretical perspectives
4.1.1. functional theories
4.1.1.1. view society as a machine
4.1.1.2. technically advanced, rational and social unity based curricula
4.1.2. conflict theories
4.1.2.1. dependent on dominant groups to impose their will on subordinate groups
4.1.2.2. class system made conflict inevitable
4.1.2.3. Weberian approach
4.1.2.3.1. education expansion is best explained by status group struggle
4.1.2.3.2. a diploma is simply a status symbol
4.1.2.4. schools pass on social identities that either enhance or hinder their life chances
4.1.3. interactional theories
4.1.3.1. critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict theories
4.1.3.2. the "big picture"
4.2. Effects of schooling
4.2.1. knowledge and attitudes
4.2.1.1. the more education, the more likely they are to read newspapers, books, and magazines and take part in public affairs
4.2.2. greater employment ratings
4.2.3. social mobility increases
4.3. Inside the schools
4.3.1. teacher behavior is critical
4.3.1.1. challenge the students
4.3.1.2. high expectations
4.3.2. Peer groups and alienation
4.3.2.1. labels
4.3.2.2. violence
4.3.2.3. bullying
4.4. Education and Inequality
4.4.1. essentially 5 classes
4.4.1.1. social class gaps
4.4.2. Inadequacy
4.4.2.1. urban education
4.4.3. Tracking
4.4.3.1. the placing of students in curricular programs based on their abilities and inclinations
4.4.3.2. directly affects cognitive development due to discrimination
4.4.4. De facto segregation
4.4.4.1. our schools might not be officially racially segregated but our neighborhoods are and our schools are divided off by our neighborhoods, so in effect, our schools are racially segregated
4.4.5. gender
4.4.5.1. girls start out ahead socially and cognitively of boys, but when they graduate high school, they have low self esteem and have lower aspirations
4.4.5.2. gender gap between teachers and administration
4.4.5.3. traditionally biased text
4.5. Current Education crisis
4.5.1. atleast one third of the nation's children are at risk of failing in school
4.5.2. one fourth of all american preschoolers live in poverty
4.5.3. atleast 2 million school age children have no adult supervision at home
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. The Structure of US Education
5.1.1. the states remain authority and responsibility
5.1.2. tax payers
5.1.3. average number of students per classroom increases
5.1.4. more diverse student composition
5.1.5. private schools are under very little state regulation
5.2. International Comparisons
5.2.1. the US system is more inclusive than that of other countries
5.2.2. Great Britain
6. Equality of Opportunity
7. Educational Inequality
8. Educational Reform
9. helps teachers in understanding
9.1. 1. who they are or intend to be
9.2. 2. why they do or propose to do what they do
10. History of US Education
10.1. Colonial Era
10.1.1. saw education as a means of perpetuating the ruling class
10.1.2. utilitarianism
10.1.2.1. Benjamin Franklin
10.1.2.2. self improvement
10.1.3. Thomas Jefferson
10.1.4. Aristocratic
10.1.4.1. Boys- reading, writing and math
10.1.4.2. Girls- dancing and music
10.1.5. Slave schools
10.2. Age of Reform
10.2.1. Horace Mann- free public education
10.2.1.1. Stability and order
10.2.1.2. Social mobility
10.2.2. Morrill Act 1862
10.2.3. Women and African Americans
10.2.3.1. too stressful for women
10.2.3.2. forbade teaching of reading and writing to African-Americans
10.2.3.3. 13th amendment freed slaves
10.3. Urbanization
10.3.1. large number of immigrants
10.3.2. Progressive movement of 1900 -1914
10.3.2.1. government regulation of industry and commerce, as well as natural resources
10.3.2.2. John Dewey
10.3.2.2.1. curriculum
10.3.2.2.2. philosophy and pedagogy
10.3.2.2.3. active learning
10.3.3. Social Engineering reform
10.3.3.1. Edward L. Thorndike
10.3.3.2. organism's response to the environement
10.3.3.3. abilities and talents based
10.3.4. Main goals of secondary education
10.3.4.1. health
10.3.4.2. command of fundamental processes
10.3.4.3. worth home membership
10.3.4.4. vocation
10.3.4.5. citizenship
10.3.4.6. worthy use of leisure
10.3.4.7. ethical character
10.4. Equity Era
10.4.1. Progressive
10.4.1.1. experiential education
10.4.1.2. relative curriculum based on individuals' needs
10.4.2. Opportunity
10.4.2.1. unequal
10.4.2.2. became a focal point for civil rights movement
10.4.2.3. Plessy vs. Ferguson
10.4.2.4. Brown vs. Board of Education
10.5. Reform and the Standards Era
10.5.1. allows parents to choose where their child goes to school
10.5.2. enhanced school accountability partnership
10.6. Interpretations
10.6.1. tensions between equity and excellence
10.6.2. radical view
10.6.2.1. expansion of education imposed on the poor and blue collar class
10.6.2.2. more pessimistic
10.6.3. conservative
10.6.3.1. blames system fro valuing skills over content
11. Philosophy of Education
11.1. firmly rooted in practice
11.2. metaphysics
11.2.1. encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve the desired goals
11.2.2. branch of philosophy that concerns itself with questions about the nature of reality
11.3. epistemology
11.3.1. concerns itself with the nature of values
11.4. Particular philosophies of education
11.4.1. idealism
11.4.1.1. Plato
11.4.1.2. questioning about life choices
11.4.1.3. saw education as a means of moving individuals toward achieving the good
11.4.1.4. search for truth through ideas rather than examination
11.4.1.5. teachers play an active role in the classroom
11.4.1.6. reminiscence- role of a teacher to bring out that which is already in the student's mind
11.4.1.7. all of today's problems have answers in the past
11.4.1.8. back to the basics
11.4.2. realism
11.4.2.1. believe only ideas are real
11.4.2.2. balance is key
11.4.2.3. neo-thomism
11.4.2.3.1. employed reason as a means of ascertaining or understanding truth
11.4.2.3.2. Thomas Aquinas
11.4.2.4. modern realism focuses on reflection
11.4.2.5. contemporary realists see education as helping individuals understand and then apply science and use it to solve the world's problems
11.4.2.6. solid grounding in math, science and humanities
11.4.2.7. lecture and question-and-answer teaching method
11.4.2.8. basic curricula
11.4.3. Pragmatism
11.4.3.1. inductive reasoning
11.4.3.2. Rousseau focused on environment and experience
11.4.3.3. progressive education
11.4.3.3.1. John Dewey
11.4.3.3.2. child centered
11.4.3.3.3. social reconstructionism
11.4.3.3.4. the attainment of a better society through education
11.4.3.3.5. start with the needs and interests of the students
11.4.3.3.6. balance the need of society and community with the needs of of the individual
11.4.3.3.7. goal was to integrate students into a democratic society
11.4.3.3.8. primary role was growth
11.4.3.3.9. teacher is a facilitator not an authority figure
11.4.3.3.10. hands on teaching method
11.4.4. Existentialism and Phenomenology
11.4.4.1. roots can be traced back to the Bible and 19th century philosophy
11.4.4.2. focus on the phenomena of consciousness, perception, and meaning
11.4.4.3. figuring out the chaos we call life
11.4.4.4. education should focus on the needs of the individual, both cognitively and affectively and stressed the need of individuallism
11.4.4.5. teachers should be very open and personal with the students
11.4.4.6. each child has a different learning style
11.4.4.7. humanities driven curricula
11.4.5. Neo-Marxism
11.4.5.1. Karl Marx
11.4.5.2. radical critique of capitalism
11.4.5.3. history of civilization was defined by class struggle
11.4.5.4. ideal society produced sufficient economic resources to allow all of its citizens to live productive decent lives
11.4.5.5. reproduction theories
11.4.5.5.1. role of education is to reproduce the economic, social, and political status quo
11.4.5.6. resistance theories
11.4.5.6.1. question reproduction theories
11.4.5.6.2. believe the process of education contains the tools to enable individuals both to understand weaknesses in ideology and to construct alternative visions and possibilities
11.4.5.7. teacher must be a "transformative intellectual"
11.4.5.8. question-and-answer method
11.4.5.9. curriculum is not objective but socially constructed
11.4.6. Postmodernist and Critical Theory
11.4.6.1. developed from profound dissatisfaction with modernism
11.4.6.2. calls for teachers and students to explore the differences between what may seem like inherently contradictory positions in an effort to achieve understanding, respect, and change
11.4.6.3. respect to curriculum and pedagogy