1. Politics of Education
1.1. The 4 purposes of education
1.1.1. The Intellectual purpose
1.1.1.1. To teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics
1.1.2. The political purpose
1.1.2.1. To inculcate allegiance to the existing political order
1.1.3. The Social purpose
1.1.3.1. To help solve social problems
1.1.4. The Economical purpose
1.1.4.1. To prepare students for their later occupational roles and to select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor.
1.2. The Role of the School
1.2.1. The Conservative Perspective
1.2.1.1. Sees the role of the school as providing the necessary educational training to ensure that the most talented and hard-working individuals receive the tools necessary to maximize economic and social productivity
1.2.1.1.1. The conservative perspective views the role of the school as essential to both economic productivity and social stability
1.3. Explanations of Unequal Educational Performance
1.3.1. The Liberal Perspective
1.3.1.1. Argues that individual students or groups of students begin school with different life chances and therefore some groups have significantly more advantages than others
1.3.1.1.1. Suggesting that society must attempt through polices and programs to equalize the playing field so that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have a better chance.
1.4. Definition of Educational Problems
1.4.1. The Radical Perspective
1.4.1.1. The educational system has failed the poor, minorities, and women through classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic policies.
1.4.1.2. The Schools have stifled critical understanding of the problems of American society through curriculum and teaching practices that promote conformity
1.4.1.3. The traditional curriculum is classist, racist, sexist, and homophobic and leaves out cultures, histories, and voices of the oppressed.
1.4.1.4. In general the educational system promotes inequality of both opportunity and results
2. History of Education
2.1. The Standards Era 1980s-2012
2.1.1. Claimed a "rising tide of mediocrity threatens our future as a nation"
2.1.1.1. Recommended that high schools increase their expectations of students, colleges increase their entrance requirements.
2.1.1.1.1. Citizens required politicians to support education
2.1.1.1.2. More time in class to teach the curriculum
2.1.1.1.3. Required 4 years of English
2.2. Historical Interpretations of U.S. Education
2.2.1. Democratic-Liberal School
2.2.1.1. The history of education in the U.S. involves the evolution of a flawed system attempting to provide equal educational opportunities
2.2.1.2. Equality and excellence as ideal standards
3. Sociological Perspectives
3.1. Theoretical Perspectives
3.1.1. functionalism
3.1.1.1. Functional sociologists begin with a picture of society that stresses the interdependence of the social sysem
3.1.2. conflict theory,
3.1.2.1. Schools are similar to social battlefields, where students struggle against teachers, teachers against administrators, and so on
3.1.3. interactionalism
3.1.3.1. Are primarily critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives
3.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
3.2.1. Knowledge and Attitudes
3.2.1.1. Differences between schools in terms of their academic programs and policies do make differences in student learning.
3.2.2. Employment
3.2.2.1. Most students believe that graduating from college will lead to greater employment opportunities, and they are right.
3.2.3. Education and Mobility
3.2.3.1. The belief that occupational and social mobility begin at the schoolhouse door is a critical component of the American ethos.
3.2.4. Student Peer Groups
3.2.4.1. This conflict can lead to alienation and even violence.
3.2.4.1.1. Nobody wants to be labeled a nerd
3.2.5. Education and Inequality
3.2.5.1. There are essentially five classes:
3.2.5.1.1. Upper class, Upper Middle Class, Lower Middle class, Working class, Lower or Underclass
4. Educational Reform
4.1. School Based Reforms
4.1.1. School-Business Partnerships
4.1.1.1. Business leaders became concerned that schools in this country were not producing graduates that would revitalize the U.S. economy
4.1.1.2. The Bil and Melinda Gates Foundation have contributed hundreds of million dollars to small schools and teacher effectiveness.
4.1.1.2.1. Only time will tell the effect that the contributions of education minded foundations will have
4.1.2. School-to-Work Programs
4.1.2.1. On May 4, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994
4.1.2.1.1. The law provided seed money to states and local partnerships of businesses to develop school-to-work systems
4.1.2.2. Provided every U.S. student with the following
4.1.2.2.1. Allowed students to explore different careers and see what skills are required for that job
4.1.2.2.2. Skills, obtained from training and work experiences
4.1.2.2.3. Valued credentials and developed education and training standards to ensure proper career education was received
4.2. Societal
4.2.1. State Intervention and Mayoral Control in Local School Districts
4.2.1.1. Almost all state accountability systems focus on rewards and sanctions
4.2.1.2. State invention, cost money, and low-income, high-minority schools often have less money to spend
4.2.1.3. Mayoral control
4.2.1.3.1. Results in modest improvements in student achievement
4.2.2. School Finance Reforms
4.2.2.1. Supreme Court's ruling in Rodriguez vs. San Antonio declared there was no constitutional right to an equal education
4.2.2.2. Educational reforms have demonstrated the potential to improve schools for low-income and minority children
5. Teacher salaries were raised
6. School-business partnerships have attracted a lot of media attention
7. Philosophy of Education
7.1. Generic notions
7.1.1. Philosophers often pose difficult, abstract questions that are not easily answered.
7.1.1.1. Plato helped to initiate this tradition through his concern for the search for truth
7.1.1.1.1. Plato thought that education, in particular, was important as a means of moving individuals collectively toward achieving the good.
7.2. Key researchers
7.2.1. St. Augustine
7.2.1.1. Added religion to classical idealism
7.2.2. Rene Descartes
7.2.3. Immanuel Kant
7.2.4. George Wilhelm Friedrich
7.3. Goal of Education
7.3.1. Educators who subscribe to idealism are interested in the search for truth through ideas rather than through the examination of the false shadowy world of matter
7.3.1.1. Ideas can change lives
7.4. Role of the Teacher
7.4.1. It is the teachers responsibility to analyze and discuss ideas with students in order for students to move to new levels of awareness so that ultimately they can be transformed
7.5. Method of Instruction
7.5.1. Teachers take an active part in their students' learning
7.5.1.1. Teachers use the dialectic approach described by Plato
7.6. Curriculum
7.6.1. Place great importance on the study of classics
7.6.1.1. Support the back to basics approach to education
7.6.1.1.1. Reading, writing, and Arithmetic
8. Schools as Organizations
8.1. School Processes and School Cultures
8.1.1. Four elements of change
8.1.1.1. Conflict is a necessary part of change
8.1.1.2. New behaviors must be learned
8.1.1.3. Team building must extend to the entire school
8.1.1.4. Process and content are interrelated
8.2. Federal Level
8.2.1. Senators
8.2.1.1. Richard Shelby
8.2.1.2. Roy Moore or Doug Jones
8.2.2. House of Representatives
8.2.2.1. Robert Aderholt
8.2.2.2. Mo Brooks
8.2.2.3. Martha Roby
8.2.2.4. Terri Sewell
8.2.2.5. Gary Palmer
8.3. Local Level
8.3.1. State Superintendent
8.3.1.1. Ed Richardson
8.3.2. State Representative
8.3.2.1. Mike Milligan
9. Curriculum & Pedagogy
9.1. The Developmentalist
9.1.1. Focuses on the needs and interests of the student rather than the needs of society.
9.1.2. Based on the aspects of Dewey's writings
9.1.3. Rather than teaching your basic reading and writing through traditional ways, it relates literacy instruction to experiences and developmental stages of children
9.2. The two dominant traditions of teaching
9.2.1. The Mimetic Tradition
9.2.1.1. Test
9.2.1.1.1. See how much knowledge the student has
9.2.1.2. Present
9.2.1.2.1. Finding the student ignorant of what is to be learned
9.2.1.3. Perform/Evaluate
9.2.1.3.1. Monitor the students performance
9.2.1.4. Reward/Fix
9.2.1.4.1. Comments favorably on what the student has done. Or find the problem to be fixed
9.2.1.5. Enter Remedial Loop
9.2.1.5.1. Discovering the student's performance to be wrong and initiating a procedure to fix the error.
9.2.1.6. Advance
9.2.1.6.1. Advancing the student to the next level
9.2.2. The Transformative Tradition
9.2.2.1. Describes what successful teaching is capable of accomplishing.
9.2.2.2. Some type of transformation in the person being taught
10. Equality of Opportunity
10.1. Impact on Educational outcomes
10.1.1. Class
10.1.1.1. Students in different social class have different kinds of experiences in school
10.1.1.2. Middle and Upper Class
10.1.1.2.1. More than likely expecting their children to stay in school longer.
10.1.1.2.2. More likely to speak clearer English
10.1.1.3. Lower Class
10.1.1.3.1. Can not support their children longer
10.1.2. Race
10.1.2.1. Race has a impact on how much education a boy or girl is likely to achieve.
10.1.2.2. It is extremely difficult to separate race from class
10.1.2.2.1. Minorities do not receive the same educational opportunities as white people.
10.1.3. Gender
10.1.3.1. Gender is directly related to a persons educational attainment.
10.1.3.2. Females are less likely to drop out of school than males are.
10.1.3.3. There is little doubt that society discriminates against women both with jobs and socially
10.2. The Coleman Study
10.2.1. Colman and his associates found that when they compared the average test scores of public school and private school sophomores, there was not one subject in which public school students scored higher than private school students.
10.2.2. They argued that private schools demand more from their students
10.2.3. Alexander and Pallas
10.2.3.1. Claim their is little basis for their conclusions
11. Educational Inequality
11.1. Cultural Difference Theories
11.1.1. African-American children do less well in school because they adapt to their oppressed potions in the class and caste structure.
11.1.1.1. Ogbu's work suggests that school success requires that African-American students deny their own cultural identities and accept dominant culture of the schools, which is a white middle-class model.
11.1.1.2. Ogbu argues that African-American parents believe that the use of standard English is not necessary within the black community.
11.1.2. Sees working-class and nonwhite students as resisting the dominant culture of academic success
11.1.2.1. Students reject the white middle-class culture and embrace an often anti school culture
11.1.2.2. This can cause students to drop out of school and enter the workforce at an early age.
11.2. 4 school-centered explanations for educational inequality
11.2.1. School Financing
11.2.1.1. Jonathan Kozol, in his book Savage Inequalities documented the vast differences in funding between affluent and poor districts, and he called for school financing to become equal
11.2.1.2. Public schools are financed through a combination of revenues from local, state and federal sources.
11.2.1.2.1. School financing matters
11.2.2. Effective School Research
11.2.2.1. If student differences are more important than school school differences, then teachers cannot be blamed for low academic performance of minority students
11.2.2.2. Research suggests that school-centered processes that help explain unequal educational achievement by different groups of students
11.2.3. Between-School Differences
11.2.3.1. School climates affect academic performance
11.2.3.2. Who can explain why larger proportions of students who attend schools in higher socioeconomic communities achieve well in school?
11.2.4. Within-School Differences
11.2.4.1. Different groups of students in the same schools preform differently suggests that there could be school characteristics playing a factor in these outcomes.
11.2.4.2. Tracking is a method used to separate students based on ability to ensure the best and the brightest receive the best education for their needs