1. Sociological Perspectives
1.1. Theoretical Perspectives
1.1.1. Functionalism- believe education is important in socialization.
1.1.2. Conflict Theory- see no relation between school and society
1.1.3. Interactionalism- critiques and extensions of the functionalism and conflict perspectives
1.2. effects of schooling on individuals
1.2.1. knowledge and attitude- educated individuals have greater knowledge and social participation
1.2.2. education and mobility- education opens the doors of oportunity
1.2.3. Student Peer Groups and Alienation- schools socialize and select students reproducing society
1.2.4. gender- tend to produce social inequalities
1.2.5. tracking- students in lower tracks experience more alienation
2. Philosophy of Education
2.1. Pragmatism
2.1.1. Generic Notions: education starts with needs of student, experimental learning, children need course of study to reflect their stage of development
2.1.2. Key Researchers: John Dewey, George Sanders Peirce, and William James
2.1.3. Goal of Education: ideas can be implemented, challenged, and restructured to provide knowledge
2.1.4. Role of the teacher: encourage, question, plan, offer suggestions
2.1.5. Methods of instruction: individual and group work, students pose questions based on what they know
3. Schools as Organizations
3.1. Stakeholders in my district
3.1.1. Alabama Federal Senators
3.1.1.1. Luther Strange
3.1.1.2. Richard Shelby
3.1.2. Alabama Federal House of Representatives
3.1.2.1. Mo Brooks
3.1.3. State senator
3.1.3.1. William L. Holtzclaw
3.1.4. State House of Representatives
3.1.4.1. Phil Williams
3.1.5. State Superintendient
3.1.5.1. Dr. Ed Richardson
3.1.6. Representative of State School Board
3.1.6.1. Mary Scott Hunter
3.1.7. Local Superintendent
3.1.7.1. Trey Holladay
3.1.8. Members on Local School Board
3.1.8.1. Russel Johnson, Beverly Malone, Tim Green, Scott Henry, Shannon Hutton, James Lucas, Jennifer Manville
3.2. Elements of change within school processes
3.2.1. Conflict
3.2.1.1. allow problems to surface and be discussed
3.2.2. New behaviors
3.2.2.1. must include building communication and trust, enabling leadership, and learning techniques of communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution
3.2.3. Team building
3.2.3.1. shared decision making,
3.2.4. Process and content
3.2.4.1. the process in making a change is just as important as the content of the change
3.3. Elements of change within school culture
3.3.1. effort
3.3.2. Intelligence
3.3.3. goodwill
4. Equality of Opportunity
4.1. Impact of educational outcomes
4.1.1. Class
4.1.1.1. different social classes have different kinds of educational experiences
4.1.1.2. students who stay in school longer typically come from upper class families
4.1.2. Race
4.1.2.1. 5.2 percent of white students drop out of school and 9.3 percent of African American students drop out of school
4.1.2.2. 89 percent of white students will be able to read at the intermediate level and only 66 percent of African Americans can
4.1.3. Gender
4.1.3.1. differences reduced in last 20 years
4.2. Responses from the Coleman Study in 1982
4.2.1. Jencks said that the annual increment attributable to Catholic schooling was tiny
4.2.2. where an individual goes to school is usually related to his or her race and socioeconomic background
5. Educational Reform
5.1. School Based reforms
5.1.1. School-Business Partnerships
5.1.1.1. Include scholarships for poor students, raised tests grades, management and assistance training
5.1.1.2. little evidence that they have significantly improved schools
5.1.2. School to Work Programs
5.1.2.1. intent to stress work based learning
5.1.2.2. relevant education allowing students to explore different careers
5.1.2.3. learn necessary skills for working environments
5.2. School Finance Reforms
5.2.1. 1990 more funding needed to serve children in poor districts
5.2.2. 1998 state required implementation of supplemental programs
5.3. Full Service and Community Schools
5.3.1. focus on meeting students' and families' educational, physical, psychological, and social needs
5.3.2. target and improve at risk neighborhoods
6. History of U.S. Education
6.1. Reform Movement
6.1.1. A Nation at risk- 1.) 4 years english, 3 years math, 3 years science, 3 years social studies, half year computer science 2.) expect higher achievements 3.) more devoted time to basics 4. )teacher prep strengthened.
6.2. Historical Interpretation of U.S. Education
6.2.1. democratic liberals- optimistic, balance, disadvantaged, limitations
7. The Politics of Education
7.1. Purposes of Education
7.1.1. intellectual purposes - to teach basic cognitive skills and to acquire higher order thinking skills.
7.1.2. Political purposes - to prepare students to be good U.S. citizens.
7.1.3. Social purposes - helps students learn to socialize with others.
7.1.4. economic purposes - to prepare students for their later jobs.
7.2. Perspectives
7.2.1. Radical View of the Role of school - schools should reduce inequality of educational results and provide upward social mobility.
7.2.2. Definition of educational problems from a radicals view - the educational system promotes inequality of both opportunity and result.
7.2.3. Explanations of Unequal educational from radicals - believe that the conditions that result in educational failure are caused by the economic system.
8. Curriculum and Pedagogy
8.1. Humanist curriculum theory
8.1.1. helps students learn who they are and what they are good at
8.1.1.1. Self actualization, individualism, creativity, problem solving
8.2. Two dominant traditions of teaching
8.2.1. Mimetic
8.2.1.1. purpose of education is to transmit knowledge to students
8.2.2. Transformative
8.2.2.1. purpose of education is to change the student in some meaningful way
9. Educational Inequality
9.1. Cultural Differences theories
9.1.1. John Ogbu argues that African American children do less well in school because they are having to adjust to being oppressed in social class
9.1.2. Richard Rothstien argues that poor people are exposed to more health issues which effects academic performance.
9.2. School centered explanations
9.2.1. School funding - differences in funding between affluent and poor districts
9.2.2. School Climate - students who attend school in higher socioeconomic communities tend to perform better.
9.2.3. Curriculum and ability grouping - different groups of students are often receiving different levels of education within one school
9.2.4. Gender and schooling - schooling often limits the educational opportunities of women