1. Politics of Education Ch. 2
1.1. The four purposes of education
1.1.1. Intellectual purpose teaches basic cognitive skills.
1.1.2. Political purposes teaches patriotism and basic laws of the society.
1.1.3. Social purpose is to bring about the process of socialization.
1.1.4. Economic purpose prepares students for their vocations later in life.
1.2. Define a perspective of each of the following:
1.2.1. The role of the teacher is the facilitator. The teacher helps to implement the course of study and encourages and answers questions.
1.2.2. The role of the school from the conservative perspective sees the school providing necessary educational training and tools so that the smartest and brightest students can maximize economic and social productivity.
1.2.3. Explanations of unequal performance from a radical perspective believes students from lower standards of living begin school with unequal opportunities. The conditions that result in educational failure are caused by the economic system, not the educational system.
1.2.4. Definition of educational problems from the liberal perspective believes school place too much emphasis on discipline and authority and that limits the school's role in helping the students develop as individuals. This perspective also believes there is a huge gap between urban and rural educational opportunities as well as the diverse cultures of groups.
2. History of U.S. Education Ch. 3
2.1. Reform movement that I believe influenced education at its greatest level
2.2. I believe the event and person who had the largest influence on education reform was led by Horace Mann of Massachusetts. He led the charge for Massachusetts legislature to form a state board of education, of which he was the first chairman for 11 years. During his leadership, the state formed the first normal school, or teacher training school in Lexington. He lobbied for free public education called the common school. He spoke of school as preparation for citizenship as well as being the great equalizer of the conditions of men.
2.3. The Democratic-Liberal perspective believe that there should be equal opportunities for education for all people up and down the socioeconomic scale. Its commitment to popularization and multitudinousness
3. Sociological Perspectives Ch. 4
3.1. Define the theoretical perspectives concerning relationships between school and society
3.1.1. Functionalism views society as a kind of machine, where the interdependence of the social system all work together being critically important in creating the moral unity necessary for social cohesion and harmony.
3.1.2. Conflict sociologists emphasize struggle where schools are viewed as social battlefields where students struggle against teachers, and teaches against administration, and so on. There is always a struggle between dominate and subordinate groups.
3.1.3. Interactional theory probes the relationships between students and students, students and teachers, and so on.
3.2. 5 effects of schooling on individuals that you think have the greatest impact on students
3.2.1. Knowledge and attitude help students prepare for life and they develop these in school.
3.2.2. Schooling educates students to be prepared for employment opportunities, and the more schooling you have the more and better the opportunities there are available.
3.2.3. Mobility of private versus public education will sometimes cause job seekers to be viewed as having a more prestigious education in the private school versus the public school.
3.2.4. Teachers are models for students, and not just instructional leaders.
3.2.5. Tracking is another tool that places students in curricular programs based on student's abilities and inclinations.
4. Philosophy of Education Ch. 5
4.1. Pragmatism is a philosophy that encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve their desired ends.
4.1.1. Generic notions propose that educators start with the student's interests and needs and allowing the student to assist in planning their own study course.
4.1.2. Key researchers included Francis Bacon, John Locke, John Dewey, and Emile Durkheim.
4.1.3. The goal of education is rooted in the social order, and students are given the necessary training and tools to be able to improve the social order.
4.1.4. The role of the teacher is the facilitator. The teacher helps to implement the course of study and encourages and answers questions.
4.1.5. Students learn both in groups and individuality.
5. Schools as Organizations Ch.6
5.1. Senators Richard Shelby and Luther Strange
5.2. Representative Mo Brooks
5.3. State Superintendent Interim Ed Richardson
5.3.1. State Superintendent Rep. Mary Scott Hunter
5.3.2. Decatur City School Board Members
5.3.2.1. Dr. David Dude Superintendent
5.3.2.2. Ms. Annie P. Caiola
5.3.2.3. Mr. C. Garrett Goebel
5.3.2.4. Mrs. Bernadette J. Seals
5.3.2.5. Mr. Lewis B. Jones
5.3.2.6. Mrs. Tasha White
6. Transmission of Knowledge Ch. 7
6.1. I am inclined to be drawn to the social meliorist curriculum that encourages the students to become involved in the problems of society and be active in the ever changing world.
6.1.1. Humanist curriculum basically taught students that education was simply presented to show the best of the curriculum either in written form or the thoughts stimulated by the curriculum.
6.1.2. Social efficiency curriculum was a response to the mass secondary education that believed that students with different sets of needs and desires should get different types of schooling.
6.1.3. Developmentalist curriculum relates to the needs of the student and not the needs of society.
6.1.4. Social meliorist curriculum basically encourages the students to become more involved in problems of society and be active in the ever changing world.
6.2. Pedagogic traditions include mimetic tradition which suggest that education exists to transfer only specific information to students. The transformative tradition suggests that education changes the individual in some way.
7. Equality of Opportunity Ch. 8
7.1. Class, gender, and race each impact educational outcomes.
7.1.1. Class often impacts education because affluent families can afford to go to school longer because schooling is expensive.
7.1.2. Gender has an impact because females are more likely to not drop out of school and have a higher level of reading and writing skills than males.
7.1.3. Race has an impact as minorities have lower scores on SATs that whites and receive fewer educational opportunities except in sports like football and basketball where minorities have equal or more opportunities.
7.2. Two responses from The Coleman Study in 1982.
7.2.1. Public school students did not score higher in any subject than their private school counterparts. Private school students outperformed public school students, at times by wide margins.
7.2.2. Private schools had more effective teaching conditions because they consistently enforced discipline based on student achievement versus their public school counterparts.
8. Explanations of Educational Inequality Ch. 9
8.1. Two types of cultural differences theory
8.1.1. 1. One theory suggest that there is discrimination of minorities due to cultural differences to social outcomes like poverty, racism, discrimination, and unequal life opportunities but do not hold the working class and non-white race in blame for these discriminations.
8.1.2. 2. Another theory suggests that the working class and non-white students resist the present schooling situation, a kind of anti-school establishment, often time resulting in dropouts on the increase.
8.2. Four School Centered Explanations of Educational Inequality
8.2.1. 1. School financing that poverty stricken schools or cash strapped school systems that can't meet the needs for lack of funding versus affluent school systems.
8.2.2. 2. Effective school research within schools
8.2.3. 3. Between school differences like school climates.
8.2.4. 4. Gender often times prevents opportunities more for men than women.
9. Educational Reform and School Improvement Ch.10
9.1. One type of school reform is charter schools. Charter schools are schools funded with tax dollars and free from many of the standards that are placed upon schools. They are open to all students in the district and can lose their funding if their results aren't proven as they are policed by local school boards or colleges. They are a great alternative for lower income students, especially in rural areas.
9.2. Another type of school reform is privatization. This happens when private education companies, in many cases, takes over failing school systems or districts and manages the schools and helps get the schools back to accreditation levels through their support.
9.3. One type of reform mentioned in chapter 10 is societal reforms. Below are two forms of societal reforms.
9.3.1. One type of societal reform is the state takeover. If done properly, the takeover of a poorly ran school system can be beneficial as this allows shared resources to help the failing schools. One con for this reform is the illusion of a school system that cannot be an effective educational system ran locally but must rely on the state to support them.
9.3.2. Another type of societal reform allows the mayoral control of urban districts. A pro for this type of reform states that corruption will be eliminated and more effective budgeting and administration along with increased student achievement. Pundits against the mayoral reform feel that there is no significant improvement and it is undemocratic and leaves out parental and community involvement.