1. Schools as Organizations
1.1. Stakeholders in Education
1.1.1. State Senators
1.1.1.1. Jefferson Sessions
1.1.1.2. Richard Shelby
1.1.2. House of Representatives
1.1.2.1. Mo Brooks
1.1.3. State Superintendent
1.1.3.1. Dr. Tommy Bice
1.1.4. District 5 Representative for the Alabama School Board
1.1.4.1. Ella Bell
1.1.5. Madison City Superintendent
1.1.5.1. Dr. Dee Fowler
1.1.6. Madison City Board of Eduaction
1.1.6.1. David Hergenroeder
1.1.6.2. Dr. Terri Johnson
1.1.6.3. Tim Holtcamp
1.1.6.4. Connie Spears
1.1.6.5. Rachel Barlett
1.2. U.S. vs. Finalnd
1.2.1. Government Impact
1.2.1.1. U.S.- Decentralized
1.2.1.2. Finland- Centralized
1.2.2. Class Size
1.2.2.1. U.S.-bigger school with smaller classes
1.2.2.2. Finland- small classes
1.2.3. Teacher Training
1.2.3.1. U.S.- can be attained by all who seek and fit into the State standards
1.2.3.2. Finland- only 15% of candidates are selected to be trained
1.2.4. Curriculum Options
1.2.4.1. U.S.- High percentage of segregation depending on population
1.2.4.2. Finland- seek to give all equal opportunity
2. Curriculum and Pedagogy
2.1. Developmental Curriculum
2.1.1. Focused on student needs instead of society needs
2.1.1.1. student centered learning
2.1.2. Inspired Dewey's curriculum perspectives
2.1.3. Performed better in private school than public
2.1.4. Piaget focuses on both what is learned and how it is learned
2.2. Non-Weberian Conflict Theory
2.2.1. Focused on content as opposed to grades
2.2.2. Schools do not determine ability to perform in the workforce
2.2.3. Values of schooling is based on perspectives of teachers
2.2.3.1. middle class perspective
3. Equality of Education
3.1. Charles Coleman Studies
3.1.1. 1966
3.1.1.1. school organizations do not matter in determining students outcome but differences in student bodies do
3.1.1.2. questioned if where the student attended school determined their outcome
3.1.2. 1982
3.1.2.1. contrasted original discoveries
3.1.2.2. private school students succeeded more than public school students
3.1.2.3. questioned elitism
3.1.3. Borman & Dowling
3.1.3.1. requisitioned the Coleman studies
3.1.3.2. the socioeconomic make up of the school has more affect on the achievement than individual race and class
3.2. Educational Achievement and Attainment of Women
3.2.1. lower dropout rate than men
3.2.2. men score higher on the SATS
3.2.3. women are better in reading and men are better in math
4. Education Inequality
4.1. Curriculum and Ability Grouping in Schools
4.1.1. Within schools educational inequality can result from ability and curriculum grouping
4.1.2. Functionalist vs. Conflict Theorists
4.1.2.1. Functionalists: separation based on ability
4.1.2.2. Conflict theorists: separation based on ascriptic character
4.1.3. Shankner
4.1.3.1. assumption that lower students are less capable than higher students
4.1.4. tracking is associated with race and social characteristics
4.2. Cultural Difference Theories
4.2.1. student, parental and community cultures are the reason for unequal achievement
4.2.1.1. African American families and schools socialize students to accept their inferior chances of success
4.2.1.2. Ogbu
4.2.1.2.1. Schools expect of African American students to deny their culture and accept that of the upper class
4.2.1.3. Bernstein
4.2.1.3.1. relationships between economics, family and school lead to defects in education
4.2.1.4. Bourdieu
4.2.1.4.1. cultural and social capital
4.2.2. Working class and non-white students resist the dominant culture of schools
4.2.2.1. Willis and Gaines
4.2.2.1.1. working class boys reject the middle class culture and embrace the culture of the working class
4.2.2.2. Lemann
4.2.2.2.1. lifestyles of poverty should not be celebrated as reisitance
5. Educational Reform
5.1. Harlem Childrens Zone
5.1.1. conceptualized by Geoffrey Canada
5.1.2. goal was to create improvements within lower SES neighborhoods
5.1.3. baby college
5.1.3.1. teaches parents rules of the middle class
5.1.3.2. provides resources for healthy and prepared children
5.1.4. has inspired similar reforms
5.2. School Based Reforms
5.2.1. Vouchers
5.2.1.1. give to lower SES families to attend private school
5.2.1.2. there is a wide debate between which school is better: private or public
5.2.2. Charter Schools
5.2.2.1. high demand
5.2.2.2. considered to be autonmous
5.2.2.3. mixed results
5.2.2.3.1. American Federation of Teachers: Public schools out perform charter schools
5.2.2.3.2. National Center for Educational Statistics: Public schools have better fourth grade reading and mathematic scores
5.2.2.3.3. Center for Research on Educational Outcomes: wide variation in quality of charter schools
5.2.3. School Choice
5.2.3.1. Intersectional: either public or private
5.2.3.2. Intrasectional; any public school in the state
5.2.3.3. Intradistrict: any public school in the district
6. Philosophy of Education
6.1. Generic Notations
6.1.1. Platos method of Philosophy was to engage another individual in dialogue and through the gue question the individuals points of view.
6.1.2. Aristole believed that only through studying the material world was it possible for an individual to clarify or develop ideas.
6.2. Key Researchers
6.2.1. St. Augustine added religion to classical idealism
6.2.2. Thomas Aquinas was an important medieval authority on the works of Aristole.
6.2.3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that the individuals in their primitive state were naturally good and that society corrupted them.
6.2.4. John Dewey's work had the most profound intellectual and practical influence on U.S. progressive education.
6.2.5. John Locke attempted to explain how people know things from the empirical point of view.
6.2.6. Alfred North Whitehead was concerned with the search for "universal patterns"
6.3. Goal of Eduaction
6.3.1. Idealists subscribe to the notion that education is transformation: Ideas can change lives.
6.3.2. For contemporary realists, the goal is to help individuals understand and then apply the principles of science to help solve problems in the modern world.
6.3.3. For Dewey the goal of education was growth-growth leading to more growth.
6.3.4. Existentialists see education as an activity liberating the individual from a chaotic world.
6.3.5. Education should transform the dominant culture.
6.3.6. To be the central institution for societal and personal improvement and to do so by balancing a complex set of processes.
6.4. Role of Teacher
6.4.1. In progressive settings, the teacher assumes the peripheral position of facilitator.
6.4.2. Teachers must take risks, expose themselves to resistant students, and work constantly to enable their students to become "wide awake".
6.4.3. The neo-Marxist believes that the teacher must become a "transformative intellectual" whose role is to engage his or her students in a critical examination of the world.
7. Politics of Education
7.1. Perspective Neo Liberal
7.1.1. combines conservative and liberal views
7.1.2. believe that the government must intercede to ensure the fair treatment of all and that social problems are often the result of societal rather than that of individual or group forces
7.1.3. stresses that all students have equal opportunity to succeed in society
7.1.4. envision a society where citizens participate in decision making, adult status is based on merit and achievement and in which all citizens receive a fair and equal chance at economic wealth, political power, and social status
7.1.5. believe that all student enter school at different life chances which gives some students an advantage over others, therefore society must attempt to use programs and policies to level the playing field
7.1.6. schools place too much emphasis on discipline and authority thus limiting their role in helping students develop as individuals
7.2. Vision of Education Traditional
7.2.1. central to solving social probelms
7.2.2. a vehicle for upward mobility
7.2.3. essential to the development of individual potential
7.2.4. integral part of a democratic society
7.2.5. steady process to make things better
8. History of US Education
8.1. The Rise of the Common School
8.1.1. Education changed drastically between the years of 1820-1860. During the Industrial Revolution it became very evident that the pre-war school system was not functioning effectively.
8.1.2. Horace Mann argued for the establishment of the common school, or free public funded schools and lobbied for a state board of education.
8.1.3. Mann contended for a school without religious intent, a desegregated classroom, education as a means of social mobility, and training for the teachers
8.1.4. The first teacher training was established in Lexington, Massachusetts in 1839.
8.1.5. By 1820, schools and colleges specifically for women begin to emerge.
8.1.6. In 1837 Mount Holyke Seminary opened its doors. The requirements and level of instruction were the same as the requirements at male colleges and universities.
8.2. Historical interpretation of US Education
8.2.1. The US extended schooling from only primary into middle school and then into high school to accommodate more students for a longer period of time.
8.2.2. From the beginning to present time sociologists, historians, and many others have disagreed about the schooling system.
8.2.3. Throughout the history of Education there have been many aspects to arise that have never been resolved.
8.2.4. Before Horace Mann's contribution to reform, education was interpreted through religion, utilitarian and civic views.
8.2.5. Horace Mann proposed social mobility as the primary goal of schools.
8.2.6. Progressive reformers looked at schools as a means of promoting and preserving democracy within the new social order.
8.3. Philosophy of Education
9. Sociological Perspectives
9.1. Interactional Theories
9.1.1. The relation of school and society are primarily critiques and extensions of the functional and conflict perspectives.
9.1.2. Pull us closer to school systems and their constructs in order to help view the interaction with micro sociological content
9.1.3. Seek to expose meaningful content by eliminating assumptions and analyzing the conflict and interdenence of relationships
9.1.4. "It is exactly what one does not question that is most problematic at a deep level" (p.120)
9.1.5. Attempt to make the common place strange by turning on their heads everyday taken for granted behaviors and interactions between teacher and students and students and teachers.
9.1.6. The process by which students are labeled gifted or learning disabled are important to analyze because such processes carry with them many assumptions about learning.
9.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
9.2.1. Generally, it is found that the higher the social class background of the student, the higher his or her achievement.
9.2.2. The level of achievement varies between public and private schools.
9.2.3. Graduating from college will lead to greater employment opportunities.
9.2.4. Schools do not provide significant job skills for their students, people learn how to do their job by doing them.
9.2.5. Social class background is very important in determining who will receive academic or vocational training.
9.2.6. Private and public school students receive the same amount of education, but a private school diploma may act as a "mobility escalator" because it represents a more prestigious educational route.