1. Schools as Organizations
1.1. Major Stakeholders in My District
1.1.1. State Senators- Richard Shelby and Luther Strange
1.1.2. House of Representatives- Bradley Byrne Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Mo Brooks, Gary Palmer, and Terri Sewell
1.1.3. State Superintendent- Michael Sentance
1.1.4. Representative on State School Board- Mary Scott Hunter
1.1.5. Local Superintendent- Mr. B.T. Drake (Interim Superintendent)
1.1.6. Local School Board- Elisa Ferrell, Walker McGinnis, Beth Wilder, Michelle Watkins, and Pam Hill
1.2. Elements of Change Within School Processes and School Cultures
1.2.1. Conflict
1.2.1.1. School staff members must be prepared to elicit, manage, and resolve conflicts that arise during efforts to democratize schools. In order to be successful in change and restructuring, this is a necessary requirement.
1.2.2. New Behaviors
1.2.2.1. New behaviors must be learned as change occurs. The process of change requires new relationships and behaviors that include trust and communication, enabling leadership and initiative to emerge and learning techniques for communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution.
1.2.3. Team Building
1.2.3.1. Team building must exist throughout the entire school to combat resistance of change. Together, school staff should highlight shared decision making and positive relationships.
1.2.4. Process and Content
1.2.4.1. The process a school staff uses during change is as important as the content of educational changes it attempts. The substance of the process often relies on the degree of trust and openness built up within the team and between the team and the school.
2. Curriculum and Pedagogy
2.1. Curriculum Theories of the Twentieth Century
2.1.1. Humanist
2.1.2. Social Efficiency
2.1.3. Social Meliorist
2.1.4. Developmentalist
2.1.4.1. This theory was taken from aspects of Dewey's writings as well as from developmental psychologist Piaget. This approach emphasizes the process of teaching as well as the curriculum content and how it related to the needs and interests of each child at particular developmental stages. This type of curriculum stressed the importance of relating school to life experiences, making education meaningful. From this perspective, the teacher is a facilitator of student growth.
2.2. Traditions of Teaching
2.2.1. Curriculum
2.2.1.1. Schools teach a specific curriculum, one that is mandated by the state education department and implemented in an organized manner within the schools. Curriculum can be defined as the organized body of knowledge to be transmitted to students.
2.2.2. Pedagogy
2.2.2.1. Pedagogy refers to how the curriculum is taught. How something is taught is just as important as what is being taught. How something is taught is significant because it can make the difference between learning the material or not learning the material.
3. Educational Inequality
3.1. Cultural Deprivation Theory
3.1.1. The theory, popularized in the 1960s, suggests that working-class and non-white families often lack cultural resources, resulting in a significant disadvantage of being unprepared for school.
3.1.2. Based on anthropologist Oscar Lewis's thesis on poverty (1966), cultural deprivation theorists believed that the poor have a deprived culture, one that eschews delayed gratification for immediate reward, rejects hard work an initiative as a means to success, and does not view schooling as the means to social mobility. This culture lacks the value system of a middle-class culture and leaves children deprived of the appropriate skills needed for academic achievement, resulting in poor achievement.
3.2. School-Centered Explanations
3.2.1. School Financing
3.2.1.1. The majority of public school funding comes from state and local taxes, with local property taxes, based on the value of property in the local community, as a significant source. Property values within a more affluent community are higher; therefore, these communities are able to raise significantly more money than poorer communities which can result in educational inequality. Additionally, since families in more affluent communities
3.2.2. School Climate
3.2.2.1. Theorists argue that there are differences between the culture and climate of schools in lower socioeconomic and higher socioeconomic communities. Schools in working-class neighborhoods are more likely to have authoritarian and teacher-directed pedagogic practices; whereas, schools in middle-class communities are more likely to have less authoritarian and more student-centered pedagogic practices and students from upper-class are more likely to attend elite private schools. These differences in pedagogic practices influence the environment of the school, which plays a significant role in achievement.
3.2.3. Tracking
3.2.3.1. Conflict theorists suggest that tracking, or grouping by ability, is a mechanism to for separating groups by characteristics to reproduce inequalities. Ability by grouping does create curriculum differences which place lower expectation on students who are on a lower track. Students who are on a lower track are often left without challenging curriculum because of the low expectations that are placed on their abilities.
3.2.4. Gender
3.2.4.1. Boys and girls are socialized differently through a variety of school processes such as stereotyping in curriculum. Schooling can limit educational opportunities and life chances by reinforcing gender inequality by promoting traditional gender roles produced by stereotyping.
4. Politics of Education
4.1. Four Purposes of Education
4.1.1. Intellectual
4.1.1.1. To teach basic cognitive skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics
4.1.1.2. To transmit specific knowledge
4.1.1.3. To help students acquire higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, and synthesis
4.1.2. Political
4.1.2.1. To inculcate patriotism
4.1.2.2. To prepare citizens to participate in political order
4.1.2.3. To help assimilate diverse cultural groups into a common political order
4.1.2.4. To teach children the basic laws of the society
4.1.3. Social
4.1.3.1. To help solve social problems
4.1.3.2. To work as one of the many institutions to ensure social cohesion
4.1.3.3. To socialize children into the various roles, behaviors, and values of the society (socialization)
4.1.4. Economic
4.1.4.1. To prepare students for their later occupational roles
4.1.4.2. To select, train, and allocate individuals into the division of labor
4.2. Political Perspectives
4.2.1. Conservative
4.2.2. Radical
4.2.3. Liberal
4.2.3.1. The Role of the School
4.2.3.1.1. Provide the necessary education to ensure all students have an equal opportunity to succeed in society
4.2.3.1.2. Teach children to respect cultural diversity so that they understand and can fit in a diverse society
4.2.3.1.3. Enable the individual to develop their talents, creativity, and sense of self
4.2.3.2. The liberal perspective argues that individual students or groups of students begin school with different life chances and therefore some groups have significantly more advantages than others. Therefore, society must attempt through policies and programs to equalize the playing field so that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have a better chance.
4.2.3.3. Educational Problems
4.2.3.3.1. Schools have too often limited the life chances of poor and minority children and therefore the problem of underachievement by these groups is a critical issue
4.2.3.3.2. Schools place too much emphasis on discipline and authority; thus limiting their role in helping students develop as individuals.
4.2.3.3.3. The differences in quality and climate between urban and suburban schools and between schools with students of low socioeconomic backgrounds and high socioeconomic backgrounds is a central problem related to inequalities of results.
4.2.3.3.4. The traditional curriculum leaves out the diverse cultures of the groups that comprise the pluralistic society.
5. Philosophy of Education
5.1. Student-Centered
5.1.1. Exisentialism
5.1.2. Pragmatism
5.1.2.1. Generic Notations
5.1.2.1.1. Pragmatism is a philosophy that encourages people to find processes that work in order to achieve their desired ends. A pragmatic schema might look like this: problem ---> speculative thought ---> action ---> results.
5.1.2.2. Key Researchers
5.1.2.2.1. Francis Bacon
5.1.2.2.2. John Locke
5.1.2.2.3. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
5.1.2.2.4. John Dewey
5.1.2.3. Goal of Education
5.1.2.3.1. Dewey stressed the importance of the school as a place where ideas can be implemented, challenged, and restructured, with the goal of providing students with the knowledge of how to improve social order; for Dewey, the role of the school was to be a lever of social reform. He also viewed the role of the school was to integrate children into not just any society, but a democratic one.
5.1.2.3.2. Dewey believed that the schools should balance the needs of society and community on one hand and the needs of the individual on the other.
5.1.2.3.3. For Dewey, the primary role of education was growth.
5.1.2.4. Role of the Teacher
5.1.2.4.1. In a progressive setting, the teacher assumes the peripheral position of facilitator; teachers encourage, offer suggestions, questions, and help plan and implement courses of study.
5.1.2.5. Methods of Instruction
5.1.2.5.1. Dewey proposed that children learn both individually and in groups
5.1.2.5.2. He believed that children should start their mode of inquiry by posing questions about what they want to know. This method of instruction is referred to as problem-solving or inquiry method.
5.1.2.5.3. Children can learn in non-traditional yet natural ways such as individualized study, problem-solving, and the project method.
5.1.2.6. Curriculum
5.1.2.6.1. Progressive schools generally follow Dewey's notion of a core curriculum, or integrated curriculum. He emphasized the need for curriculum to be related to the needs of the child and was in favor of a child-centered curriculum based on imagination and intuition.
6. History of U.S. Education
6.1. Reform Movements
6.1.1. Progressive Movement
6.1.1.1. U.S. philosopher, John Dewey, is best associated with this movement. Schools were undergoing a transformation at the turn of the twentieth century. Teachers were faced with problems such as uncleanliness and began teaching basic socialization skills. What is important to consider about this transformation is to consider how Dewey proposed to meet these challenges through education and how his ideas were interpreted by progressive disciples in such a way as to alter the course of schooling in this country.
6.1.1.1.1. Dewey argued for a restructuring of schools along the lines of "embryonic communities".
6.1.1.1.2. Dewey advocated for the creation of a curriculum that would allow for the child's interests and developmental level while introducing the child to trace and follow the progress of mankind in history.
6.1.1.1.3. Dewey advocated active learning , starting with the needs and interests of the child; he emphasized the role of experience in education and introduced the notion of teacher as facilitator of learning rather than the font of which all knowledge flows.
6.1.1.1.4. According to Dewey, discipline was a tool that would develop "a spirit of social cooperation and community life".
6.2. Historical Interpretations
6.2.1. Conservative Perpspective
6.2.2. The Radical-Revisionist School
6.2.3. The Democratic-Liberal School
6.2.3.1. Democratic liberal believe that the history of U.S. education involves the progressive evolution of a school system committed to providing equality of opportunity for all. Historians suggest that each period of educational expansion involved the attempts of liberal reformers to expand educational opportunities to larger segments of the population and to reject the conservative view of schools as elite institutions for the privileged. Historians such as Ellwood Cubberly, Merle Curti, and Lawrence A. Cremin are representative of this view
7. Sociological Perspectives
7.1. Theoretical Perspectives
7.1.1. Functionalism
7.1.1.1. Functionalists view society as a kind of machine, where on part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work. Early functional sociologist Emile Durkheim recognized that education had taken different forms at different times and different places. He believed that education, virtually in all societies, was of critical importance in creating the moral unity necessary for social cohesion and harmony, In a highly interdependent and well-functioning society, schools socialize students into the appropriate values, and sort and select students according to their abilities.
7.1.2. Conflict Theory
7.1.2.1. Conflict sociologists emphasize struggle in their perspective. They believe social order is based on the ability of dominant groups to impose their will on subordinate groups through manipulation, cooperation, and force. From a conflict point of view
7.1.3. Interactionalism
7.1.3.1. Interactional theories about the relation of school and society are primarily critiques of the functional and conflict perspectives, that arise from the observation that these theories are very , and emphasize structure and process at a macrosociological level of analysis, hardly providing a snapshot what schools are like on an everyday level. By examining the microsociological or the interactional aspects of school life, people are less likely to create theories that are logical and without meaningful content. Theorist Basil Bernstein argued that the structural aspects of the educational system and the interactional aspects of the system reflect each other and must be viewed wholistically.
7.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
7.2.1. Knowledge and Attitudes
7.2.1.1. Research shows that academically oriented schools do produce higher rates of learning. Research also indicates that in schools where students are compelled to take academic subjects and where there is consistent discipline, student achievement levels go up. When evaluating the impact of education, it is clear that more years of schooling leads to greater knowledge and social participation.
7.2.2. Employment
7.2.3. Education and Mobility
7.2.4. Curriculum in Schools
7.2.4.1. Curriculum in schools is important in terms of cultural transmission and the selective channeling of opportunity. Curriculum is not value free; therefore expressions of a certain groups' ideas, beliefs and prejudices are passed down to students.
7.2.5. Teacher Behavior
7.2.5.1. Attitudes of teachers toward their students may have a significant influence on student achievement and perceptions of self. Researchers have found that the labels teachers apply to children can influence their performance because teachers, as instructional leaders, influence student self-esteem and sense of efficacy. This form of self-fulfilling prophecy indicates that teachers' expectations play a major role in encouraging or discouraging students to work to their full potential. When students feel more is demanded of them and they praised often, students are more likely to retain more and feel better about themselves,
7.2.6. Student Peer Groups and Alienation
7.2.6.1. Student cultures play an important role in shaping students' educational experiences. In most schools, the student culture idealizes athletic ability, looks, and style that indicates "coolness". This conflict amongst students can cause alienation and even violence. Schools are far more than mere collections of individuals; they develop cultures, traditions and restraints that profoundly influence those who work and study within them. They socialize and sort and select students and, in doing so, reproduce society.
7.2.7. Inadequate Schools
7.2.8. Tracking
7.2.8.1. Tracking refers to the placement of students in curricular programs based on students' abilities and inclinations. Studies have found that tracking decisions are often based on other criteria, such as students' class or race. Working-class students end up in "high-ability" tracks and spend more time on actual teaching and learning activities, are able to use more interesting learning materials, and receive better teachers and facilities than their lower-track peers. Students in lower tracks experience more alienation and authoritarian teachers than high-track students. Track placement directly affects cognitive development.
7.2.9. De Facto Segregation
7.2.10. Gender Inequality
8. Equality of Opportunity
8.1. Educational Outcome Factors
8.1.1. Class
8.1.1.1. Students in different classes have different kinds of educational experiences. A student's achievement can be related to the achievement of their family. Schooling can be expensive. Therefore, the longer a student remains in school, the more financial support they may need. For this reason, students from upper and middle class are more likely to finish school. Teachers unintentionally think higher of upper and middle class students because of their ability to use standard English as an educational asset. A student's surroundings can influence their attitude towards learning.
8.1.2. Race
8.1.2.1. U.S. society is still highly stratified. Given the nature of society, it is extremely difficult to separate race from class. an individual's race has a direct impact on how much education a student is likely to receive. Minorities do not receive the same educational opportunities as whites and their rewards for educational attainment are significantly less.
8.1.3. Gender
8.1.3.1. In the last 20 years, gender differences in terms of educational attainment has been reduced. Historically, women, although better students, were less likely to attain the same level of education as men. There are areas in schooling where men and female out perform one another. Women are better in areas of reading and writing; whereas men are more proficient in mathematics. Although, differences have been reduced, one might wonder if women are discriminated against occupationally and socially.
8.2. Coleman Study of 1982
8.2.1. Coleman and his colleagues argued that private schools were more effective learning environments because they demand more from their students compared to public schools.
8.2.1.1. Response #1- others found Coleman's findings to be insignificant in terms of significant differences in learning.
8.2.1.2. Response #2- The racial and socioeconomical composition of a school has a greater effect on student achievement than an individual's class and race.
9. Educational Reform
9.1. School-Based Reforms
9.1.1. School-Business Partnerships
9.1.1.1. In the 1980s, business leaders became concerned that schools were not producing graduates who could revitalize the nation's economy. Therefore, school business-partnerships have been formed to manage training and support schools that are failing.
9.1.2. School-to-Work Programs
9.1.2.1. School-business partnerships became incorporated into school-to-work programs in the 1990s. The intention of this incorporation was to extend the vocational emphasis regarding skills necessary for employment and to stress the importance of work-based learning. Under Clinton's School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994, each state was to provide every U.S. student with the following: relevant education, allowing students to explore different careers and see what skills are required in their working environment, skills obtained from structured training and work-based learning experiences that are necessary for a particular career, and valued credentials, establishing industry-standard benchmarks and developing education and training standards that ensure that proper education is received.
9.2. Society, Economic, Community or Political Reforms
9.2.1. Full Service Schools
9.2.1.1. Full service schools are community-based reforms focused on attacking inequity and on meeting the educational, physical, psychological and social needs of students and their families in a collaborative fashion between school and community services. in this model, schools serve as community centers within neighborhoods to provide a multitude of services such as adult education, health clinics, recreation facilities, after-school programs, mental health services, drug and alcohol programs, job placement and training programs, and tutoring services.
9.2.2. Harlem Children's Zone
9.2.2.1. Geoffrey Canada, an African American from the Bronx, wanted to ensure that other children were prepared for the academic and social challenges in college. it was Canada's desire was to allow children to be the agents of change for their neighborhood, rather than taking them out of their neighborhoods. Canada also provides programs for parents in Harlem such as Baby College that teaches parents how to have academic conversations with their children and purchase needed items for their home that can not be afforded.