1. History of U.S Education
1.1. Common School 1820-1860
1.1.1. Horace Mann- former lawyer, Massachusetts first secretary= reports serve as models for public school reforms
1.1.2. Free publicly funded elementary schools
1.1.3. school as a preparation for citizenship as well as the "balance wheel"- "the great equalizer of the conditions of men."
1.2. Democratic-Liberal School
1.2.1. School system committed to providing equality of opportunity for all
1.2.2. Lawrence Cremlin: portrays evolution of U.S education in terms of popularization and multitudinousness
1.2.3. Involved both expansion of opportunity and purpose
1.2.4. interpretation of u.s education= optimistic view
2. Equality of Opportunity
2.1. Educational Achievement- African Americans
2.1.1. gaps narrowed between 1973 to 1988
2.1.2. Head Start programs provide free preschool to low-income, urban districts to assist with early educational gaps
2.2. Attainment
2.2.1. African-American students lag behind on attainment according to SAT scores
2.2.2. socioeconomic and social class background not considered in the data
2.3. Coleman Study
2.3.1. study to show the relationship between the organizational characteristics of schools and student achievement
2.3.2. Conducted by James Coleman-sociologist
2.3.3. findings- the organizational differences between schools were not particularly important in determining student outcomes when compared to the differences in student-body compositions between schools
3. Curriculum and Pedagology
3.1. Historical Curriculum- Developmentalist Curriculum
3.1.1. Emphasis on the process of teaching as well as its content
3.1.2. student-centered- curriculum related to the interests and needs of the students
3.1.3. relate schooling to life experiences of each child in a way that would make education come alive in a meaningful manner
3.2. Sociological Curriculum- functionalists
3.2.1. schools should teach students the values that are essential to a modern society
3.2.2. specific content of the curriculum (literature/history) is less important than the role of schools in teaching students how to learn
3.2.3. meritocratic system- rewards are given based on competence and achievement
4. Schools as Organizations
4.1. Major Stakeholders
4.1.1. Local Superintendent: Dr. Dee Fowler
4.1.2. State Superintendent: Dr Tommy Bice
4.1.3. State Senator: Bill Holtzclaw
4.1.4. State House of Representatives: Mike Ball
4.1.5. Board: Dr. Terry Johnson
4.2. Comparison to another country
4.2.1. FRANCE: Central government controlled
4.2.1.1. Two public school systems
4.2.1.1.1. one for ordinary people
4.2.1.1.2. one for the elite: stratified (elementary secondary, post-secondary) Highly selective
4.2.2. JAPAN: Ministry of Education
4.2.2.1. Extremely Competative
4.2.2.1.1. "double schooling"- traditional education and nonformal schooling
4.2.3. GERMANY: Sorts according to economic status
4.2.3.1. Hauptschule: blue collar and low level positions
4.2.3.1.1. Hauptschule and Realschule move on to dual system of apprenticeship
4.2.3.2. Realschule: lower-level white collar and technical positions
4.2.3.3. Gymnasium: for academic preparation for university and the intellectual and management positions
5. Educational Inequality
5.1. Sociological explanation of unequal achievement: Genetics
5.1.1. known as student-centered: related to differences in race, culture and, socioeconomically, genetics
5.1.2. Genetics: Arthur Jensen-controversial article in the Harvard Educational Review
5.1.3. indicated that compensatory programs were doomed because they are focused on the changing social and environmental factors
5.2. School centered explanation of unequal achievement: School financing
5.2.1. Jonathan Kozol (1991) Savage Inequalities
5.2.2. Called for equalization of school funding across all socioeconomic barriers
5.2.3. Serrano v Priest (1971) - California Supreme court ruled the system of unequal school financing between wealthy and poor school districts is unconstitutional
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Conservative
6.1.1. Explanation of Unequal Education Performance- argue that individuals or groups of students rise and fall on tjeir own intelligence, hard work, and initiative, and that achievement is based on hard work and sacrifice.
6.1.2. Perspective- view individuals as rational actors who make decisions on a cost-benefit scale
6.1.3. Role of School- providing necessary educational training to ensure the most talented and hard-working individuals receive the tools necessary to maximize economic and social productivity
6.2. Traditional
6.2.1. schools should pass on the best of what was and what is
6.2.2. view schools as necessary to the transmission of the U.S. society, such as hard work, family unity, individual initiative....
6.2.2.1. American Dream- U.S schools have succeded in providing a quality education for those who are capable and taken advantage of it
7. Sociological Perspectives
7.1. Three theories about the relationship between school and society
7.1.1. Functional-cohesion
7.1.1.1. interdependence of the social system: how one part articulates with another to produce the dynamic energy required to make society work
7.1.1.2. assume that consenses is the noramal state in society and that conflict represents a breakdown of shared values
7.1.1.3. Educational reform is supposed to create structures, programs, and curricula that are technically advanced, rational and encourage social unity
7.1.1.4. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)-set the tone for modern day approach to education
7.1.2. Conflict-struggle
7.1.2.1. social order based on ability of dominant groups to impose their will on subordinate groups through force
7.1.2.2. glue of society is political,economic, cultural, military power
7.1.2.3. schools are similar to social battlefields...teacher/student struggle, teacher/admin struggle
7.1.3. Interactional
7.1.3.1. abstract critiques and extensions to functional and conflict perspectives
7.1.3.2. macro- and micro-sociological
7.1.3.3. Basil Bernstein (1990) -the structural aspects of educational system and the interactional aspects of the system reflect each other and must be viewed wholistically
7.2. Effects on schooling: Greatest impact
7.2.1. Knowledge and attitude
7.2.1.1. academically oriented schools produce higher rates of learning
7.2.1.2. students whom take summer school classes, read over the summer make greater gains than those who did not
7.2.2. Employment
7.2.2.1. more and more companies require a high school education
7.2.2.2. occupational segregation, creates fluctuating pay scale inequalities
7.2.3. Education and Mobility
7.2.3.1. Hopper (1971) there is a difference between educational amount and educational route
7.2.3.2. the number of years of education is one measure of educational attainment,but where people go to school also affects their mobility
8. Educational Reform
8.1. School-based reform
8.1.1. School-to-work programs
8.1.1.1. May 4, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994
8.1.1.2. This Law provided seed money to states and local partnerships of business, labor, government, education, and community organizations to develop school-to-work systems
8.1.1.3. Each state was to provide every U.S. student: 1. Relevent education, allowing students to explore different careers and the variety of skills needed for each 2. Skills, obtained from training and work based learning activities for the variety of careers 3. Valued credentials, establishing industry-standard benchmarks and developing education
8.2. School Finance Reform
8.2.1. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Rodriguez v San. Antonio
8.2.1.1. No constitutional right to an equal education
8.2.1.2. Sparked conversations at the state level
8.2.1.3. 1990 court ruling that more funding was need to support serve children in poorer school districts
8.2.1.4. 1998 the state was required to implement a package of supplemental programs, including preschool, as well as a plan to renovate urban school facilities