1. Educational Reform
1.1. Teacher Education Reform
1.1.1. Teacher education reform was a response to the initial debates concerning the failure of schools.
1.1.2. Debates revolved around the lack or rigor and intellectual demands of teacher education programs, need to attract and retain competent teacher candidates, and necessity to reorganize the academic/professional components of teacher education.
1.1.3. The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future recommended getting serious and standards for teachers/students, fixing teacher recruitment and putting qualified teachers in every classroom, encouraging and rewarding teacher skill and knowledge, and creating schools that are organized for student/teacher success.
1.2. Community Reform
1.2.1. Harlem Children's Zone-programs for parents of Harlem before their children are born
1.2.2. Educates parents how to have academic conversations with children, have a healthy home environment, and teach acceptable forms of discipline.
1.2.3. Also provides extended school days and tutoring for at-risk students.
2. Educational Inequality
2.1. Interactionist Theory
2.1.1. Sociological approach to understanding educational inequality.
2.1.2. One must understand how people within institutions such as families and schools interact on a daily basis in order to comprehend academic success/failure.
2.1.3. In addition to studying data on school outcomes which explains what happens, one must also explore the lives and worlds of families and schools to understand why it happens.
2.2. School Financing
2.2.1. Local property taxes and state aid helps fund schools.
2.2.2. More affluent communities are able to provide more per-pupil spending that poorer districts.
2.2.3. State aid programs help ensure all districts receive a minimum standard of funding.
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment of Women in Education
3.1.1. In the last 20 years, gender differences between men and women, in terms of educational attainment, have been reduced
3.1.2. Females are more likely to have a higher level of reading proficiency than males.
3.1.3. Males do better than females in mathematics.
3.2. Response to the Coleman Study: Round 3
3.2.1. Race and class are predictors of academic success.
3.2.2. School segregation based on race and socioeconomic status is responsible for gaps within students achievement.
3.2.3. Study concluded that education reform must focus on eliminating high level of segregation and schools must bring an end to tracking systems and biases.
4. Curriculum and Pedagogy
4.1. Humanist Curriculum
4.1.1. Reflects the idealist philosophy
4.1.1.1. Knowledge of traditional liberal arts
4.1.2. Focuses on Western heritage
4.1.2.1. Present students with best of what has been thought and written
4.1.3. Strong emphasis on academic subjects
4.2. Functionalist Curriculum
4.2.1. Derived from Emile Durkheim
4.2.1.1. Schools should teach students to dit into the less cohesive modern world
4.2.2. Role of school is to integrate children into the existing social order
4.2.3. Curriculum should cover knowledge that students needs to become competent members of society
5. Schools as Organizations
5.1. Major Stakeholders
5.1.1. State Senator: Arthur Orr
5.1.2. House of Representatives: District 9-Ed Henry
5.1.3. State Superintendent: Tommy Bice
5.1.3.1. Board Member District 6-Cynthia Sanders McCarty
5.1.4. State Board Member District 6-Cynthia Sanders McCarty
5.1.5. Local Superintendent: Bill Hopkins
5.1.6. Local School Board District 3-Mike Tarpley
5.2. Japanese Educational System
5.2.1. Large and thriving private sector
5.2.2. Very competative
5.2.2.1. Prestigious universities
5.2.2.2. Must excel in every measured national standard
5.2.3. Deeply entrenched work ethic of Japanese culture
5.2.3.1. "double schooling"-students exposed to two different educational systems
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Conservative Perspective
6.1.1. Charles Darwin's evolutionary theories applied to schooling. "Survival of the fittest"/individual initiative and drive.
6.1.2. Capitalism is the most productive economic system.
6.1.3. Individuals, not the government, are the only ones who can solve their own problems.
6.2. Traditional View of Education
6.2.1. Traditional values include: hard work, family unity, and individual initiative.
6.2.2. Pass on the best of what was and what is.
6.2.3. Visions are similar to right-winged liberals and conservatives.
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Education for All: The Emergence of the Public High School
7.1.1. Dismissed curriculm differentiation.
7.1.1.1. Curriculum to accommodate the varying college entrance requirements was addressed.
7.1.2. Many states changed high school from being voluntary to compulsory.
7.1.3. The goals of secondary education were established.
7.1.3.1. The Cardinal Principles helped to resolve the difficulty of educating student who were not college bound.
7.2. Conservative Interpretation of U.S. Education
7.2.1. The historical pursuit of social and political objectives resulted in harm to the traditional academic goals of schooling.
7.2.2. Using education to solve social problems has led to the decrease of educational excellence.
7.2.3. Students knew very little and schools were mediocre.
8. Sociological of Education
8.1. Relationship between School and Society: Functional Theory
8.1.1. Theory stresses the interdependence of the social system.
8.1.2. Moral values are the foundation of society and education is critical in creating moral unity.
8.1.3. Schools socialize students into the appropriate values.
8.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
8.2.1. Knowledge and Attitudes
8.2.1.1. More likely to read books and take part in political affairs
8.2.1.2. Sense of self-being and self-worth
8.2.1.3. More years of schooling leads to greater knowledge and social participation.
8.2.2. Employment
8.2.2.1. Graduating from college leads to greater employment opportunities.
8.2.2.2. The more education a person has, the more money they tend to make.
8.2.3. Occupational Mobility
8.2.3.1. More job opportunities
9. Philosophy of Education
9.1. Essentialism (Modern Realism)
9.1.1. Generic Notations
9.1.1.1. Studying the material world makes it possible for an individual to clarify or develop ideas. Matter exists independent of ideas.
9.1.2. Key Researchers
9.1.2.1. Dates back to the Renaissance Era from the work of Francis Bacon. John Locke continued the tradition established by Bacon.
9.1.3. Goal of Education
9.1.3.1. Help individuals understand and apply principles of science to help solve the problems plaguing the modern world.
9.1.4. Role of Teacher
9.1.4.1. Should be steeped in the basic academic disciplines. Enable students to learn objective methods of evaluation.
9.1.5. Method of Instruction
9.1.5.1. Supports many different types of instruction. Particularly, lecture and question and answer.
9.1.6. Curriculum
9.1.6.1. Basic subjects: math, reading, and humanities.