1. Schools as Organizations
1.1. State Senator
1.1.1. Bill Holtzclaw
1.2. State Representative
1.2.1. Phil Williams
1.3. State Superintendent
1.3.1. Tommy Bice
1.4. Representative on Alabama School Board
1.4.1. Mary Scott Hunter
1.5. Local Superintendent
1.5.1. Thomas Sisk
1.5.1.1. Limestone County
1.5.2. Will Lee Holladay
1.5.2.1. Athens City
1.6. Local School Boards
1.6.1. Limestone County
1.6.1.1. Earl Glaze:Chair
1.6.1.2. Marty Adams
1.6.1.3. Anthony Hilliard
1.6.1.4. Bret McGill
1.6.1.5. Charles Shoulders
1.6.1.6. Edward Winter
1.6.2. Athens City
1.6.2.1. Russell Johnson-President
1.6.2.2. Beverly Malone-VP
1.6.2.3. Chris Paysinger
1.6.2.4. Jennifer Manville
1.6.2.5. Jones Lucas
1.6.2.6. Scott Henry
1.6.2.7. Tim Green
1.7. Comparisons to Japan
1.7.1. Highly competitive
1.7.2. Japanese parents have a high regard for the importance of education.
1.7.3. "Double schooling" phenomenon
1.7.4. Japanese place high value on moral education
1.7.5. Japan is a nation of strivers.
2. Curriculum and Pedagogy
2.1. The Social Meliorist Curriculum
2.1.1. Social reconstructionist philosophy
2.1.2. Teaches students to think and help solve social problems.
2.1.3. George Counts and Harold Rugg
2.1.3.1. Two most influential social meliorists
2.2. The Functionalist Theory
2.2.1. Schools should prepare students for the increasingly complex roles required in modern society ( democratic, meritocratic, and expert).
2.2.2. Schools should teach general cognitive skills as well as general values and norms essential to a modern society.
2.2.3. Schools teach students to respect others, respect differences, and to base their opinions on knowledge instead of tradition.
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Educational Achievement and Attainment of Special Needs Individuals
3.1.1. Education of All Handicapped Children Law
3.1.1.1. right of access to public education
3.1.1.2. individualization of services
3.1.1.3. "least restrictive environment"
3.1.1.4. scope of broadened services provided by schools and a set of procedures for determining them
3.1.1.5. general guidelines for identifying disability
3.1.1.6. principles of primary state and local responsibilities
3.1.2. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
3.1.2.1. efficacy of law became critical issue; over-identification of students with handicapped conditions; failure to make it to mainstream classroom; overrepresentation of minority students in special ed
3.1.3. Regular Education Initiative
3.1.3.1. pushed by critics of special education
3.1.3.2. called for inclusion of almost all children into mainstream classroom
3.1.3.3. least restrictive environment
3.2. Geoffrey Borman and Maritza Dowling's response to Coleman
3.2.1. where an individual goes to school is often related to his/her race and socioeconomic background.
3.2.2. racial and socioeconomic composition of a school has a greater effect on student achievement than the individual's race and socioeconomic background.
3.2.3. education reform must focus on eliminating the high level of segregation that remains in the education system.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. Cultural Deprivation Theories
4.1.1. working class and nonwhite families often lack the cultural resources and arrive at school with at significant disadvantage
4.1.2. the poor have a deprived culture- one that lacks the value system of middle class culture
4.1.3. policy makers sought to develop programs aimed at the family environment such as Project Head Start
4.2. Between School Differences
4.2.1. schools in working class neighborhoods have more authoritarian teacher-centered pedagogic practices
4.2.2. schools in middle-class communities have less authoritarian and more student-centered pedagogic practices
4.2.3. upper class students are more likely to attend elite private schools with authoritarian pedagogic practices and a classical-humanistic college prep curriculum
5. Educational Reform
5.1. Teacher Education
5.1.1. A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century focused on the necessity of educational quality for a competitive economy; suggested that improvements in teacher education were necessary to improve education.
5.1.2. Tommorrow's Teachers outlined 5 goals and proposals for improving teacher education
5.1.3. The Holmes Group advocated systemic changes in professional development
5.2. Full Service and Community Schools
5.2.1. examine and plan to educate the whole community
5.2.2. Full service schools focus on educating the whole child in a collaborative fashion between school and community services
5.2.3. schools service as community centers that provide a multitude of services: adult education, health clinics, recreation facilities, after-school programs, mental health services, drug and alcohol programs, job placement and training programs, and tutoring services
6. Politics of Education
6.1. Liberal Perspective
6.1.1. A. The role of school-equal opportunity; cultural diversity; citizenship; participation in a democratic society; individual development; socialization; balancing the needs of society and the individual.
6.1.2. B. Educational problems: schools limit the life chances of poor and minorities; place too much emphasis on discipline/authority; differences between schools in different areas; lack of diversity in the traditional curriculum.
6.1.3. C. Explanation of unequal performance: Some groups are more advantaged based on their experiences.
6.1.4. D. Educational policy and reform: quality with equality; improvement of failing schools; enhanced equality of opportunity for disadvantaged groups; culturally diverse curriculum; balance between standards and ensuring students can meet them.
6.2. Prgressive Vision
6.2.1. Schools are central to solving social problems
6.2.2. Vehicle for upward motility
6.2.3. Essential to the development of one's full potential
6.2.4. integral part of a democratic society
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Progressive Reform
7.1.1. experiential education; curriculum that responds to students' needs; child-centered education; freedom; individualism; equity
7.1.1.1. John Dewey; G. Stanley Hall
7.1.2. Progressive Era opened access to secondary education.
7.1.3. Civil Rights Movement let to equity issues. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 emphasized education of disadvantaged children.
7.1.4. "New progressivism" linked school's failure to the problems in society.
7.1.5. open classrooms
7.2. Democratic-Liberal historical interpretation of U.S. education
7.2.1. progressive evolution of school system that is committed to providing ALL individuals with equal opportunity
7.2.2. I agree with Lawrence A. Cremin that the history of U.S. education did expand both opportunity by opening up schools for more than just the meritorious, and purpose by making the goals of education more diverse.
7.2.3. I share their idea that education doesn't have to be about either equity or excellence. The U.S. should strive to steadily work towards achieving both equity and excellence without sacrificing one or the other in the process.
8. Sociological Perspectives
8.1. Functional/ Interactional Perspective
8.1.1. Functional: Education socializes children and prepares them for society.
8.1.2. Interactional: Social interaction contributes to gender-role socialization, and teachers’ expectations may affect their students’ performance.
8.1.3. Interactional: It's important to analyze the processes that label gifted or learning disabled students. These labels carry many assumptions about learning and children.
8.2. Effects of Schooling on Individuals
8.2.1. More years of schooling leads to greater knowledge and social participation.
8.2.2. Greater employment opportunities
8.2.3. Academic credentials=higher income
9. Philosophy of Education
9.1. Pragmatisim/ Progressivism
9.1.1. Generic Notions: attainment of a better society through education; schools as embryonic communities, children are active, organic beings growing and changing thus required a COS that reflects their stages of development.
9.1.2. Key Researchers: George Sanders Pierce, John Dewey, William James
9.1.3. Goals of Education: Part of the larger project of social progress and improvement; integrate children into a democratic society; GROWTH
9.1.4. Role of the Teacher: facilitator; to encourage, offer suggestions, question, and help plan and implement courses of study.
9.1.5. Methods of Instruction: students work individually and in groups; problem solving or inquiry method (students pose questions about what they want to know).
9.1.6. Curriculum: Core; integrated; changes as the social order changes and as children's interests change.